Throughout 1974, progress on "Dark Horse" was compromised by Harrison's commitment to setting up a new record label, also called Dark Horse, and his dedication to projects by the label's first signings, Shankar and the English duo Splinter. With expectations high for his North American tour, the first by a former member of the Beatles, Harrison later referred to the pressure he had imposed on himself that year as "ridiculous".&lt;ref name="White/Musician"&gt;Timothy White, "George Harrison – Reconsidered", "Musician", November 1987, p. 59.&lt;/ref&gt; As a further distraction, his return to less ascetic ways post-Vrinadavan was marked by what he termed "a bit of a bender to make up for all the years I'd been married", as Boyd left him in July.