Gone Troppo

With one album due on his recording contract, George Harrison put together Gone Troppo and then dropped out of the music business for five years. Always the most inquisitive and soul-searching of the four Beatles (though Lennon was better at working things out in public), Harrison had grown disenchanted with the music industry and most pop songs—though here he did embrace some aspects of modern music with synthesizers (played by Mike Moran, Deep Purple's Jon Lord, Procol Harum's Gary Brooker, Billy Preston, and Harrison himself throughout the album). The material is eclectic, with Harrison's slide guitar making a deep impression on the lovely "Greece" and spirited backing vocals driving the infectious "Dream Away." "Circles" is a lovely tune that had circulated since The Beatles' White Album, while "I Really Love You" had been a 1961 doo-wop hit for The Stereos. The album's 2004 remaster added a demo version of "Mystical One" that features Harrison fingerpicking his acoustic guitar, illustrating his solo abilities.