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All Things Must Pass

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All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison recorded and released after the break-up of The Beatles. The first triple album by a single artist, the original vinyl release featured two records of rock songs, while the third, entitled "Apple Jam" was comprised of informal jams led by Harrison with musician friends. Received as a masterpiece upon its 1970 unveiling, All Things Must Pass is widely considered to be among the very best albums made by a Beatle as a solo artist and one of the finer albums of the rock era.

Contents

History

The outpouring of such consistently great material on All Things Must Pass took many critics by surprise, with Harrison having long been overshadowed by the talents of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, despite the fact that some of his later period Beatles inclusions ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Something," and "Here Comes the Sun") were hailed as highlights of their respective albums. In actual fact, because Harrison managed (or, as many believe, was only allowed by Lennon and McCartney) to place just a few songs on any given Beatles album, he had amassed many compositions by their break-up, enabling him to offload many of them in one go on All Things Must Pass.

Recorded from May to August 1970 at Abbey Road Studios, and then further recording and mixing at Trident Studios from August to September 1970, Harrison enlisted the aid of Phil Spector to co-produce the album, giving All Things Must Pass a heavy and reverb-oriented sound, typical for a 1960s/1970s Spector production — and which Harrison subsequently regretted with the passage of time. The album features the talents of Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, members of Badfinger, Eric Clapton (who was left uncredited for over thirty years due to contractual constraints), Billy Preston, and a young Phil Collins who was about to join Genesis. Bob Dylan, a close friend of Harrison's, composed "I'd Have You Anytime" with him, while Harrison covered Dylan's "If Not For You", which had been recently released on Dylan's New Morning album.

All Things Must Pass' lead single was "My Sweet Lord" — which proved an enormously popular recording, reaching #1 worldwide, earned Harrison an unfortunate copyright infringement suit from the publishers of The Chiffons's 1963 hit "He's So Fine" — a plagiarism grievance that would not be settled for years. (A judge later found that Harrison had unintentionally plagiarized the earlier song; this prompted Harrison to later write This Song.) The album itself reached #4 in the UK and spent seven weeks at #1 in the U.S., eventually going six times platinum, making All Things Must Pass Harrison's most commercially successful and generally best-loved album.

Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John's cover of Harrison's "What Is Life" reached the UK top twenty in 1972. (The year before, she reached the top ten with a cover of Dylan's "If Not For You".)

A remastered edition of All Things Must Pass, supervised by Harrison and with bonus tracks, including a partially re-recorded additional "My Sweet Lord," was released in 2001, just months before his death. With the original version of the album being concurrently deleted, the remastered edition of All Things Must Pass is the only available version of the release.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 437 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

Original release

Studio album

  1. "I'd Have You Anytime" (George Harrison/Bob Dylan) - 2:56
  2. "My Sweet Lord" - 4:38
  3. * Harrison was sued in the spring of 1971 by the publishers of "He's So Fine" for copyright infringement, with the case finally being settled in 1981 with a royalty payment
  4. "Wah-Wah" - 5:35
  5. * Written about Paul McCartney in 1969 as The Beatles were heading towards their break-up
  6. "Isn't It A Pity (Version 1)" - 7:08
  7. "What Is Life" - 4:22
  8. "If Not For You" (Bob Dylan) - 3:29
  9. "Behind That Locked Door" - 3:05
  10. * Written for Bob Dylan following his performance at the Isle of Wight
  11. "Let It Down" - 4:57
  12. "Run Of The Mill" - 2:49
  13. "Beware Of Darkness" - 3:48
  14. "Apple Scruffs" - 3:04
  15. * Written about the Apple Records groupies who routinely hung around the studios, nicknamed "apple scruffs"
  16. "Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" - 3:46
  17. * Sir Frankie Crisp was the original proprietor of Harrison's mansion, Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, which he purchased in 1970
  18. "Awaiting On You All" - 2:45
  19. "All Things Must Pass" - 3:44
  20. "I Dig Love" - 4:55
  21. "Art Of Dying" - 3:37
  22. * Originally written in 1966
  23. * Features 19-year-old Phil Collins on percussion
  24. "Isn't It A Pity (Version 2)" - 4:45
  25. * An alternate version of "Isn't It A Pity"
  26. "Hear Me Lord" - 5:46

Apple Jam

  1. "Out Of The Blue" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Gary Wright/George Harrison/Jim Price/Bobby Keys/Al Aronowitz) - 11:14
  2. "It's Johnny's Birthday" (Based upon "Congratulations" - Martin/Coulter) - 0:49
  3. * Recorded in August 1970 with Ringo Starr and presented to John Lennon on 9 October in celebration of his 30th birthday
  4. "Plug Me In" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Dave Mason/George Harrison) - 3:18
  5. "I Remember Jeep" (Ginger Baker/Klaus Voormann/Billy Preston/Eric Clapton/George Harrison) - 8:07
  6. * Uses white noise from Harrison's 1969 Electronic Sound album track "No Time Or Space"
  7. * "Jeep" was the name of Eric Clapton's dog that had been stolen
  8. "Thanks For The Pepperoni" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Dave Mason/George Harrison) - 5:31
  9. * Tracks 19 - 23 were originally issued on the vinyl edition of All Things Must Pass as "Apple Jam" and features, among others, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Billy Preston

2001 Remaster

In 2000, George Harrison personally oversaw the remastering of All Things Must Pass - the beginning of a re-issue project that was to see all his albums refurbished. Harrison lived long enough only to witness All Things Must Pass' re-release in January 2001 on his own GN Records imprint, distributed by EMI.

Besides the colorfully re-imagined cover art, the two studio albums have been spilt across the two CDs, with bonus material appearing at the end of the first disc, and the "Apple Jam" - with an adjusted sequence - concluding the second disc.

Cover of 2001 remaster of All Things Must Pass
Enlarge
Cover of 2001 remaster of All Things Must Pass

Disc 1

  1. "I'd Have You Anytime" (George Harrison/Bob Dylan) - 2:56
  2. "My Sweet Lord" - 4:38
  3. "Wah-Wah" - 5:35
  4. "Isn't It A Pity (Version 1)" - 7:08
  5. "What Is Life" - 4:22
  6. "If Not For You" (Bob Dylan) - 3:29
  7. "Behind That Locked Door" - 3:05
  8. "Let It Down" - 4:57
  9. "Run Of The Mill" - 2:49
  10. "I Live For You" - 3:35
  11. * A 2000 recording of a previously unreleased track from the 1970 sessions for All Things Must Pass
  12. "Beware Of Darkness" - 3:19
  13. * An acoustic run-through of the song recorded on 27 May 1970 at the start of the sessions
  14. "Let It Down" - 3:54
  15. * An acoustic run-through of the song recorded on 27 May 1970 at the start of the sessions, with a keyboard overdub effected in 2000
  16. "What Is Life" - 4:27
  17. * An early mix of the song's backing track on 9 August 1970 with piccolo trumpet and oboe
  18. "My Sweet Lord (2000)" - 4:57
  19. * A re-working of the original 1970 recording with new overdubs in 2000, including backing vocal from Sam Brown

Disc 2

  1. "Beware Of Darkness" - 3:48
  2. "Apple Scruffs" - 3:04
  3. "Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" - 3:46
  4. "Awaiting On You All" - 2:45
  5. "All Things Must Pass" - 3:44
  6. "I Dig Love" - 4:55
  7. "Art Of Dying" - 3:37
  8. "Isn't It A Pity (Version 2)" - 4:45
  9. "Hear Me Lord" - 5:46
  10. "It's Johnny's Birthday" (Based upon "Congratulations" - Martin/Coulter) - 0:49
  11. "Plug Me In" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Dave Mason/George Harrison) - 3:18
  12. "I Remember Jeep" (Ginger Baker/Klaus Voormann/Billy Preston/Eric Clapton/George Harrison) - 8:07
  13. "Thanks For The Pepperoni" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Dave Mason/George Harrison) - 5:31
  14. "Out Of The Blue" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Gary Wright/George Harrison/Jim Price/Bobby Keys/Al Aronowitz) - 11:16

External links


George Harrison
Studio Albums
All Things Must Pass | Living in the Material World | Dark Horse | Extra Texture (Read All About It)
Thirty Three & 1/3 | George Harrison | Somewhere in England | Gone Troppo | Cloud Nine | Brainwashed
Live Albums
The Concert for Bangla Desh | Live in Japan
Compilations
The Best of George Harrison | Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989
Soundtracks
Wonderwall Music | Concert for George
Experimental Albums
Electronic Sound
Box Sets
The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992
With Traveling Wilburys
Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 | Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3
Related Articles
The Beatles

 

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