Dark Horse

About Dark Horse

"Dark Horse" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released as the title track to his 1974 solo album on Apple Records. The song was the album's lead single in North America, becoming a top-20 hit in the United States, but it was Harrison's first single not to chart in Britain when issued there in February 1975. While the term "dark horse" had long been applied to Harrison due to his success as a solo artist following the Beatles' break-up in 1970, commentators recognise the song as Harrison's rebuttal to a number of possible detractors: those reviewers who criticised the spiritual content of his 1973 album Living in the Material World; his first wife, Pattie Boyd; and his former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Harrison also used the title for that of his record label, and his 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar would come to be known as the Dark Horse Tour. Harrison taped an early version of the song with Ringo Starr in 1973, intending to finish this recording for the album. The officially released version was recorded during rehearsals for his 1974 concerts, at a time when Harrison's exhaustion through overwork contributed to him contracting laryngitis and losing his voice. Harrison's singing was similarly affected throughout the ensuing tour. A number of music critics rate "Dark Horse" as one of Harrison's finest post-Beatles compositions and believe that the single would have achieved greater success with a cleaner vocal performance. The recording reflects Harrison's embracing of the jazz-funk musical genre, and features contributions from musicians such as Tom Scott, Jim Horn, Billy Preston, Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark. more »