George Harrison album 'Gone Troppo' is an underrated classic

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The would-be Beatles classic that George Harrison gave away

Fri 16 September 2022 19:30, UK

When The Beatles released Abbey Road in 1969, all eyes turned and fixed on George Harrison. To this day, ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Something’ are considered some of the finest examples of pop songwriting in The Beatles catalogue. Harrison didn’t really get what all the fuss was about; he’d already written equally noteworthy songs for the band’s previous release, The White Album.

The only difference between ‘Long Long Long’ and ‘Something’ was that the latter was a little more knowingly commercial. Amid this unprecedented inundation of positive feedback, Harrison must have found himself wondering if he should have hung on to some of his other offerings, songs like ‘Sour Milk Sea’ for example.

‘Sour Milk Sea’ was written in India during The Beatles’ stay in Rishikesh, where they were taking part in a transcendental meditation program led by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. On their return to England, the track was handed to Jackie Lomax to help aid the launch of the band’s latest business venture, Apple Records. At its core, it is a celebration of the benefits of meditation, which was becoming increasingly popular with young Westerners at the time, perhaps because, like LSD, it promised entry into a hitherto unknown realm. Harrison took meditation more seriously than most. In his eyes, the pursuit of inner peace was the only way humanity would be free from worldly pleasures.

In his memoir, I, Me, Mine, Harrison explained the track’s origins: “It’s based on Vishvasara Tantra, from Tantric art. ‘What is here is elsewhere, what is not here is nowhere’. It’s a picture, and the picture is called ‘Sour Milk Sea’ – Kalladadi Samudra in Sanskrit. I used ‘Sour Milk Sea’ as the idea of – if you’re in the shit, don’t go around moaning about it: do something about it.”

In 1968, the Beatles were sorting through tracks to record for The White Album and decided to demo ‘Sour Milk Sea’ at Harrison’s Surrey home, Esher House. Now, I know what you’re thinking – and you’re right: there is a certain irony in the fact that this pro-meditation, anti-materialist ballad was initially recorded in a lavish country house with a sprawling garden. Such paradoxes are an inescapable part of The Beatles’ legacy.

On hearing what they’d recorded, George, Ringo and John were pleasantly surprised. The only issue was that Harrison had already promised ‘Sour Milk Sea’ to Lomax, an early Apple Records signee. Harrison was happy to give the track away only under one condition: that he was allowed to produce it. This he did with all the gusto you’d expect of someone with an entire studio at their disposal.

Excited by this new creative control, Harrison bought in Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, his friend Eddie Clayton and revered session pianist Nicky Hopkins, who had recently finished working with The Rolling Stones on Their Satanic Majesties Request. With layer upon layer of instrumentation, ‘Sour Milk Sea’ lost some of its original tranquillity. Though the track received some favourable reviews on release in 1968, many felt it was too full – too hectic and muddled.

If you’re wondering what ‘Sour Milk Sea’ would have sounded like if Harrison and co. had hung on to it for The White album, you can check out the Esher demo below, as well as a clever remix in which the original demo vocals have been combined with Harrison’s arrangements for Lomax.