George Best

George Best
Studio album by The Wedding Present
Released	October 1987
Recorded	1987, England
Genre	Indie rock, Indie pop
Length	??:??
Label	Reception Records
Producer	Chris Allison
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
The Wedding Present chronology
George Best (1987) Tommy (1985-1987) (1988)

George Best is the debut album by The Wedding Present. It was released in October 1987 by their own record company, Reception Records.

About the album

After releasing five singles on their own Reception Records label, the band turned to recording their debut album, continuing their collaboration with producer Chris Allison, who had produced their previous single, "My Favourite Dress". The album's somewhat tinny sound reflects the low recording budget, but David Gedge's songwriting still shines through, chronicling relationships breaking up or never taking off. A rare digression is CD bonus track "All About Eve", which is about apartheid, a subject Gedge came into contact with during his childhood in South Africa. Underneath his lump-throated Yorkshire vocal delivery, the band play a surprisingly heavy take on Eighties British indie rock that owes a debt to bands such as The Fall and Gang of Four. Disagreement on production values with Allison led to the product being remixed by the band and their engineer, Steve Lyon. The larger part of these conflicts seemed to lie with the personal and musical incompatibility of Allison and drummer Charman.

In a shrewd publicity move, the band sought and received permission to name the album after Northern Irish football legend George Best. Best even agreed to appear on promotional shots with the band. The album was an instant success with the UK indie community and continues to be the band's best-selling album.

The original Reception Records compact disc release added two bonus tracks off the B-side of single "Anyone Can Make a Mistake". All later CD re-releases of George Best, starting with the 1997 re-release by Canadian reissue label Pearls from the Past, added all tracks of 1988 singles "Nobody's Twisting Your Arm" and "Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?", including a cover of The Beatles' "Getting Better". By the time of the latter single's release, drummer Shaun Charman had been fired and replaced by Simon Smith.

In 2007 the band played a 20th anniversary tour of George Best, performing the album in its entirety.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Gedge except as noted.

Original album release

Side A

1. Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
2. What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?
3. Don't Be So Hard
4. A Million Miles
5. All This and More
6. My Favourite Dress (album version)

Side B

1. Shatner
2. Something and Nothing
3. It's What You Want That Matters
4. Give My Love to Kevin
5. Anyone Can Make a Mistake
6. You Can't Moan, Can You?

Original CD release

1. Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft – 4:10
2. What Did Your Last Servant Die Of? – 2:43
3. Don't Be So Hard – 2:43
4. A Million Miles – 3:33
5. All This and More – 2:23
6. Getting Nowhere Fast (Alan, Evans, Oldroyd, Swift) – 1:44
7. My Favourite Dress (album version) – 4:14
8. Shatner – 2:07
9. Something and Nothing – 3:50
10. It's What You Want That Matters – 3:26
11. Give My Love to Kevin – 2:46
12. Anyone Can Make a Mistake – 3:18
13. You Can't Moan, Can You? – 3:20
14. All About Eve – 2:13

George Best +9 CD re-release

1. Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
2. What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?
3. Don't Be So Hard
4. A Million Miles
5. All This and More
6. Getting Nowhere Fast (Alan, Evans, Oldroyd, Swift)
7. My Favourite Dress (album version)
8. Shatner
9. Something and Nothing
10. It's What You Want That Matters
11. Give My Love to Kevin
12. Anyone Can Make a Mistake
13. You Can't Moan, Can You?
14. All About Eve
15. Nobody's Twisting Your Arm
16. Nothing Comes Easy
17. Don't Laugh
18. I'm Not Always So Stupid
19. Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
20. Not from Where I'm Standing
21. Give My Love to Kevin (acoustic version)
22. Getting Better (Lennon, McCartney)
23. Pourquoi Es-Tu Devenue Si Raisonnable?

Has also been released as a 4x10" vinyl-box.

People involved

The band

• David Gedge – vocals, guitar
• Peter Solowka – guitar
• Keith Gregory – bass guitar
• Shaun Charman – drums (1-18)
• Simon Smith – drums (19-23)

Additional musician

• Amelia Fletcher – backing vocals

Technical staff

• Chris Allison – producer
• Steve Lyon – engineer, mixer
• The Wedding Present – mixers