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Dear One

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Wikipedia article




"'Dear One'" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1976 on his album 'Thirty Three & 1/3'. The song was inspired by, and dedicated to, Paramahansa Yogananda, whose 1946 book 'Autobiography of a Yogi' was a great influence on Harrison. Aside from keyboard player Richard Tee, Harrison plays all the instruments on the recording.

History



Harrison wrote the lyrics to "Dear One" in 1976 during a vacation to the Virgin Islands, shortly before starting work on 'Thirty Three & 1/3'.

In his autobiography, 'I, Me, Mine', Harrison says that he believes the song is the only one he ever wrote in open A tuning. The lyrics are directed to Premavatar Paramahansa Yogananda, author of 'Autobiography of a Yogi', who Harrison called "a great influence on my life". While in India in 1966,Gary Tillery, 'Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison', Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; ), p. 56. Harrison was given a copy of Yogananda's book by Ravi Shankar's brother, after which, author Peter Doggett writes, Harrison "read every Indian spiritual text he could find".Peter Doggett, 'You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup', It Books (New York, NY, 2011; ), p. 22.

Apart from American musician Richard Tee on organ, Harrison played all the instruments on the recording: acoustic guitars, synthesizers and percussion (hi-hats).Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, 'Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium', 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ), p. 454. As with the song "See Yourself", Harrison dedicated "Dear One" to Yogananda on the credits to the 'Thirty Three & 1/3' album.Ian Inglis, 'The Words and Music of George Harrison', Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ), pp. 60, 62.

In his 'Encyclopedia of Popular Music', Colin Larkin describes the track as a song that "could have come straight off of The Beatles' 'Abbey Road'". He adds: "'Dear One' weaves a haunting, Indian-influenced melody with a big pop chorus to create an intensely moving song of devotion."[http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.013.80908 "Harrison, George Thirty-Three & 1/3: Encyclopedia of Popular Music"], oxfordindex.oup.com (retrieved 8 March 2015).

Personnel



* George Harrison vocals, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, hi-hat, shaker, backing vocals

* Richard Tee organ

References



Category:George Harrison songs

Category:1976 songs

Category:Paramahansa Yogananda

Category:Song recordings produced by George Harrison

Category:Music published by Oops Publishing and Ganga Publishing, B.V.

Category:Indian mythology in music


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