They say I'm not what I used to be/All the same/I'm happier than a willow tree," sings George Harrison in "Mystical One," a song from his new album, Gone Troppo. Well, it's great that George is happy, but he's right about his career: lately, he's made a much better movie financier than musician, and Gone Troppo — Harrison's version of a Jimmy Buffett album — isn't the record that will change things. So offhand and breezy as to be utterly insubstantial, the LP is made up of throwaway ditties, instrumental fragments and formulaic love songs. Tired of battling the temptations of the material world, Harrison sings about hanging out in the tropics (hence the title), sitting "mucho in a sunshine" and "counting de fruit bat." But with the exception of the jaunty "Wake Up My Love," writing de good song clearly wasn't on George's agenda.

Even so, the same casual air that makes the record so lightweight also means it's more tolerable than most of his other outings. He still trips over his own earnest but muddled words when he tries to make a big statement, but for the most part, his singing is cheery and pleasant. Gone Troppo is passable stuff, though it's hardly a day at the beach.

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."