George Best is the debut album by The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present are a British indie rock group based in Leeds, England, formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks and Gang of Four to more varied forms...

. It was released in October 1987 by their own record company, Reception Records.

After self-releasing five singles on Reception Records label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

, the band turned to recording their first 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. David Gedge

David Gedge

David Gedge is an English musician and songwriter. He is the main songwriter and vocalist in the bands The Wedding Present and Cinerama...

's songwriting chronicles relationships breaking up or never taking off. A digression is CD bonus track "All About Eve", which is about apartheid, a subject Gedge came into contact with during his childhood

Childhood

Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Disagreement on production values with Allison led to the album being remixed by the band and engineer, Steve Lyon. The larger part of these conflicts seemed to lie with the personal and musical incompatibility of Allison and drummer Charman.

The band sought and received permission to name the album after Northern Irish

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 legend George Best

George Best

George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...

. Best agreed to appear on promotional shots with the band.

The original Reception Records compact disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 release added two bonus tracks from 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

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 reissue label Pearls from the Past, added all tracks of 1988 singles

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 "Nobody's Twisting Your Arm" and "Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?", including a cover of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' "Getting Better

Getting Better

"Getting Better" is a song written mainly by Paul McCartney, with lyrical contributions from John Lennon . It was recorded by The Beatles for the 1967 album Sgt...

". By the time of the latter single's release, drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 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.

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
   Girls at Our Best!
   Girls At Our Best! were a post-punk group, founded in Leeds, England in 1979 under the name The Butterflies, who had several UK Indie Chart hits.-History:...
   
   ) – 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
   Girls at Our Best!
   Girls At Our Best! were a post-punk group, founded in Leeds, England in 1979 under the name The Butterflies, who had several UK Indie Chart hits.-History:...
   
   )
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
    John Lennon
    John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
    
    , McCartney
    Paul McCartney
    Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
    
    )
23. Pourquoi Es-Tu Devenue Si Raisonnable?

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

The band

• David Gedge
  David Gedge
  David Gedge is an English musician and songwriter. He is the main songwriter and vocalist in the bands The Wedding Present and Cinerama...
  
   – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Peter Solowka
  Peter Solowka
  Peter Solowka born in Leeds of Ukrainian and Irish descent was guitarist with the Wedding Present from its inception until 1991 after the recording of the Seamonsters album...
  
   – guitar
• Keith Gregory – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Shaun Charman – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
   (1-18)
• Simon Smith – drums (19-23)

Technical staff

• Chris Allison
  Chris Allison
  Chris Allison is a British record producer and founder/head of Sonic360 Records.He is primarily known for his work with The Wedding Present; however, he has also produced for Coldplay, The Beta Band and Plastilina Mosh....
  
   – producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Steve Lyon
  Steve Lyon
  Steve Lyon is a professional ice hockey player who played three games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Pittsburgh Penguins.- References :...
  
   – engineer, mixer
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  
• The Wedding Present – mixers