Beware of Maya

I guess I got thinking about George a couple of weeks ago when I reheard the demo track for his haunting song, "Beware of Darkness," which not even Leon Russell's vocals could screw up at the Concert for Bangladesh. When I hear one of these densely produced Beatles tracks in its unadorned, pristine state, just vocals and guitar, the true strength of the song emerges--like when I heard John's demo track for "Strawberry Fields Forever" on The Beatles Anthology. It became a lament--dirge is too strong a word--for a lost childhood, a childhood that maybe even never was.

So, the familiar lyrics are passing by: "Beware of darkness...beware of Maya...beware of ABCKO." What the?!? I should watch out for the illusion of reality, and also keep an eye peeled for Allen Klein? Supposedly this was done as a joke for Phil Spector, but still, it made me think how many other songs by the supposedly most spiritual Beatle dealt with the quotidian details of the world: "Taxman," in which two British prime ministers are named; "Piggies," a song about greed and gluttony; "Living in the Material World," with its monetary pun on Ringo's real name ("we got Ritchie on the tour"--followed by a drum fill by Starr on his unmistakeably less-than-taut skins); "When We Was Fab," a look back at a period of fame that George probably hated more than all of them.

In the end, though, maybe it all makes sense. Only someone who was so aware of the world, its lures, its slights, its temptations, its human carnivores, would be so interested in learning how to detach himself from it, to become "free of birth."

I sat down and watched most of The Concert for George, the 2002 celebration of George's music and life by his friends at the Royal Albert Hall. Most of the time, such tributes are flawed to the point of being messes, and the number of musicians guarantees a kind of ball of sound, but this one was moving, and what's more, produced some excellent music. The sound was crisp and focused, particularly in DTS 5.1 sound, but I should have guessed who was responsible for that--the sound was produced by Jeff Lynne, who also did fine imitations of George on "Give Me Love" and Roy Orbison on "Handle with Care." Some of the musicians I was surprised were still alive (Traffic's drummer, Jim Capaldi, looks like Gerard Depardieu if he were ten years older and a prizefighter); some are, alas, dead now, such as Billy Preston (on whose first album "Harry Georgeson" plays, along with Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards). Even if some of the singers didn't know the lyrics (Gary Booker looked like he was ready to "skip the light fandango / and turn cartwheels cross the floor" at times), and there were more drumsticks flying than at a Salvation Army Thanksgiving dinner, the spirit of the evening was right. Not only in the monumental songs ("Isn't It a Pity?" "Wah Wah"), but also in the little songs that were often overlooked because of the Lennon/McCartney hits. When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sang "I Need You" from Help!, I found myself singing along softly--and crying.

As I did when I saw the picture of Clapton with George's son Dhani in the accompanying booklet. Clapton is explaining something, looking off to his left, and Dhani is smiling at him, and his eyes, nose, and mouth look just like his father's (well, with better teeth).

He was a seeker, and he left the world a better place because he had been in it.

Baby's in black, and I'm feelin' blue.