36/ FEBRUARY 2024 THE RIDER Review Dark Horse Records: The Story of George Harrison’s Post-Beatles Record Label


Author: Aaron Badgley Publication date: January 26, 2024 $24.95 Available on Ama- zon, Indigo and bookstores 204 pages plus 16 pages of colour photos ISBN: 978-1-78952-287-7


Written by re-


spected broadcaster and Beatles expert, Aaron Badg- ley, this is the first book to d i s -


cuss Harrison’s label in such detail. This book is like reading the intimate diary of George Harrison’s life in music, his recording label, his collaborations and life- long friendships with other trailblazing artists whose music is still played and ap- preciated today. In fact, Har- rison played with, produced and wrote for a virtual who’s-who of the rock and


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pop world and helped create a whole new genre of music – World Music. His long- time collaborations with In- dian superstar Ravi Shankar and his daughter, Anoushka, brought a world audience to the unique and melodic sounds of India where George found such spiritual enlightenment during his 60’s Beatles days. In 1974, with


Apple winding down, Harri- son still aspired to help new artists, so rather than trying


to salvage Apple, he set up his own label, Dark Horse Records, but on a much smaller scale. His plan was to release records from new artists as well as some of his old friends, with an eye to eventually releasing his own music. While Dark Horse had an encouraging begin- ning with a hit single from the band Splinter, the label suffered increasing prob- lems, failing to establish it- self in the way Harrison hoped. However, some in-


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credible and varied music was created from 1974 to 1977, including some of Harrison’s best solo mate- rial. Towards the end of its initial life, Dark Horse dropped most of its artists and released mainly Harri- son’s solo work. Thankfully, since 2020, George’s tal- ented musician son, Dhani, has taken the reins and has made Dark Horse viable once again, signing legends Cat Stevens and Billy Idol, and releasing music from Joe Strummer and Leon Russell. Finally, in 2023, it was announced that Harri- son’s entire solo catalog was going to be re-released on Dark Horse. Badgley’s book tells the story of the label from the beginning, through its struggles and on to its ex- citing renaissance in the new millennium. At the back of the book, there are pages and pages of refer- ence works and a bibliogra-


phy so extensive, one can only imag- ine the hours, days, weeks, months Badgley put in to research his book. D a r k


Horse Records was not a vanity label set up exclusively for George Harri- son’s music. It was a record label and company that at- tempted – and suc- ceeded – in being unique, that desired to make a differ- ence. Harrison had a passion for help- ing artists and introduce them to the world. He felt there was room in the music business to accommodate many different styles and a label with diverse acts could not only exist but thrive. It was more of a philosophy than a business plan, and the world was a better place be-


cause of it. Dark Horse Records is now in the hands of Harrison’s musician son, Dhani, along with his widow, Olivia.


About the author As a youngster,


Aaron Badgley developed a profound love of The Beat- les and music in general, also developing a fascina- tion with record labels. At the age of 19, he started working in radio and by 20, he was a production man- ager for a number of stations in Canada. In 2005, Aaron debuted his syndicated radio show The Beatles Universe, which ran for six years. Cur- rently, he is the host of Here Today and Backwards Trav- eller radio shows and co- hosts From Memphis To Merseyside and The Way- Back Music Machine (with Tony Stuart). He writes for Spill Magazine and Immer- sive Audio Album, and has also contributed to the All Music Guide. Aaron resides in Toronto, Canada.


Review by Glenda Fordham


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