The scant notability that George Harrison's last two studio albums received from the public was taken by him as a sign from up above that perhaps music shouldn't always be in the forefront of his mind. And so from 1982-1985, he focused more on his racing and film producing hobbies than he did on music. Some even say he never even touched a guitar in that span of time (obviously hyperbole). But all in all, the current music scene was just something he did not find very appealing, and he longed for the times where his music (and the music of others like him) topped charts. Hell, sometimes he even wished the Beatles were still around. They could definitely whip every schmaltzy artist into shape, he thought. His musical hiatus was cut short temporarily in 1985 when he was asked to provide a song for the sex comedy film Porky's Revenge!, produced by James Komack. His contribution was "I Don't Want to Do It", a song Bob Dylan had written for him 15 years prior, but it hadn't been released until now. In an act of desperation for some success to capitalize on his contribution, he decided to release a new studio album with the Dylan song as the lead single. This album would be mostly comprised of outtakes from previous albums, but they all still sounded fresh in his mind, and in his mind, not releasing them would be a waste.
The title Redletter Days referred to a red-letter period, or a time of any opportunistic significance. Harrison thought this title fit the last few years of his life quite well, and the album was released on April 21, 1985 (April 21 being the Queen's birthday, a nationally recognized red-letter day). Outside of "I Don't Want to Do It", which was a Top 50 hit, the album was received poorly, with critics saying there was nothing of note to listen to more than once. They also said that Harrison was now past his prime. But once his break from music had concluded, Harrison was now only warming up his engine with his new partner in crime, Jeff Lynne.
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