George Harrison’s Son Said Finishing His Father’s Final Album, ‘Brainwashed,’ Was the Most Difficult Project He’s Ever Worked On: ‘Threw Me Into the Deep End’
George Harrison‘s son, Dhani, said finishing his father’s final album, Brainwashed, was difficult. They started recording the now 20-year-old album together in George’s last years. After the former Beatle died in 2001, Dhani dove head-first into the deep end, thrusting himself into George’s shoes.
Luckily, Dhani wasn’t entirely alone.
George Harrison’s son, Dhani, helped him work on ‘Brainwashed’
The former Beatle’s friend and co-producer, Jeff Lynne, said he and George started work on the album in 1999. However, George had written most of the songs years earlier.
“We started working on the album in 1999,” Lynne said (per Beatles Bible). “George would come round my house and he’d always have a new song with him. He would strum them on a guitar or ukulele. The songs just knocked me out. George talked about how he wanted the album to sound.”
George also asked his son to help him with the album. “He told Dhani a lot of things he would like to have done to the songs and left us little clues,” Lynne added. “There was always that spiritual energy that went into the lyrics as well as the music.”
George died in 2001 without having finished the album. However, it was in safe hands.
George’s son, Dhani, said finishing ‘Brainwashed’ was the hardest project he’s ever worked on
After George died, finishing Brainwashed seemed like a daunting task for Lynne. “To make an album, to make all those songs finished and mixed, it started out really daunting because I was so used to working with George so closely until I realized that Dhani was going to be there all the time,” Lynne said the video for the making of Brainwashed.
“Once we got into it like after a couple of tunes, George sort of was with us, really,” Lynne said. Dhani was also reluctant to finish the album. At least George had everything laid out for them. In another video, Dhani explained that George had tons of notepads full of notes. “Something in his language,” Dhani said. Thankfully, Lynne knew how to speak George. It also helped that George had multiple takes for each instrument part for every song.
The “blueprints” were there; it was just a matter of understanding what George was saying in his notes.
“It was almost as if my dad had the whole thing mapped out, and we were just these lab rats trying to find out way through the maze that hadn’t quite been finished yet,” Dhani said. “Trying not to leave any footprints of us or any trace of Jeff or me. That was the most conscious thing that we did was to try and not impose on the album in any way and make a kind of, as Jeff calls it, a cradle for the voice and the guitar.”
The producer said George wanted the songs to sound like demos. However, he thought they deserved more and made them “posher.”
For the album’s 20th anniversary, Dhani shared more of what it was like recording Brainwashed. “20 years ago I finished what was, to this day, the most difficult project I’ve ever worked on; to finish my Dad’s last album without him,” he wrote on his Instagram.
“There’s no way in the world that had I waited, even a year, to do this, I could’ve gotten through it. Looking back 20 years now, I specifically want to thank Jeff Lynne, Ryan Ulyate and Marc Mann for being such wonderful people and for teaching me so much. This was the project that threw me into the deep end and I ended up winning a Grammy for ‘Marwa Blues’, one of the songs I produced.”
‘Brainwashed’ was very personal to George
George’s son said the tracks on Brainwashed deserve a relisten now more than ever because of the issues it tackles.
“@jefflynneselo, I love you, thank you for being such a dear friend to my Dad and thank you for letting me come and live in your house whilst we worked this great conundrum out,” Dhani said. “I still think this is one of the best records I’ve ever worked on and it’s worth a relisten, now more than ever. The issues being tackled on this record are extremely eye opening and pertinent.”
Dhani said that George wrote the songs on Brainwashed for himself. They were what he wanted to hear. So the record is very personal.
“His life was in those final songs, the things he got up to each day, like riding down the River Thames,” Lynne said (per Beatles Bible). “Lots of very personal stuff. Some of them are really good. We gradually just filled them in. It was just about mixing them and making them sound like George would like them.
“You just had to go with your gut feeling. I felt so bad for Dhani having to do that, after his dad had just passed on, but he really wanted to do it. He’s a good lad, Dhani. It was joyful when it sounded great – ‘Well done, George, nice one!’ – but such a shame he wasn’t there to hear it with us.”
Dhani said Brainwashed changed his life. Making the album was the happiest and saddest thing he’s ever had to do. He and Lynne were so happy after finishing every track but would also choke up with emotion. Dhani believes George knew leaving the album for him to complete would be good for him, even if Dhani didn’t know what he was getting into himself.
Twenty years later, the effects of Brainwash haven’t left Dhani.
