Music of the Moment: George Harrison - “I’d Have You Anytime”
If you listen to a song six times in a row it’s probably a good indication you ought to write something about it. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
I listened to four new albums of music while at work today and after that I was in the mood for something more familiar. I listened to a fistful of U2 songs and then got in the mood to listen to some George Harrison.
On Thursday’s BSCA, listener, commenter, and guest Donald Gibson mentioned “I’d Have You Any Time” as one of his favorite love songs. I don’t know if he mentioned it because I’d earlier mentioned Harrison’s Beatles composition “Something,” but mentioned it he did and he’s right. “I’d Have You Anytime” is a marvelous song.
Harrison co-wrote the song with his close friend Bob Dylan and it’s one of the standout cuts on an album that just might be the best solo album by any of The Beatles.
The song opens with a lovely, lyrical lead guitar line; the type Harrison perfected with The Beatles and used so effectively throughout his solo career. There is more to the song than the gentle touch of his lead playing. The vocal is outstanding, which is not always true of Harrison. The truth is Harrison was a lot closer to Lennon and McCartney as songwriters than he was as a vocalist. He was a capable singer and sometimes even an excellent one, but sometimes his thin voice would be stretched too thin. On “I’d Have You Anytime,” he stays within his range and delivers a satisfying performance.
As much as I love the track, it does seem an odd choice to open the triple album (condensed now from 3 LPs to 2 CDs) due to its stately, subdued nature. It fits well with other All Things Must Pass tracks like “Isn’t It A Pity,” “All Things Must Pass,” and the Dylan-penned “If Not For You.” It belongs on the record but more uptempo, catchy songs like “The Art of Dying,” “My Sweet Lord,” or even something like “Wah Wah” might have been better as openers.
Sequencing issues aside, I’ve listened to the song 12x today and it goes down as one of my favorite George Harrison songs.
Filed under: Tags: George Harrison
I just read this. Thanks for the link.
I’ve always been curious about who (Harrison or Dylan) wrote which lyrics of this song. Some of them seem more like Dylan to me in their boldness (”let me in here…” etc). They remind me somewhat of “Never Say Goodbye” from Planet Waves.
And the “all I have is yours/all you see is mine” parts sound like Harrison.
- Donald
[...] I’d Have You Any Time: Harrison and Dylan wrote this one; one of the best on George’s best solo record. [...]