Beware of ABKCO (Roaring Mouse RM 110-6114)
Run Of The Mill, Art Of Dying, Everybody Nobody, Wah-Wah, Window Window, Beautiful Girl, Beware Of Darkness, Let It Down, Tell Me What Has Happened To You, Hear Me Lord, Nowhere To Go, Cosmic Empire, Mother Divine, I Don’t Wanna Do It, If Not For You
Released in 1994 from the newly minted Strawberry label to a small catalogue of George Harrison boots “Beware of ABKCO” became one of the jewels in the crown of this itinerary along with Midnight Beat’s exceptional “The Making Of All Things Must Pass” 3 CD boxset & Strawberry’s cleaned up version of the G&E release “Songs For Patti”.
Long deleted from the Strawberry cannon but with periodical releases on cheap European labels usually on a twofer with official but out of print Harrison albums this release came around in early 2011 along with it’s brother release “Revolutions Evolution” ( EMI 041758 ) – A version of HMC’s “Revolution Take .. Your Knickers off”.
It is a complete carbon copy of Strawberry’s release even down to the T.O.C. – So why should you still be interested at this late stage? The producers could have presented us with a fold down mono mix of the very wide stereo production giving us a closer feel than the original release which would sound more akin to being sat in the control room rather than listening to guitar in one ear & voice on the right but they have taken a little more care with the artwork rather than presenting a convoluted & photoshopped mess that some labels are prone to do.
The front cover features a shirtless George standing practicing a Hindu traditional healing hand techniques, or mudras. In the top right hand corner his name appears as his signature & the title is featured in a stylised font. The rear cover features a studious ( is there any other kind? ) picture of George working in the studio.
The liner notes are borrowed from Mary Frampton’s 1980 book “Rock & Roll Recipes” (Which features the salt of the earth reply from one Ringo Starr ‘”Travel to your local fish and chips shop, Ask for cod and chips. Add salt and vinegar to taste. Eat with fingers for best results!” ) while the inner features a collage of both George & Olivia stood in & around the grounds of Friar Park including George in the caves underneath the building.
If the original release is proving elusive then you could do a lot worse than picking up this release & adding it to your collection. If, however, you already own the Strawberry release then you have no real need to own this CD.
