UPDATE 3/5/12: Our friends at MusicTAP are reporting a May 1 release date for the American video premiere of Living in the Material World on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Watch this space for details on whether the American editions will mirror the contents of the British releases, as described below!
ORIGINAL POST (10/5/11): DVR Alert! Martin Scorsese’s documentary Living in the Material World premieres on American television tonight on HBO, proving that – at least for tonight – it’s not TV; it’s HBO that we’ll be watching! Scorsese’s two-part documentary (the second part airs tomorrow evening) sheds light on the one-time Quiet Beatle, with revealing home movies, rare video footage and frank interviews from famous friends and associates like Eric Clapton, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, George Martin, Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty, Phil Spector and Ringo Starr. Excitingly, Scorsese’s film features both solo and Beatles tracks mixed into 5.1 for the first time.
Olivia Harrison’s lavish coffee table companion, loaded with striking photographs, diaries, letters and memorabilia, has already arrived in stores both in the United States and United Kingdom from Abrams. Home video releases for the U.K. have already been announced by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, with Material World arriving in three formats: DVD, Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack (or “Double Play”) and finally, a deluxe DVD/Blu-Ray edition containing an exclusive CD of previously unreleased songs and a book of photography. Surprisingly, no official soundtrack has been announced to tie in with the documentary, and no DVD or Blu-Ray release has been confirmed yet for America.
Although only available now as an import, the deluxe DVD/Blu-Ray is hotly anticipated, containing both audio and video content exclusive to that edition. For those with region-free capabilities who simply can’t wait for the inevitable domestic release, Living in the Material World is released next Monday, October 10, in the United Kingdom, and we can now reveal the exclusive content of the Deluxe Edition. You'll find it all after the jump!
The deluxe edition's ten-track exclusive CD premieres unreleased material, some of which may be familiar to longtime Harrison collectors. You’ll find many All Things Must Pass-vintage demos and early takes: “My Sweet Lord,” “All Things Must Pass,” “Behind That Locked Door,” “Awaiting On You All,” “Run of the Mill” and the Bob Dylan co-write “I’d Have You Any Time.” You’ll also find a performance of Dylan’s “Mama, You’ve Been On My Mind” (which may be the oft-circulated Beatles-era track) and an early stab at “Woman, Don’t You Cry For Me” from Thirty Three and 1/3. The demo of “The Light That Has Lighted the World” led to the finished track on the original album Living in the Material World, and finally there’s a Harrison version of the Gilbert Becaud classic “Let It Be Me.”
The deluxe edition DVD/BD set also has exclusive video content, for a total of eleven special features vs. the standard edition’s five. The extra features include “George Plays the Uke,” “Deep Blue,” and four interviews: “Growing Up in Liverpool,” “The Inner Light,” one with late Apple chief Neil Aspinall and one with Harrison’s friend Gordon Murray.
Watch this space for news on an American release for Living in the Material World. UPDATE: Order Links for Amazon U.S. can be found just below!
George Harrison: Living in the Material World (Lionsgate U.K., 2011 - DVD/Blu-Ray/Deluxe Edition)
Blu-Ray Special Features:
- George plays the Uke*
- Here Comes The Sun
- Dispute and Violence
- Deep Blue*
- Paul McCartney interview
- Jeff Lynne interview
- Damon Hill interview
- Growing Up in Liverpool interview*
- Neil Aspinall interview*
- The Inner Light interview*
- Gordon Murray interview*
* Exclusive to the Deluxe Edition.
CD Bonus Disc:
- My Sweet Lord (demo) 3:33
- Run Of The Mill (demo) 1:56
- I'd Have You Any Time (early take) 3:06
- Mama You've Been On My Mind (demo) 3:04
- Let It Be Me (demo) 2:56
- Woman Don't You Cry For Me (early take) 2:44
- Awaiting On You All (early take) 2:40
- Behind That Locked Door (demo) 3:29
- All Things Must Pass (demo) 4:38
- The Light That Has Lighted The World (demo) 2:23
mike says
I'm so glad some of George's demos are seeing legitimate release. The All Things Must Pass demos in particular stand in stark contrast to the echoey mess Spector made of that album. I have the bootleg of his demos and run-throughs and some of them, stripped of distraction post-production, are amazingly vital and fresh. I hardly ever turn to the official release, vastly preferring to hear George's adorned voice floating over his band's rough takes.
mike says
aargh, I meant unadorned voice..
Mylene says
It was Harrison who made ATMP sound like it did. Spector left the sessions quite early and Harrison continued to overdub and add more and more reverb. George wanted it to sound exactly the way it did. Most of the demos sound fake anyway. No way musicians of that caliber would play such a poor 12 bar in the middle of The Are of Dying. The song about the police giving George a cavity search is pretty amusing though 🙂
Phil Cohen says
The absence of a U.S.A. release will only increase the amount of people who will record the HBO airing to DVD-R. The owners of the film will also miss out on business during the Christmas shopping. And if the UK DVD & BD releases are region-coded(though I'm equiped with modified Bluray & DVD players to defeat region codes), the result will be that U.S.A. fans will be served by pirated copies sold by street merchants. So the owners of the film think that they're business-savvy? I think not.
CHRIS DUKAS says
I MUST HAVE THIS WONDERFUL DVD OF GEORGE BY MARTIN SCORESES, FOR MY BROTHERS 60TH BIRTHDAY FEB.22 2012
THANKS
Sue says
Just wondering if you found this DVD (USA version). I need it for my husbands birthday and I am having trouble locating a DVD that is made for the USA. Thanks.
Joe Marchese says
Hi Sue, just click on the order links right after the main portion of the article. They have been updated for the American edition, and the American DVD (as well as Blu-Ray and box set) is in stock now from Amazon.com. Hope this helps!
Dianna Rossi says
Can anyone please tell me the name of the song George Harrison is singing at the end of the documentary Living in the Material World (it's not in English) and where I might obtain this recording? I'm going out of my mind trying to find it.....I would be most grateful.