Video: 'Thirty Three & 1/3' (first ten videos constitute original album)

(Monday, May 24, 1976) — Former Beatle George Harrison began recording his seventh solo studio album, Thirty Three & 1/3, today at his home studio at Friar Park, a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion and 30-acre estate in Henley-on-Thames, England.

The project, Harrison’s first album for his own Dark Horse Records imprint, is being recorded with production assistance from saxophonist and arranger Tom Scott.

Among the musicians participating in the sessions are keyboardists Billy Preston and Gary Wright, bassist Willie Weeks, keyboardist David Foster and drummer Alvin Taylor.

Recording sessions, which would continue through Sept. 13, would produce several new Harrison compositions, including “This Song,” “Learning How to Love You,” “Woman Don’t You Cry for Me,” “Dear One,” “Beautiful Girl,” “See Yourself,” “It’s What You Value,” “True Love,” “Pure Smokey,” and “Crackerbox Palace,” the latter named after the Los Angeles home of the late comedian Lord Buckley.

The album’s creation would be marked by several setbacks. Harrison would suffer a bout of hepatitis during the recording period, and a copyright infringement lawsuit involving his 1970–71 hit “My Sweet Lord” would be decided Sept. 1, 1976, in favor of publisher Bright Tunes Music.

Despite the difficulties, early assessments from those involved in the project suggest the new material represents a return to form for Harrison following a pair of less warmly received releases in 1974 and 1975.

The album, scheduled for release later this year, will also mark a change in worldwide distribution for Dark Horse from A&M Records to Warner Bros. Records.