Remember When George Harrison Went ‘Troppo’ and Then Went Away From Making Music for Five Years?

You know that old adage about a tree falling in the woods not making a sound if there’s no one to hear it? Well, along similar lines, what would happen if a former Beatle released an album that hardly anyone even knew existed?

That might be a slight exaggeration about the exposure level of George Harrison’s 1982 album Gone Troppo. But it was still a shockingly obscure album coming from a member of the greatest band in rock and roll history.

Gradually Departing the Spotlight

George Harrison went for the brass ring immediately after The Beatles broke up. His 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass set the bar for all solo records from members of the Fab Four to come. Throughout the first half of the 70s, Harrison remained quite active while recording, touring, producing, and staying in the white-hot spotlight.

He soon realized it wasn’t where he wanted to be. His marriage had crumbled, his vocal cords took a beating, and Harrison generally looked and sounded worse for the wear. In the second half of the 70s, he dramatically limited his exposure level from what it had been like in the first half.

The death of John Lennon at the hands of a gunman only strengthened Harrison’s resolve to stay out of the public eye as much as possible. He scored one of his biggest solo hits with his Lennon tribute song “All Those Years Ago” from the 1981 album Somewhere In England. But he didn’t exactly go out of his way to promote the record. The follow-up would receive even less fanfare upon arrival.

Already ‘Gone’

Harrison recorded Gone Troppo at his home studio in England over a four-month stretch in 1982. Instead of the all-star musician route that he took on earlier solo albums, he mostly worked with a trusted bunch of session players on the record. He co-produced the album in conjunction with Ray Cooper and Phil McDonald.

The record dropped in November 1982. But you’d be forgiven if you were around back then and had no idea that Harrison had released an LP. He didn’t do any interviews to promote it, nor did he provide videos for the singles from the album, none of which troubled the charts.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1987 (per Beatles Bible), Harrison explained his thought process:

“When I did my last album, Gone Troppo, at that period I felt that I had done so many things in the past, and I didn’t feel, you know, I never really spent time promoting that record, and I didn’t really give the record company much help, put it that way.”

A Harrison Hiatus

Gone Troppo is a pleasant, somewhat inconsequential record. The vibes skew breezy throughout the album, with several songs drifting ever so close to novelty song territory. It’s doubtful it would have made much of a splash even if Harrison had been out there pounding the pavement talking about it.

The album also meant that Harrison had fulfilled the terms of his record deal. His next step was to essentially walk away from the record business for the next five years. When you hear stories of Harrison as a quasi-hermit, the years 1982-1987 are what people are referencing.

The good news is that when he returned, he came back in a big way with the hit 1987 album Cloud Nine and the Traveling Wilburys project. Gone Troppo was mostly forgotten, and it seems likely Harrison was just fine with that.

(Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images)

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