Wonderwall Music is the debut solo studio album by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1968. It serves as the soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall, directed by Joe Massot. The album was the first solo album released by a member of the Beatles and the first LP issued on the Beatles' Apple record label.
Background and Recording
Harrison agreed to compose the score for Wonderwall in October 1967 after the Bee Gees became unavailable. Recording took place between November 1967 and February 1968 at EMI Studios (Abbey Road) and De Lane Lea Studios in London, and at His Master's Voice studios in Bombay, India. The Indian sessions in January 1968 featured local classical musicians and were Harrison's effort to introduce Western rock audiences to Indian instruments such as the shehnai, sarod, tar shehnai, tanpura, and santoor.
Musical Content
The album is predominantly instrumental, consisting of 19 tracks that blend Indian classical music with Western styles including psychedelic rock, experimental, country, and ragtime. Western contributors included the Remo Four (a Liverpool instrumental group), John Barham (piano, flugelhorn, orchestral arrangement), Eric Clapton (credited as "Eddie Clayton" on "Ski-ing"), and Ringo Starr (credited as "Richie Snare" on "Party Seacombe"). Indian contributors included Aashish Khan (sarod), Shivkumar Sharma (santoor), Shankar Ghosh (tabla), and Mahapurush Misra (tabla, pakhavaj).
Release and Reception
Released on 1 November 1968 in the UK (Apple catalogue SAPCOR 1) and 2 December 1968 in the US (Apple ST 3350), the album failed to chart in the UK but reached number 49 on the US Billboard Top LPs chart, with a 16-week chart run. Critical reception has been mixed but generally recognizes the album's inventiveness in fusing Eastern and Western sounds, and it is considered a precursor to the world music trend of the 1980s.
Cultural Influence
The album's title inspired the name of Oasis's 1995 hit song "Wonderwall." The album was reissued in remastered form in 2014 as part of Harrison's The Apple Years 1968–75 box set, with three bonus tracks: "In the First Place" (by the Remo Four), "Almost Shankara," and an alternate instrumental take of "The Inner Light."
