All Things Must Pass

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All Things Must Pass
Image:AllThingsBWCover.jpg
Studio album by George Harrison
Released 27 November 1970
22 January 2001 (remaster)
Recorded 26 May 1970 – September 1970
Genre Rock
Length 115:10 (1970)
126:17 (2001)
Label Apple/EMI
Producer George Harrison
and Phil Spector
Professional reviews
George Harrison chronology
Electronic Sound
(1969)		 All Things Must Pass
(1970)		 The Concert for Bangla Desh
(1971)
Alternate cover
Image:AllThingsColorCover.jpg
Cover of 2001 remaster

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 solo artist, the original vinyl release featured two records of rock songs, while the third, entitled "Apple Jam" was composed of informal jams led by Harrison with musician friends and other famous musicians.

Received as a masterpiece upon its 1970 unveiling, All Things Must Pass is widely considered to be one of the best albums made by a Beatle as a solo artist. It is certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA, making it the best selling album by a solo Beatle.[1]

Contents

[edit] 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. Consequently, as Harrison had only placed 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 — but a sound Harrison would subsequently regret with the passage of time. In the EPK that accompanies the 30th Anniversary reissue George is asked what he thinks of the album now thirty years later and he says, "...too much echo." Before recording the album Harrison sat in a studio with Spector and ran through a number of songs accompanied just by his guitar. Besides songs that would eventually make the album such as "Beware of Darkness" and If Not for You, the tape (eventually bootlegged as "Beware of ABKCO") included unreleased songs as well as songs that would turn up later in Harrison's career - "I Don't Wanna Do It," "Everybody Nobody," "Window Window" and more. "Beware of Darkness" and "Let It Down" from these May 1970 sessions would eventually be released on the remastered All Things Must Pass. Full discs of electric outtakes from the recording sessions would also leak on bootlegs in later years, and some of those tracks were also included in the remaster. Multiple takes of songs from the album appear on a three-disc box set The Making of All Things Must Pass along with other releases.

The album features the talents of Ringo Starr, members of Badfinger, Eric Clapton and the other members of Derek and the Dominoes, future Yes drummer Alan White, and Billy Preston. Bob Dylan, a close friend of Harrison's, co-wrote "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. Alan White stated that John Lennon played on "If Not For You."[2]

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

Anglo-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", arranged similarly to Harrison's version; in the US, her version became her first successful pop single,reaching #25. She would cover another song from All Things Must Pass, "Behind That Locked Door").

A remastered edition of All Things Must Pass, supervised by Harrison, was released in 2001, just months before his death; it contained bonus tracks, including a partially re-recorded additional version of "My Sweet Lord". It also included a newly colourised version of the originally monochrome cover. With the original version of the album being concurrently deleted, the remastered edition of All Things Must Pass is the only commercially available version of the release.

On July 29, 2006, The Official UK Charts company changed their records because there was a postal strike when the album had originally been on the charts. Since record retailers had to send in records of how many records had been sold, they could not during an eight-week period in 1971. All Things Must Pass, which had originally peaked at number 4 (with Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water at number one), now has been given the number one spot for all eight weeks.[3]

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

[edit] Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

[edit] Original release

[edit] Studio album

[edit] Side one
  1. "I'd Have You Anytime" (George Harrison/Bob Dylan) – 2:56
  2. "My Sweet Lord" – 4:38
    • 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
  3. "Wah-Wah" – 5:35 Thanks to the O'Hara-Smith Singers, Ciril, Betty, and Tommy Boy
  4. "Isn't It a Pity" (Version 1) – 7:08
[edit] Side two
  1. "What Is Life" – 4:22
  2. "If Not for You" (Bob Dylan) – 3:29
  3. "Behind That Locked Door" – 3:05
    • Written for Bob Dylan following his performance at the Isle of Wight
  4. "Let It Down" – 4:57
  5. "Run of the Mill" – 2:49
[edit] Side three
  1. "Beware of Darkness" – 3:48
  2. "Apple Scruffs" – 3:04
    • Written about the Apple Records groupies who routinely hung around the studios, nicknamed "Apple scruffs"
  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
[edit] Side four
  1. "I Dig Love" – 4:55
  2. "Art of Dying" – 3:37
    • Originally written in 1966
    • Features 19-year-old Phil Collins on percussion
  3. "Isn't It a Pity" (Version 2) – 4:45
  4. "Hear Me Lord" – 5:46

[edit] Apple Jam

[edit] Side five
  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" - Bill Martin/Phil Coulter) – 0:49
  3. "Plug Me In" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Dave Mason/George Harrison) – 3:18
[edit] Side six
  1. "I Remember Jeep" (Ginger Baker/Klaus Voormann/Billy Preston/Eric Clapton/George Harrison) – 8:07
    • Uses white noise from Harrison's 1969 Electronic Sound album track "No Time Or Space"
    • "Jeep" was the name of Eric Clapton's dog that had been stolen
  2. "Thanks for the Pepperoni" (Jim Gordon/Carl Radle/Bobby Whitlock/Eric Clapton/Dave Mason/George Harrison) – 5:31

[edit] 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 colourfully re-imagined cover art, the two studio albums have been split 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.

[edit] Disc one

  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) – 7:09
  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
    • A 2000 recording of a previously unreleased track from the 1970 sessions for All Things Must Pass
  11. "Beware of Darkness" – 3:19
    • An acoustic run-through of the song recorded on 27 May 1970 at the start of the sessions
  12. "Let It Down" – 3:54
    • 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
  13. "What Is Life" – 4:27
    • An early mix of the song's backing track on 9 August 1970 with piccolo trumpet and oboe
  14. "My Sweet Lord (2000)" – 4:57
    • A re-working of the original 1970 recording with new overdubs in 2000, including backing vocal from Sam Brown

[edit] Disc two

  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

[edit] Personnel

The following musicians are credited on the 2001 release:

[edit] Cover versions

[edit] Charts

[edit] Albums

CountryCharts (1970)
Peak positionWeeks
Norway1 (9)30
Australia1 (8)
United States1 (7)38
United Kingdom1 (8)24
Japan411
CountryCharts (2001 Reissue)
Peak positionWeeks
Japan462
France685
United Kingdom682

[edit] Singles

Year Single UK US CH DE AU NO IE JP SE
1971 "My Sweet Lord"/ "Isn't It a Pity"[4] 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 -
1971 "What Is Life"/ "Apple Scruffs" - [5] 10 1 - 4 7 - 19 -
2002 "My Sweet Lord" (Reissue) 1 94 69 - - 18 - 96 56

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gold and Platinum: Searchable Database. RIAA. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  2. ^ Tiano, Mike. Alan White & The Beatles. Notes From The Edge. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  3. ^ Number one for Harrison at last. icLiverpool. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  4. ^ In the United Kingdom, "My Sweet Lord" was released as a double-A-side single with "What Is Life"
  5. ^ In the United Kingdom, "What Is Life"was released as a B-Side of a single "My Sweet Lord".

[edit] External links

v • d • e
George Harrison
Studio albumsAll 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
With Traveling WilburysTraveling Wilburys Vol. 1 · Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3
Live albumsThe Concert for Bangla Desh · Live in Japan
CompilationsThe Best of George Harrison · Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989
SoundtracksWonderwall Music · Concert for George
Experimental albumsElectronic Sound
Box setsThe Dark Horse Years 1976-1992
Related articlesDiscography · The Beatles · Concert for George · Harrisongs · Dark Horse Records · Pattie Boyd · Olivia Trinidad Arias · Dhani Harrison · thenewno2 · Friar Park · Traveling Wilburys · George songs in Beatles
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