George Harrison Said EMI Got ‘Funny’ When Artists Worked Together, so They Used Pseudonyms
George Harrison said EMI got “funny” when artists worked together, so they often used pseudonyms. The former Beatle liked playing on his friends’ albums but didn’t want the hassle from the record companies. He used many fake names throughout his career.
George Harrison said EMI got ‘funny’ when artists worked together, so they used pseudonyms
During a 1987 interview with Timothy White at Musician Magazine, George explained that he used the pseudonym “L’Angelo Misterioso” on Cream’s Goodbye.
“My ‘L’Angelo Misterioso’ credit must have been thought up by Eric,” George explained. “I just saw it on the back of the album when it came!”
George explained record companies got “funny” when artists played on each other’s records, so they used pseudonyms.
“In those days, of course, if you played on anybody else’s album or even one track, EMI used to get funny about it, thinking, ‘Oh, the fabulous Beatles publishing catalog,’ and try claiming royalties on it. So if we did that we always had to make up names. Ravi Shankar used to put on ‘Hari Georgson’ or ‘Jai Raj Harisein.’ John preferred ‘George Harrisong.'”
George had many pseudonyms
Over the years, and certainly, while he was still tied to Apple Records, George used many pseudonyms to hide his identity on his friend’s albums.
For instance, George contributed a lot to Splinter’s debut album, The Place I Love, including a variety of guitar parts, dobro, bass, harmonium, Moog synthesizer, mandolin, and percussive instruments. It was recorded at George’s home, Friar Park, and released through his new record label, Dark Horse Records, in 1974. However, Apple Records still represented George.
George split his contributions between three pseudonyms that eventually became well-known to fans: Hari Georgeson, Jai Raj Harisein, and P. Roducer.
George also appeared as Son of Harry on Dave Mason’s “If You’ve Got Love.”
The former Beatle also used a fake name on both of The Traveling Wilburys’ albums
Besides the three fake names on Splinter’s record, George’s most famous pseudonyms came on The Traveling Wilburys’ albums. The supergroup was George’s dream come true. He’d enjoyed playing on his friend’s albums over the years. However, The Traveling Wilburys (George, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison) allowed George to make music with his friends in an official band.
George told Count Down in 1990 that the whole point of the Traveling Wilburys was for five friends to jam and not get too hung up on everything, especially themselves as solo artists and as a supergroup. They didn’t want fans to buy their album because of who played on it, either.
So, they used pseudonyms on their debut album, Vol 1. Printed on all the albums, contracts, and anything else that identified them as a band were the names Nelson Wilbury (George), Otis Wilbury (Lynne), Charlie T. Wilbury Jr (Petty), Lefty Wilbury (Orbison), and Lucky Wilbury (Dylan).
“I mean there was always those groups in the 70s that made these superstar groups, and we hated that,” George said. “The idea of these famous people all trying to make a record, most of the records weren’t that good-doesn’t mean it’s going to be good if you just get these famous people together.
“I wanted to avoid that totally. If you look at the record, it doesn’t have anybody’s name on it. Now, with the new record, everybody knows obviously who it is, but for the first record, it was a surprise, and we didn’t put our names, we just made up silly names.
“Even the credit to the record company like CBS were-you have to say, ‘Bob Dylan appears courtesy of CBS.’ Well, even that it says, ‘Lucky Wilbury.’ But they didn’t notice. I put that on to see, I thought they were going to complain, but they didn’t.”
George said The Traveling Wilburys stayed anonymous on their second album, Vol. 3, to “prolong the anonymity for as long as possible.” They added new names: Spike (George), Clayton (Lynne), Muddy (Petty), and Boo (Dylan). Orbison died in 1988.
By the time Vol. 3 came out, fans knew who was on the album, but the supergroup still wanted to use the pseudonyms. George liked using fake names. After all, he often thought fans only bought his albums because he was an ex-Beatle. If he used a pseudonym, he could record with anyone and essentially be a free agent.
