The album's overdubs were completed by his son Dhani, session drummer Jim Keltner, and longtime friend and collaborator Jeff Lynne.

[1] Harrison began recording the tracks that eventually were issued on Brainwashed as early as 1988 (with "Any Road" being written during the making of a video for "This Is Love" from the album Cloud Nine) and continued to do so in a sporadic manner over the next decade and a half, but mainly from July 1999 to October 2001.

[2] In an interview in 1999, Harrison announced the title of his next album to be Portrait of a Leg End, and played songs entitled "Valentine", "Pisces Fish" and "Brainwashed".

Harrison's final work on the album was carried out at a recording studio in Switzerland shortly before his trip to the United States for cancer treatment.

After a few months away from the project, both Lynne and Dhani returned to working on Harrison's final songs and added the appropriate instruments, as per his specifications, to the recordings.

"[8] "Run So Far" had previously appeared on Eric Clapton's album Journeyman (backed by Harrison), 13 years before finally being available in a version sung by its original writer.

A limited-edition CD box was also released, containing a Brainwashed poster, a Dark Horse sticker, a guitar pick with George's signature on it, and a bonus DVD with a seven-minute featurette about the making of the album.

A live tribute to Harrison by an assembly of his musical contemporaries, titled Concert for George, took place at London's Royal Albert Hall simultaneously with the release of the album.

Club concluded his review by writing: "Harrison never seemed to recognize the difference between philosophical profundities and the sound of a catchy song, and that may have been his greatest gift to the world.