ALL THINGS MUST PASS
Within months of the Beatles official breakup, (April, 1970), George Harrison released his
first real solo album All Things Must Pass in November 1970.
His previous two albums were Wonderwall which was a soundtrack for a film and
Electronic sounds which was basically just that.
The first single released from the All Things Must Pass album was the now classic
My Sweet Lord.
Harrison had been seriously involved in his search for spiritual enlightenment for some
time and it was to manifest throughout much of his continued solo career.
Having been somewhat suffocated as a Beatle by the overpowering song writing efforts
of Lennon and McCartney he had amassed a stockpile of songs written during the later
part of the Beatles years, especially since 1968.
Wanting to make a clean break from all things Beatle, Harrison decided to ask record producer
Phil Spector to produce the album rather than using Beatles producer George Martin.
When Spector visited Harrison at his Friar park estate in early 1970 to have a listen to some demos, he was astonished to find that “a couple of ditties’ turned out to be more like hundreds.
The album was released as a massive 3 album vinyl set, which I believe to be the first time
that a 3LP set had ever been released by a pop or rock artist.
There are way too many songs on the album to review here, 23 in all, although the third record
is basically a 5 track jam session with some friends including Eric Clapton.
Instead I will give an overview of some of the more prominent tracks starting with the second
release What Is Life which is a powerful up tempo no nonsense rock song which also became
a huge hit.
Wah wah is another powerhouse track, which I feel is Harrisons’ way of giving a slight jab to
his Beatle mates who requested him to use a wah wah pedal during most of the Let It Be
sessions the year before. (Wah wah – I dont need no wah wah ).
Beware Of Darkness is one of my favourite tracks on the album, a very powerful ballad.
Several of the albums’ tracks were performed live at the concert for Bangladesh a year later
including this one which he shared vocals with Leon Russell.
Isn’t it a pity is one of the greatest dirges of all time and will keep running through your brain long after the song has ended.
Version 1 and version 2 are both included, clocking up a massive 12 minutes of pure
inspiration that rips away at your emotions like nothing else. (We break each others hearts and
cause each other pain).
I personally think this track would have sat very nicely on the Beatles White Album.
Why couldn’t THAT have been a 3 album set???
The art of dying is another excellent up-tempo song with a bluesy feel, as is Awaiting on you all
which has a very catchy riff.
If not for you was a song that George got from Bob Dylan during a visit to one of Dylans’
New York recording sessions earlier in the year.
Harrisons’ version is more polished than Dylan’s and received quite a bit of airplay at the time.
Finally to the albums’ title track All Things Must Pass.
This was definitely a close contender for the White Album in fact the Beatles recorded several
takes before deciding to abandon it due to lack of space on the already overcrowded album
which they were originally trying to keep down to a single album.
A spiritual thread runs throughout the whole album in some way.
My Sweet Lord, (The lord is) Awaiting on you all, Hear me lord, I dig love, The art of dying
and of course All things must pass.
A masterpiece album from possibly the most overshadowed musician in music history.
Rest in peace George … and thanks for the Pepperoni!