''Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal'' is a charity album released in July 1990 to benefit

Romanian orphans Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, under the auspices of the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation. It was compiled by English rock musician

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

in response to concerns raised by his wife

Olivia Harrison Olivia Trinidad Harrison (née Arias; born May 18, 1948) is an American author and film producer, and the widow of English musician George Harrison of the Beatles. She first worked in the music industry in Los Angeles, for A&M Records, where sh ...

, who had visited Romania and witnessed the suffering in the country's abandoned state orphanages following the fall of Communism. The release was preceded by a single, " Nobody's Child", recorded by Harrison's band the

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...

. Other artists who donated songs to the album include

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Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...

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Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

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and

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. Many of the recordings were previously unreleased.Album liner notes The Romanian Angel Appeal marked a rare foray into the media spotlight by Olivia Harrison, who created the foundation with support from the other wives of the former

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

–

Barbara Bach Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (née Goldbach; August 27, 1946) is an American actress and former model. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me (film), ''The Spy Who Loved Me''. She is married to former The Beatles, Beatles ...

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

and

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. She and her husband promoted the project in the UK with appearances on the television talk show ''

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'' and in the one-hour Radio 1 documentary ''Nobody's Child''. The album was released by Harrison's record company,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, on 23 July 1990. It was preceded by a launch at London's

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on 22 July, attended by the Harrisons, and Bach and Starr. The video for the "Nobody's Child" single included animated scenes and footage of the Romanian orphanages.

Song selection

George Harrison's involvement in the project reprised his role in assisting refugees of the 1971

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, when he staged an all-star benefit concert and oversaw the release of an associated album and documentary film. Aside from the title track, his presence on ''Nobody's Child'' was reflected in the recordings submitted by Simon, Clapton and Eddy. Harrison said in compiling ''Nobody's Child'' he was conscious of not making it his album by dominating the content. He said that his request for a live track from

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went unanswered, and his approach to

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became confused in the acrimony taking place between Jackson and

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over the ownership of the Beatles'

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catalogue. Selections by

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and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

arrived too late for inclusion on the album.

Track listing

Vinyl and cassette releases

Side one #"Nobody's Child" #"Wonderful Remark" #"Medicine Man" #"This Week" #"Homeward Bound" #"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" #"Lovechild" #"Big Day Little Boat" Side two #"Feeding Off the Love of the Land" #"That Kind of Woman" #"Goodnight Little One" #"The Trembler" #"Ain't That Peculiar" #"Civil War"

Notes

* On the included performance of "With a Little Help from My Friends", the All-Starr Band consisted of Ringo Starr,

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born Joseph Woodward Fidler; November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles (band), Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other ...

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Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

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Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...

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and

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. The song is only on the CD version of the album. * Aside from his contributions with the Traveling Wilburys and Paul Simon,

plays guitar on the tracks by Eric Clapton and Duane Eddy.

References

{{Authority control 1990 compilation albums Warner Records compilation albums Albums produced by George Harrison Charity albums Rock compilation albums George Harrison