George on Itunes

Well, George Harrison debuted in Itunes today, making him the fourth of four Beatles to have (most of) his solo catalog available through, Apple - er, Steve Jobs' Apple, that is.
It's all there except two solo albums (Dark Horse and Extra Texture), his two compilations (Best of George Harrison and Best of Dark Horse), and The Concert For Bangla Desh.

Only Bangla Desh's absence is really felt. Dark Horse and Extra Texture are among his weakest albums, and helped marginalize him as a pop artist in the '70s. The two compilations are both dated and should be replaced anyway. (Besides, no one seriously thought the seven Beatles songs on Best of GH would make it to Itunes anyway.)

So what should be on the new "best of"? I decided to see what came up when I sorted George's tracks by popularity on Itunes.

In just a few hours, these made the top ten:


My Sweet Lord
What Is Life
Got My Mind Set On You
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
If Not for You
All Those Years Ago
When We Was Fab
Blow Away
Crackerbox Palace
All Things Must Pass

That's a really strong start for a collection. I guess it's the wisdom of the marketplace in action.

I also picked out the next ten songs from the Itunes chart, except I decided not to allow more than five All Things Must Pass tracks on my "best of." (The excess tracks are marked in red). So here's the rest:

Wah-Wah
Here Comes the Sun (Live In Japan)
Beware of Darkness
This Song
Devil's Radio
Isn't It a Pity (Version Two)
I'd Have You Anytime
Living In the Material World
Awaiting On You All
Apple Scruffs
Dream Away
This Is Love
What Is Life (Backing Track) [Bonus Track]
Love Comes to Everyone
Dark Horse (Live In Japan)
Any Road
My Sweet Lord (2000)
Cloud Nine

Overall, four stars. The few tracks I'd quibble with are Wah-Wah (which has a stubborn cult that loves its avalanche of sound), Living in the Material World (a good track, but it's a little overblown for a "best of" collection) and Love Comes to Everyone (I never really cared for anything on "George Harrison" other than "Blow Away.")