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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 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.
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Encyclopedia
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.
History
Background
The outpouring of the wealth of 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.
Harrison had been accumulating the songs he recorded for the album as far back as 1966; both "The Art of Dying" and "Isn't It a Pity" date from that year. In bootlegged conversation from the Get Back sessions, Harrison revealed that John had rejected "Isn't It a Pity" three years before, and that he (Harrison) had considered offering the song to Frank Sinatra. Harrison picked up several more songs in late 1968 while visiting Bob Dylan and The Band in Woodstock, New York. He and Dylan co-wrote "I'd Have You Anytime" and "Nowhere to Go" (also known as "When Everybody Comes to Town") at this time, and Dylan showed him "I Don't Want to Do It." All three songs were attempted at some point in the sessions for All Things Must Pass, but only "I'd Have You Anytime" made the album.
The January 1969 "Get Back" sessions saw early appearances of several other songs that would be considered for All Things Must Pass, including the title track, "Hear Me Lord", "Isn't It a Pity", "Let It Down", and "Window, Window", but nothing came of them at the time. The tense atmosphere fueled another song, "Wah-Wah", which Harrison wrote in the wake of his temporary departure from the band. He began writing "My Sweet Lord" while touring with Delaney & Bonnie in late 1969, and would later utilize their backing group "Friends" as an important part of the All Things Must Pass sound. He made one last detour before beginning work on All Things Must Pass, visiting Dylan while the latter was starting sessions for New Morning in May 1970, learning "If Not For You" and participating in a now-bootlegged session.
Reaction and aftermath
All Things Must Pass lead single was "My Sweet Lord", which proved an enormously popular recording, reaching #1 worldwide, and 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". He also bought the publishing rights to "He's So Fine" to prevent future suits. The album itself reached #1 in the UK for eight weeks, and spent seven weeks at the top in 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. At the time, record retailers would send in documents saying how many records had been sold, but because of the strike 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.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 437 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
2001 re-release
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.
Harrison participated in Web chats and magazine interviews to promote the reissue.
It was a big seller, reaching No. 4 in Billboard's Pop Catalog Chart as well as sparking a critical reconsideration of Harrison's greatest work and solo career as a whole. After Harrison's death in November, 2001, the reissue returned to the upper regions of the same catalog chart.
Track listing
Personnel
The following musicians are credited on the 2001 release:
- Guitars: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Peter Frampton, John Lennon
- Bass guitar: Klaus Voorman, Carl Radle
- Orchestral arrangements: John Barham
- Keyboards: Gary Wright, Bobby Whitlock, Billy Preston, Gary Brooker
- Drums and percussion: Ringo Starr, Jim Gordon, Alan White, Phil Collins, Ginger Baker
- Harmonica - George Harrison
- Pedal steel guitar (with talk box): Pete Drake
- Tenor saxophone: Bobby Keys
- Trumpet: Jim Price
- Rhythm guitars and percussion: Badfinger
- Fender Rhodes and backing vocals ("I Live for You") and ("My Sweet Lord", 2000 version): Dhani Harrison
- Tambourine ("My Sweet Lord", 2001 version): Ray Cooper
- Additional lead vocals ("My Sweet Lord", 2001 version): Sam Brown
Cover versions
- Billy Preston covered "My Sweet Lord" and "All Things Must Pass" on his 1970 album Encouraging Words
- Galaxie 500 covered "Isn't It a Pity" on their 1989 album On Fire
- Tom Petty's early band, Mudcrutch, did a live version of "Isn't It a Pity" that has surfaced on soundboard recordings from the early '70s. Tom Petty later revisited the song with The Heartbreakers during their winter 2002 tour for "The Last DJ".
- Joe Cocker covered "Beware of Darkness" on his 2007 album Hymn for My Soul
- The prog rock band Spock's Beard covered the song Beware of Darkness on their album by the same name.
- Nina Simone covered "Isn't It a Pity"
- Leon Russell covered "Beware of Darkness" on his album "Leon Russell and the Shelter People."
- Concrete Blonde covered "Beware of Darkness" on their eponymous 1986 debut album.
- The Rutles covered "Isn't It a Pity" during their farewell tour.
- Eric Clapton paid tribute to Harrison at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival when he covered "Isn't It a Pity".
- Elliott Smith occasionally covered "Isn't It a Pity" and "My Sweet Lord" in concert.
- Ocean Colour Scene covered "Wah-Wah" on their 2005 album A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad.
- Several songs from the album were featured in the all-star Concert for George, including a Billy Preston/ Eric Clapton duet covering "Isn't it a Pity." This version includes back-up vocals purposely reminiscent of the Lennon/McCartney song "Hey Jude," musically tying together Harrison's solo career with his time with the Beatles.
- The Three Degrees covered "Isn't It A Pity".
- Buffalo Tom covered "Wah-Wah" on their 2002 compilation album Besides, A Collection of B-Sides and Rarities.
- Greg Dulli covered "Isn't It A Pity" on his 2008 Live at Triple Door cd.
Charts
Albums
| Country | Charts (1970) |
|---|
| | Peak position | Weeks |
|---|
| Canada | 1 (10) | 32 | | Norway | 1 (9) | 30 | | Australia | 1 (8) | | | United States | 1 (7) | 38 | | United Kingdom | 1 (8) | 24 | | Italy | 1 (2) | | | Japan | 4 | 11 | | Finland | 10 | |
| Country | Charts (2001 Reissue) |
|---|
| | Peak position | Weeks |
|---|
| Japan | 46 | 2 | | France | 68 | 5 | | United Kingdom | 68 | 2 |
Singles
External links
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