In 2001, "Record Collector" editor Peter Doggett similarly commented on the track, with regard to the singer's vocal issues: "Thankfully, the solitary official evidence of the tour ... showed little evidence of the strain." Although Harrison had intended it for inclusion on "Somewhere in England", "Flying Hour" dated from the sessions for his previous album, "George Harrison" (1979), and was recorded in March 1978. He wrote the song with Bad Company guitarist Mick Ralphs, who was among a coterie of local rock musicians, known informally as "the Henley Music Mafia", with whom Harrison played and socialised from the late 1970s onwards. The lyrics recall the theme of Harrison's 1973 track "Be Here Now", by advocating focusing only on the present. He adapted part of the words from an inscription on a clock tower at Friar Park, a legacy of the property's original owner, Frank Crisp. According to Harrison's wife, Olivia, each time they walked past the clock tower, he made a point of reading the inscription aloud:  Among the changes carried out when Harrison revisited "Flying Hour" in 1987, the track has a longer running time than the 1980 mix, partly through the reinstating of a 20-second instrumental break late in the song, and Harrison's slide guitar features less prominently. The track is driven by Weeks' bassline and includes Polymoog synthesizer soloing from Steve Winwood. In Leng's opinion, "Flying Hour" typifies Harrison's predicament with Warner's in 1980, in that the song would have been "a sure-fire hit in 1973" but was deemed unsuitable for commercial release seven years later. "Songs by George Harrison" was published on 15 February 1988, with the Genesis Publications catalogue number SGH 777. The print run was limited to 2500, with each copy signed by Harrison and West. The book was priced at £235 and available via mail order only. Genesis also offered the book as a limited-edition series of enlarged prints. The release coincided with Harrison's uncharacteristically high-profile publicity for "Cloud Nine", which was a critical and commercial success when issued in November 1987. In an interview published in "Musician" magazine that same month, Harrison spoke of a planned second volume with West, and he defended the exclusivity of "Songs by George Harrison" by saying, "in a world of crass, disposable junk, it's meant to be a lovely thing." Harrison and his wife returned to England from California for the book's publication.