"Sour Milk Sea" is a song written by George Harrison and released by English rock singer Jackie Lomax as his debut single on the Beatles' Apple record label in August 1968. Harrison wrote the song during the Beatles' stay in Rishikesh, India and gave it to Lomax to help launch Apple Records. Lomax's recording is a rarity among non-Beatles songs since it features three members of the band – Harrison, who also produced the track, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Performed in the hard rock style, the song also includes musical contributions from Eric Clapton and session pianist Nicky Hopkins. It was the first of many Harrison productions for artists signed to the Beatles' record label.
Harrison wrote "Sour Milk Sea" to promote Transcendental Meditation, which the Beatles had been studying in Rishikesh with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In the lyrics, Harrison espouses meditation as a remedy for worldly cares. The group recorded a demo of the song while considering material for their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as the White Album). On release, Lomax's single was overshadowed in Apple's "Our First Four" promotional campaign by the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days"; it enjoyed only minor success internationally, becoming a top 30 hit in Canada. Together with its B-side, the Lomax-written "The Eagle Laughs at You", the song was included on the singer's only Apple album, Is This What You Want?, released in March 1969.
"Sour Milk Sea" received favourable reviews in 1968 and has continued to invite praise from music critics, particularly for the energetic quality of the performance. Several writers consider that the song deserved to be a hit for Lomax and that, had the Beatles retained it for the White Album, it would have been among the best songs on the album. The track also appears on the 2010 multi-artist compilation Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records.
Background and inspiration
"Sour Milk Sea" was one of several songs that George Harrison wrote while staying at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, India, from February to April 1968.Greene, pp. 98–99. Having first visited India in September 1966, following the Beatles' final concert tour,Clayson, pp. 206–07. Harrison became enamoured of the teachings of the MaharishiNick Jones, "Beatle George And Where He's At", Melody Maker, 16 December 1967; available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).Will Hermes, "George Harrison 1943–2001", Spin, February 2002, p. 22 (retrieved 29 May 2016). and led his Beatles bandmates to Rishikesh to study Transcendental Meditation two years later.The Editors of Rolling Stone, p. 139.Steve Rabey, "George Harrison, 'Living In The Material World'", The Huffington Post, 9 October 2011 (retrieved 29 May 2016). With Life magazine labelling 1968 "the Year of the Guru",Syman, p. 198. the Beatles' visit generated wide interest in Transcendental Meditation,Greene, p. 98. and Eastern spirituality generally, among Western youth.Lavezzoli, pp. 6, 180.Goldberg, pp. 7, 8. Author Simon Leng writes that with "Sour Milk Sea", Harrison adopted "the role of advertising executive" to further promote meditation. Leng views it as a follow-up to "Within You Without You", in which Harrison had first channelled the teachings of the Hindu Vedas into a song.Leng, pp. 31, 57.
In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says that "Sour Milk Sea" espouses meditation as a means to improve the quality of one's life, as well as advocating a proactive approach when faced with difficulty. He says he named the composition after a picture titled Kalladadi Samudra, which reflects the theme of Vishvasara Tantra in sacred Hindu texts, particularly regarding "the geological theory of the evolution of organic life on earth".Harrison, p. 142. Singer Jackie Lomax, whose debut solo album Harrison had agreed to produce before the Beatles departed for India,Clayson, pp. 239–40. said that the Sour Milk Sea symbolises "a fallow period" during each of the Earth's 26,000-year evolutionary cycles, before the planet begins its process of regeneration.
As with the other songs he wrote in Rishikesh, "Sour Milk Sea" marked the start of Harrison's return to the guitar as his main instrument,Leng, p. 34. coinciding with a gradual relinquishing of his attempts to master the Indian sitar.Lavezzoli, pp. 184–85. In a September 1968 interview, he recalled that he wrote the music "in ten minutes" since he was without a guitar at the time and had to borrow John Lennon's. He also said that, although it was not until June that he decided to forgo Indian classical music and fully re-engage with rock music, "[Even when] I was in India, I always imagined the song as rock 'n' roll."Alan Smith, "George Is a Rocker Again!", NME, 21 September 1968, p. 3.
Composition Referring to the compositional draft for "Sour Milk Sea", musicologist Walter Everett states that together the various chords suggest "a pentatonic minor scale on A, allowing B as a tritone-related ornament to E7". The song makes limited use of the expected A major chord, however, instead centring on E over the verses and D in the choruses, with the latter representing what Everett terms "the Mixolydian VII area".Everett, p. 200. Described by author and critic Richie Unterberger as a melody filled with "tense chord ascensions", the composition shares part of its melodic characteristics with "Savoy Truffle", another Harrison song from 1968.Ingham, p. 309.Quantick, p. 160.
In the lyrics to the verses, Harrison focuses on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation rather than detailing the way to achieve these results.Allison, pp. 45, 155. While Leng likens Harrison's approach to that of an advertiser selling anti-dandruff shampoo, author Joshua Greene describes the lyrical thrust of the song as: "Is life getting you down? Not getting the breaks you want? Try illumination."Greene, p. 99. Harrison proffers greater awareness and a release from earthly limitations as the other benefits brought about by the meditation experience.Allison, p. 45.
According to theologian Dale Allison, through its promise of a quick solution, the song pre-empts the concept espoused by Lennon two years later in "Instant Karma!"Allison, p. 45. Harrison urges the listener to follow a "very simple process" and to "do it soon", in order to leave the Sour Milk Sea state of mind and "Get back to where you should be".Harrison, pp. 141, 142. Author Ian Inglis views the chorus lyrics as particularly forthright; he paraphrases the message as "admit your shortcomings, pull yourself together, look for a solution".
Although it originated as an acoustic guitar song, the official recording of "Sour Milk Sea" is in the heavy rock style typical of the late 1960s.Leng, p. 56. Greene comments on the appropriateness of this "hard-driving, blues guitar medium" as a way for Harrison to directly convey "a simple rule of thumb" regarding the human condition.
The Beatles' demo The Beatles recorded a demo of "Sour Milk Sea" at Harrison's Esher home, Kinfauns, in late May 1968,Miles, p. 299.Womack, pp. 264, 857. while preparing material for their self-titled double album (also known as "the White Album").MacDonald, p. 244. By this point, the group had publicly ended their association with the Maharishi.Wayne Warga, "Maharishi Yogi Turns Other Cheek to The Beatles' Slur", Los Angeles Times, 17 May 1968, p. D14. Lennon, who, along with Harrison, was the last to leave Rishikesh, said in mid May that following the Maharishi had been a "mistake"Greene, p. 97. but that the band continued to believe in the benefits of meditation.Syman, p. 202.
The demo was taped on Harrison's Ampex four-track recorder.Unterberger, p. 197. The performance features Harrison singing falsetto throughout,Unterberger, p. 196. and a musical backing that includes guitars and percussion.Winn, p. 170. Although the subsequent album sessions were marked by disharmony and a lack of cooperation among the band members,MacDonald, p. 267. author and critic Kenneth Womack comments that the Kinfauns demos "witness the Beatles working in unison and exalting in the pure joy of their music".Womack, p. 264. Leng similarly describes the group's performance of "Sour Milk Sea" as an "exciting" version "[p]layed with real enthusiasm".Leng, p. 57. The recording became available on bootleg albums,Richie Unterberger, "Jackie Lomax Is This What You Want?", AllMusic (retrieved 29 May 2016). including Acoustic Masterpieces (The Esher Demos).Michael Gallucci, "Top 10 Beatles Bootleg Albums", Ultimate Classic Rock, February 2013 (retrieved 29 May 2016). In 2018, it was included on the 50th Anniversary Box Set release of The Beatles, along with all the Esher demos.David Fricke, "'The Beatles (White Album) Super Deluxe' Is a Revelatory Dive into Their Frayed Late-Sixties Drama", Rolling Stone, 8 November 2018 (retrieved 24 February 2021).
As with several of the songs previewed at Kinfauns, the Beatles did not revisit "Sour Milk Sea" during the White Album sessions.Quantick, pp. 23, 110–11. Harrison decided to give the song to former Undertakers singer Jackie LomaxLeng, p. 55. – a fellow Liverpudlian and one of the first artists signed to the Beatles' record label, Apple Records, in early 1968.Spencer Leigh, "Jackie Lomax: Singer and songwriter who became one of the first signings to Apple", The Independent, 18 September 2013 (retrieved 29 May 2016). In a 2004 interview, Lomax said that he was fortunate to have Harrison's help, adding: "even on a big project like The White Album he only had four songs. I think he was feeling held back [in the Beatles]."Terry Staunton, "Jackie Lomax: Is This What You Want?", Record Collector, July 2004; available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).
Recording With Harrison as his producer, Lomax recorded "Sour Milk Sea" for release as a single. The sessions for the song began at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London on 24 June 1968,Miles, p. 302. before moving to Trident Studios,Lewisohn, p. 139. to use that facility's superior, eight-track recording equipment. Speaking to Melody Maker in September, Harrison described the recording as a "glorified jam session".Clayson, pp. 239, 477. The line-up consisted of Lomax on vocals, Harrison and Eric Clapton on guitars, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Paul McCartney on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums.Everett, pp. 199–200. McCartney was absent from the initial session, however, only returning on 25 June from an Apple-related business trip to California.Doggett, p. 47."Timeline: June 20–July 16, 1968", in Mojo Special Limited Edition, p. 35. While Apple projects typically featured one member of the Beatles, "Sour Milk Sea" is the only track where more than two members of the band appeared on another artist's recording.Spizer, The Beatles Solo on Apple Records, pp. 338–44.
Clapton's electric guitar playing gave the song a riff-based quality that was absent from the Beatles' version. Lomax later said that he thought the track "worked as an instrumental", and he recalled his nervousness when it came to overdubbing the vocal part, with "three Beatles in the control room watching me". In addition to supplying acoustic rhythm guitar on the song,Inglis, p. 18. Harrison played an electric guitar solo, which appears shortly after the two-minute mark on the recording,Damian Fanelli, "Take a Dip in the 'Sour Milk Sea,' a 1968 Track Featuring Three Beatles and Eric Clapton", guitarworld.com, 10 May 2014 (retrieved 2 June 2016). following Clapton's lead guitar break.Shea & Rodriguez, p. 256. Hammond organ was also added over this instrumental passage,Winn, p. 182. although the part is uncredited.Castleman & Podrazik, p. 206. Recording was completed on 26 June. Like Clapton and Hopkins, Lomax went on to contribute to the sessions for The Beatles,Clayson, pp. 251–52. singing backing vocals on "Dear Prudence".MacDonald, p. 272.Quantick, p. 76.