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All rights reserved.All Things Must Pass - Harrison, George (CD 2001)
All Things Must Pass - George HarrisonReview created: 01/09/07
by: scapp70 -- a member of Epinions
Pros:
Most of the songs are real good
Most of the songs are real good
Cons:
There is still some filler, the <i>Original Jam</i> section blows
There is still some filler, the <i>Original Jam</i> section blows
It turns out that only two months after the release of the big single, My Sweet Lord from the George Harrison solo album All Things Must Pass, that the royalties coming in for this number one single ceased globally due to the allegation that plagiarism had taken place. The 60's female Motown group claimed that George's song sounds a little too much like their single He's So Fine. A federal court in the US had found George Harrison guilty of plagiarism, and so the royalties were once again beginning to flow, but now into the pockets of the four ladies from the Bronx known as The Chiffons. Yet, a little plagiarism did not halt the praise and new found respect that George had earned from fans and critics alike. The original packaging almost demands respect with a triple-album release and an almost solemn looking George sitting amongst the garden gnomes in the now classic black and white photo. It also didn't hurt that Harrison produced enough great songs that would legitimately warrant the newfound praise and respect he was receiving.
I'd Have You Anytime starts off the album, it's a very mellow type of song. Harrison shares the writing credit here with Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton plays the leads throughout the song. Harrison stated that this was one of his favorite songs, but despite the laid back mood the song sets, the melody line of the verses seems forced and unimaginative. I find this to be true with most of Harrison's songs, but I'd Have You Anytime grows on you after the thirtieth time around.
Producer Phil Spector got such a nice big sound from the acoustic guitars on My Sweet Lord, and in my opinion it's the best hook of the whole song. The song of course was a huge smash for Harrison, reaching #1 the first of all ex-Beatles at that time. Having said that, this is only mere months since the world knew that the Beatles were no more.
Wah Wah is said to be written about Paul McCartney, but I can't hear anything derogatory in the lyrics besides the title, the verses seem almost complimentary and sometimes biographical. I like Wah Wah a lot, it is maybe the heaviest song on the album and it's very catchy. There is no use of a Wah Wah pedal on the song; in fact the lead guitar sounds a lot like a kazoo.
Isn't It a Pity is another big acoustic guitar sound like My Sweet Lord. In my opinion, the song drags on a bit too long at 7:13 and for no apparent reason but to take up lots of time as it used to finish off side one when the album was released on vinyl in a three LP package.
What is Life at this point was very un-George like. It is a very upbeat track based around a distorted guitar riff complete with a huge horn section, written about Patti, his wife at the time. The hook is the chorus when the song shifts gears into a double-time tambourine shaking all out big sound. The vocals tend to get a bit buried throughout the song, but it is still surprising to hear George sing at such a high register. During his time within the Beatles he rarely showed much emotion and it is refreshing to hear on this song. The song was a hit and reached #10 in the US.
If Not For You was written by Bob Dylan, and to me an odd choice of song to cover since it was only released a month before on Bob Dylan's New Morning album. The song is OK; it gets a bit boring as there is really only one part of the song that is played over and over for nearly four minutes.
Behind the Locked Door is another song that shows a previously unseen side of George Harrison. This song has a real authentic country flavor, but the melody line of the lyrics sound more folksy in the vein of Peter Paul and Mary. It has a nice charm to it, despite Harrison's limited vocals which show here more than usual when he seems to straining at some of the notes.
Let It Down has George's voice more to the fore, and as he sings the drone verses he often goes off key as if he hardly knows the song himself. The chorus has a little hook to it but it hardly helps this awful song. As for Run of the Mill, it's easy to see why George was only allotted his two songs per album from Lennon and McCartney. What was he thinking? It sounds like the song was recorded live and we ended up with this lousy vocal and the music doesn't come off tight. Was this cool in 1970?
On this remastered version, they split up the bonus tracks for the two discs. I Live For You is another country-western style song. The song sounds great production wise, not like the muffled muddy sound the original album sounded like up until now. This song is quite enjoyable.
There is a demo of Beware of Darkness which is pretty powerful especially compared to the finished song that starts off the second disc. George Harrison explains in the liner notes that he ran through a bunch of his songs for lunatic producer Phil Spector, unaware that he was being recorded. It's just George at the mic with his acoustic. George hadn't finished all the lyrics at this first run through, and even sings the lyric - beware of ABKCO . ABKCO of course is the acronym for Alen B Klein and Company. It's confusing why George would say this, because according to Beatle history George along with John Lennon was a big defender of Klein (the Beatles manager during Apple's last few years in the 70s) especially when arguing with Paul McCartney. Perhaps not so deep down he knew McCartney was right.
Let It Down is another demonstration from the same tape as Beware of Darkness, but with some overdubs from George in 2000. George singing to his acoustic is much more powerful than Phil Spector's relatively unnecessary over-produced version.
What Is Life, here presented as an instrumental and with added oboe and trumpet, it gives an almost ranchero feel in the intro.
This may be the very few times I've across when the artist almost re-records one of his earlier hits, especially with a thirty year gap between versions. Here, George re-records almost all the instruments and vocals for an updated My Sweet Lord (2000) The guitars sound the same, but the lead vocals are totally changed to give a more tired feel from George, and extra loud slide guitar. There is no big Phil Spector sound present, but the presence of British pop star Sam Brown adds a nice touch as she ad-libs a gospel-style vocal over the ending chorus.
Beware of Darkness opens up disc two. It resembles the demo from disc one, but it's hard to get passed the "wall of sound" that somehow made Spector famous and in demand. George even adds a disclaimer as soon as you open the booklet to this anniversary CD, he states:
"It has been 30 years since 'All Things Must Pass' was recorded. I still like the songs on the album and believe they can outlive the style in which they were recorded. It was difficult to resist re-mixing every track. All these years later I would like to liberate some of the songs from the big production that seemed appropriate at the time, but now seems a bit over the top with the reverb in the wall of sound."
Apple Scruffs with it's big harmonica sound may have benefited from having so much top end from Spector, it has a live feel to it. The song is just a couple of acoustic guitars, the prominent harmonica and hand claps, and George had written a happy ode to the girls that used to hang around outside the EMI studios hoping to catch a glimpse of The Beatles. He sings:
In the fog and in the rain
Through the pleasure and the pain,
On the step outside you stand,
With flowers in your hands,
Apple Scruffs
Awaiting On You All pretty much sums up George's Eastern religious beliefs within the lyrics, but the song does not have that Eastern Indian feel that some of his songs had when he was with The Beatles. I think I'm a bit disappointed that George hadn't included any of those sitar songs on his first real outing. The whole song is pretty catchy, yet it's hard to decipher the music and lyrics through the mess of reverb.
The title track, All Things Must Pass is a much more upbeat version than what he presented to The Beatles. George had indeed decided to remix this with old part-time Beatles sound engineer Ken Scott in 2000 and liberated the Phil Spector wall of sound from this track. I feel like a big Q-Tip had cleared out my ears of wax and potatoes, the song sounds more modern and timeless. The song is far from being the strongest song on the album, but still passable.
I Dig Love shows another side of Harrison's writing style. The lyrics are insipid and without any thought in writing them, but the song shows almost a playful side of Harrison. He always seems too serious, and this song shows that life doesn't always have to be chanting or about mantras.
The intro to Art of Dying explodes with some great guitar work from Eric Clapton, loud horns and an almost disco drum beat that predates the genre about five years. George sings the entire song along with a harmony vocal that sounds a lot like Paul McCartney, and therefore we have probably the most Beatle-like track on the album. Isn't It a Pity (version 2) is pretty much the same as the version one and the same exact lyrics are used for both versions. This version is lots shorter than the 7:08 version one, and therefore much more listenable.
Here Me Lord closes the album. To my ears it sounds like there's a big Lennon influence. It sounds as if it could have easily mingled with the songs on Lennon's Mind Games album. The lyrics are religious from George's point of view, Transcendental Meditation at its most commercial sounding since Across the Universe. This is one of those long fade out type of songs that repeat the chorus over and over, unfortunately the 'wall of sound' meshes all the instruments and vocals into one confusing noise for the most part.
The Original Jam section starts off with It's Johnny's Birthday, the song clocks in at only 0:49 seconds, and it's just an upbeat carnival sounding sing-a-long with George, Mal Evans and Ringo Starr. The song was played for Lennon (Johnny), at his 30th birthday in October of 1970. It quickly segues into the shortest jam, Plug Me In where everybody's playing guitar leads over one another. I Remember Jeep seems to pick up from where Plug Me In left off. It really just sounds like an eight minute mess. Jeep, by the way, was Eric Clapton's dog that was stolen. Thanks For The Pepperoni has a Johnny B Goode feel, yet seriously boring even for those who are fans of jam sessions. Out of The Blue sounds the same as the last three, except this one lasts over eleven minutes. I'm not sure what the purpose of these jam sessions is, except that George had an opportunity to play along side groups of different musicians like Eric Clapton, Alan White, Ginger Baker etc.
George began his career with the biggest band on the planet, The Beatles, and to give him credit he has honed his song writing skills and his musical ability on the guitar. George started off his solo career with All Things Must Pass which even overshadowed his three ex-band mates commercially, and he did it with an unprecedented three-disc album. It's far from the best album from an ex-Beatle, but it sold more than the other Beatles' solo efforts with an RIAA award of 6xPlatinum, but of course that's due in part that the album had three LPs. George left us in November of 2001, and we fans are blessed that someone had the brains to give his greatest work a facelift and that he lived to appreciate that we still appreciated him.
the songs
Disc 1
1. I'd Have You Anytime
2. My Sweet Lord
3. Wah-Wah
4. Isn't It A Pity (version one)
5. What Is Life
6. If Not For You
7. Behind That Locked Door
8. Let It Down
9. Run of the Mill
10. I Live For You (bonus track)
11. Beware of Darkness (bonus track)
12. Let it Down (bonus track)
13. What Is Life (bonus track)
14. My Sweet Lord (2000, bonus track)
Disc 2
1. Beware Of Darkness
2. Apple Scruffs
3. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
4. Awaiting On You All
5. All Things Must Pass
6. I Dig Love
7. Art of Dying
8. Isn't It a Pity (version two)
9. Hear Me Lord
10. It's Johnny's Birthday
11. Plug Me In
12. I Remember Jeep
13. Thanks for the Pepperoni
14. Out Of The Blue
More Beatles-related Epinions from Scapp70
~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Beatles~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Please Me
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The White Album
Abbey Road
Real Love (CD Single)
Free As A Bird (CD Single)
Tropical Tribute to the Beatles
Bach On Abbey Road
Love
Here, There & Everywhere - My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
~~~~~~~~~~~Paul McCartney~~~~~~~~~~
McCartney
RAM
Red Rose Speedway
Band on the Run
Band on the Run - 25 Year Anniversary Edition
Venus and Mars
Wings at the Speed of Sound
Should Paul McCartney Go Back On Drugs?
The Walrus Was Paul
Top 20 Favorite SOLO Beatles Songs W/O
~~~~~~~~~~~~Ringo Starr~~~~~~~~~~~
Ringo
Goodnight Vienna
Blast From The Past
Rotogravure
VH1 Storytellers
~~~~~~~~~~~~John Lennon~~~~~~~~~~~
Plastic Ono Band
Imagine
I'd Have You Anytime starts off the album, it's a very mellow type of song. Harrison shares the writing credit here with Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton plays the leads throughout the song. Harrison stated that this was one of his favorite songs, but despite the laid back mood the song sets, the melody line of the verses seems forced and unimaginative. I find this to be true with most of Harrison's songs, but I'd Have You Anytime grows on you after the thirtieth time around.
Producer Phil Spector got such a nice big sound from the acoustic guitars on My Sweet Lord, and in my opinion it's the best hook of the whole song. The song of course was a huge smash for Harrison, reaching #1 the first of all ex-Beatles at that time. Having said that, this is only mere months since the world knew that the Beatles were no more.
Wah Wah is said to be written about Paul McCartney, but I can't hear anything derogatory in the lyrics besides the title, the verses seem almost complimentary and sometimes biographical. I like Wah Wah a lot, it is maybe the heaviest song on the album and it's very catchy. There is no use of a Wah Wah pedal on the song; in fact the lead guitar sounds a lot like a kazoo.
Isn't It a Pity is another big acoustic guitar sound like My Sweet Lord. In my opinion, the song drags on a bit too long at 7:13 and for no apparent reason but to take up lots of time as it used to finish off side one when the album was released on vinyl in a three LP package.
What is Life at this point was very un-George like. It is a very upbeat track based around a distorted guitar riff complete with a huge horn section, written about Patti, his wife at the time. The hook is the chorus when the song shifts gears into a double-time tambourine shaking all out big sound. The vocals tend to get a bit buried throughout the song, but it is still surprising to hear George sing at such a high register. During his time within the Beatles he rarely showed much emotion and it is refreshing to hear on this song. The song was a hit and reached #10 in the US.
If Not For You was written by Bob Dylan, and to me an odd choice of song to cover since it was only released a month before on Bob Dylan's New Morning album. The song is OK; it gets a bit boring as there is really only one part of the song that is played over and over for nearly four minutes.
Behind the Locked Door is another song that shows a previously unseen side of George Harrison. This song has a real authentic country flavor, but the melody line of the lyrics sound more folksy in the vein of Peter Paul and Mary. It has a nice charm to it, despite Harrison's limited vocals which show here more than usual when he seems to straining at some of the notes.
Let It Down has George's voice more to the fore, and as he sings the drone verses he often goes off key as if he hardly knows the song himself. The chorus has a little hook to it but it hardly helps this awful song. As for Run of the Mill, it's easy to see why George was only allotted his two songs per album from Lennon and McCartney. What was he thinking? It sounds like the song was recorded live and we ended up with this lousy vocal and the music doesn't come off tight. Was this cool in 1970?
On this remastered version, they split up the bonus tracks for the two discs. I Live For You is another country-western style song. The song sounds great production wise, not like the muffled muddy sound the original album sounded like up until now. This song is quite enjoyable.
There is a demo of Beware of Darkness which is pretty powerful especially compared to the finished song that starts off the second disc. George Harrison explains in the liner notes that he ran through a bunch of his songs for lunatic producer Phil Spector, unaware that he was being recorded. It's just George at the mic with his acoustic. George hadn't finished all the lyrics at this first run through, and even sings the lyric - beware of ABKCO . ABKCO of course is the acronym for Alen B Klein and Company. It's confusing why George would say this, because according to Beatle history George along with John Lennon was a big defender of Klein (the Beatles manager during Apple's last few years in the 70s) especially when arguing with Paul McCartney. Perhaps not so deep down he knew McCartney was right.
Let It Down is another demonstration from the same tape as Beware of Darkness, but with some overdubs from George in 2000. George singing to his acoustic is much more powerful than Phil Spector's relatively unnecessary over-produced version.
What Is Life, here presented as an instrumental and with added oboe and trumpet, it gives an almost ranchero feel in the intro.
This may be the very few times I've across when the artist almost re-records one of his earlier hits, especially with a thirty year gap between versions. Here, George re-records almost all the instruments and vocals for an updated My Sweet Lord (2000) The guitars sound the same, but the lead vocals are totally changed to give a more tired feel from George, and extra loud slide guitar. There is no big Phil Spector sound present, but the presence of British pop star Sam Brown adds a nice touch as she ad-libs a gospel-style vocal over the ending chorus.
Beware of Darkness opens up disc two. It resembles the demo from disc one, but it's hard to get passed the "wall of sound" that somehow made Spector famous and in demand. George even adds a disclaimer as soon as you open the booklet to this anniversary CD, he states:
"It has been 30 years since 'All Things Must Pass' was recorded. I still like the songs on the album and believe they can outlive the style in which they were recorded. It was difficult to resist re-mixing every track. All these years later I would like to liberate some of the songs from the big production that seemed appropriate at the time, but now seems a bit over the top with the reverb in the wall of sound."
Apple Scruffs with it's big harmonica sound may have benefited from having so much top end from Spector, it has a live feel to it. The song is just a couple of acoustic guitars, the prominent harmonica and hand claps, and George had written a happy ode to the girls that used to hang around outside the EMI studios hoping to catch a glimpse of The Beatles. He sings:
In the fog and in the rain
Through the pleasure and the pain,
On the step outside you stand,
With flowers in your hands,
Apple Scruffs
Awaiting On You All pretty much sums up George's Eastern religious beliefs within the lyrics, but the song does not have that Eastern Indian feel that some of his songs had when he was with The Beatles. I think I'm a bit disappointed that George hadn't included any of those sitar songs on his first real outing. The whole song is pretty catchy, yet it's hard to decipher the music and lyrics through the mess of reverb.
The title track, All Things Must Pass is a much more upbeat version than what he presented to The Beatles. George had indeed decided to remix this with old part-time Beatles sound engineer Ken Scott in 2000 and liberated the Phil Spector wall of sound from this track. I feel like a big Q-Tip had cleared out my ears of wax and potatoes, the song sounds more modern and timeless. The song is far from being the strongest song on the album, but still passable.
I Dig Love shows another side of Harrison's writing style. The lyrics are insipid and without any thought in writing them, but the song shows almost a playful side of Harrison. He always seems too serious, and this song shows that life doesn't always have to be chanting or about mantras.
The intro to Art of Dying explodes with some great guitar work from Eric Clapton, loud horns and an almost disco drum beat that predates the genre about five years. George sings the entire song along with a harmony vocal that sounds a lot like Paul McCartney, and therefore we have probably the most Beatle-like track on the album. Isn't It a Pity (version 2) is pretty much the same as the version one and the same exact lyrics are used for both versions. This version is lots shorter than the 7:08 version one, and therefore much more listenable.
Here Me Lord closes the album. To my ears it sounds like there's a big Lennon influence. It sounds as if it could have easily mingled with the songs on Lennon's Mind Games album. The lyrics are religious from George's point of view, Transcendental Meditation at its most commercial sounding since Across the Universe. This is one of those long fade out type of songs that repeat the chorus over and over, unfortunately the 'wall of sound' meshes all the instruments and vocals into one confusing noise for the most part.
The Original Jam section starts off with It's Johnny's Birthday, the song clocks in at only 0:49 seconds, and it's just an upbeat carnival sounding sing-a-long with George, Mal Evans and Ringo Starr. The song was played for Lennon (Johnny), at his 30th birthday in October of 1970. It quickly segues into the shortest jam, Plug Me In where everybody's playing guitar leads over one another. I Remember Jeep seems to pick up from where Plug Me In left off. It really just sounds like an eight minute mess. Jeep, by the way, was Eric Clapton's dog that was stolen. Thanks For The Pepperoni has a Johnny B Goode feel, yet seriously boring even for those who are fans of jam sessions. Out of The Blue sounds the same as the last three, except this one lasts over eleven minutes. I'm not sure what the purpose of these jam sessions is, except that George had an opportunity to play along side groups of different musicians like Eric Clapton, Alan White, Ginger Baker etc.
George began his career with the biggest band on the planet, The Beatles, and to give him credit he has honed his song writing skills and his musical ability on the guitar. George started off his solo career with All Things Must Pass which even overshadowed his three ex-band mates commercially, and he did it with an unprecedented three-disc album. It's far from the best album from an ex-Beatle, but it sold more than the other Beatles' solo efforts with an RIAA award of 6xPlatinum, but of course that's due in part that the album had three LPs. George left us in November of 2001, and we fans are blessed that someone had the brains to give his greatest work a facelift and that he lived to appreciate that we still appreciated him.
the songs
Disc 1
1. I'd Have You Anytime
2. My Sweet Lord
3. Wah-Wah
4. Isn't It A Pity (version one)
5. What Is Life
6. If Not For You
7. Behind That Locked Door
8. Let It Down
9. Run of the Mill
10. I Live For You (bonus track)
11. Beware of Darkness (bonus track)
12. Let it Down (bonus track)
13. What Is Life (bonus track)
14. My Sweet Lord (2000, bonus track)
Disc 2
1. Beware Of Darkness
2. Apple Scruffs
3. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)
4. Awaiting On You All
5. All Things Must Pass
6. I Dig Love
7. Art of Dying
8. Isn't It a Pity (version two)
9. Hear Me Lord
10. It's Johnny's Birthday
11. Plug Me In
12. I Remember Jeep
13. Thanks for the Pepperoni
14. Out Of The Blue
More Beatles-related Epinions from Scapp70
~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Beatles~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Please Me
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The White Album
Abbey Road
Real Love (CD Single)
Free As A Bird (CD Single)
Tropical Tribute to the Beatles
Bach On Abbey Road
Love
Here, There & Everywhere - My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
~~~~~~~~~~~Paul McCartney~~~~~~~~~~
McCartney
RAM
Red Rose Speedway
Band on the Run
Band on the Run - 25 Year Anniversary Edition
Venus and Mars
Wings at the Speed of Sound
Should Paul McCartney Go Back On Drugs?
The Walrus Was Paul
Top 20 Favorite SOLO Beatles Songs W/O
~~~~~~~~~~~~Ringo Starr~~~~~~~~~~~
Ringo
Goodnight Vienna
Blast From The Past
Rotogravure
VH1 Storytellers
~~~~~~~~~~~~John Lennon~~~~~~~~~~~
Plastic Ono Band
Imagine
Review ID: 10000000002749551
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