As I grow older and a little bit wiser, some music artists like George Harrison leave an indelible mark or feel like a kindred spirit the more I hear from them. Today’s track All Things Must Pass is another one of his post Beatles songs I wish I had heard earlier in my life. It’s a song that puts me into a mature and softened mind-state. The emotion in George’s voice shines through.
Most of the following is sourced from the 2 Wikipedia references below:
All Things Must Pass (the song) is the title track of George Harrison’s first solo record and the second entry here from the record after Isn’t It it a Pity. The composition reflects the influence of the Band’s sound and communal music-making on Harrison, after he had spent time with the group in Woodstock, New York, in late 1968. Harrison spent Thanksgiving and much of December in upstate New York, where he renewed his friendship with a now semi-retired Dylan and took part in informal jam sessions with the Band.
In his lyrics, Harrison drew inspiration from Timothy Leary’s poem All Things Pass, a psychedelic adaptation of the Tao Te Ching. The words and music combine to reflect impressions of optimism against fatalism.
The Beatles had rehearsed the song in January 1969 but did not include it on their Let It Be album. Music critic Ian MacDonald described All Things Must Pass as “the wisest song never recorded by The Beatles“.
Sunrise doesn’t last all morning
A cloudburst doesn’t last all day
Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning
It’s not always gonna be this gray
[Chorus]
All things must pass
All things must pass away
[Verse 2]
Sunset doesn’t last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this, my love is up and must be leaving
It’s not always gonna be this gray
[Chorus]
All things must pass
All things must pass away
On 25 February 1969, his 26th birthday, Harrison entered Abbey Road Studios alone and recorded a demo of All Things Must Pass. With Ken Scott serving as engineer, he recorded two takes of it, adding extra electric guitar onto the second. This version was eventually released in 1996 on the Beatles’ outtake collection Anthology 3.
Things Must Pass (the record) was co-produced by Harrison and Phil Spector. Many musicians contributed to the album, including Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Pete Drake, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann, members of Badfinger, players from Delaney and Bonnie band, and John Barham. The triple-LP topped charts around the world and earned universal acclaim as a rock masterpiece.
Reference:
1. All Things Must Pass – Wikipedia
2. All Things Must Pass (song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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I listened to this repeatedly when it came out. Really influenced my thinking.
That’s remarkable. I listened to Lennon ad nauseam growing up, but Harrison hardly at all. My folks just didn’t have his records, which was a shame (looking back now).
I only listened to songs from Harrison’s remarkable triple album only recently. I imagine Max in Nashville (Powerpop blog) put me onto this stuff. Max has commented here about this song. I definitely recommend his blog Tom. Cheers.
I just followed him. Will be checking out. My best friend way back then was a Harrison fanatic. I guess he turned me into one George is by far my favorite. He has so many great albums.
You’ll enjoy Max’s blog. Lots to sift through and he has a way with words and draws upon personal connections with almost every track. John was by far my favourite Beatle, but now its between George and John. I still have a lot of George’s discography to discover. Check out Max’s recent post on Rosie and the Originals ‘Angel Heart’. That song is a keeper! My kids and played it ad nauseum on the weekend.
Thanks Matt. Going to check it out. Crazy couple of days lately. My Son has pulled a new trick…
Sorry to read about the ongoing problem with your son.
Oh well I guess it’s just life as usual lol thanks Matt.
‘Angel Baby’ I mean . Oops
I want this played at my funeral. It’s a beautiful song and a beautiful meaning. Paul McCartney covered this at the Concert For George….he didn’t surpass George of course but did a good job.
I was thinking about what you wrote here yesterday when I received your message. That’s a huge call to identify THIS song as THE song to be played at your funeral. But who can blame you? t’s so utterly meditative, poignant and moving. I’ll check out the McCartney version. Thanks.
Yes…and I stand by it. My son knows lol. It hit me when McCartney played it…it may not do the same for you.
McCartney’s version is superb, nearly a straight up copy of Harrison’s – at least to my ears. You probably know by now I’m not the biggest McCartney fan, probably because he always appeared the straight-up centrist, tee-totalling and conventional of the group. And may be that was his forte (all along) in being the glue per se. I don’t know. You do, no doubt. I didn’t like his post Beatles stuff anywhere near like the others. But I can’t help but admire him.
Yea I like his version I guess because it was so emotional because it was so close to when George died.
I know you don’t care for them and that is cool…but
Matt…I can’t believe I’m saying this…but I guess it was because of when I was a kid they were my identity….no one around me liked them…I was “the weird Beatle guy” at school. Anyway…I hate to admit it but tears where streaming when I saw that new video to the song…I know that is very unmanly but I did…
I didn’t say anything about the Beatles, just my interpretation of McCartney and his significance to me especially post Beatles. That’s all. I was hoping you could clarify my perspective about how I saw his input in the Beatles and post.
I’m not disparaging the magnitude of the Beatles or McCartney’s role. Just that I saw him in the role as I described and why I wasn’t such a big admirer of him esp post Beatles. I understand and relate with your unfettered connection with the Beatles. It’s not an anomaly. I saw the Beatles last release and I liked it. I’d have preferred to hear the raw Lennon audio. Where is that?
Oh Matt…I just said it…I wanted to say it to someone so that looked like a good chance! It was nothing you said…I felt stupid but it felt good getting it out!
No you didn’t say a bad word at all..
Oh hold on…I’ll find it.
i WAYYYYY more prefer this version. It is in the stratosphere. This is music. Why didnt they just release this? As usual McCartney has to have his f/&king hands all over it
It would be on a John Lennon album but not Beatles. Hey Yoko gave this to them to redo. Matt this is cleaned up a bit…on the first one you could barely hear him becasue the piano. The quality is not releasable.
I like this but I do like the finished version.
No way, I’m sorry. This song is John Lennon and final. His version stripped down is 20 times better than what they did after the event to milk it. I’m enraged TBH
Well I didn’t want to do that! I’m sure they will release it also. I like raw…and you know that but I thought it was nuanced very well. Peter Jackson is the one who did the work on this…he was able to take Johns voice and separate it from the piano….that is the reason they didn’t do it in the 90s…because it was not releasable. The original had a hum that they could not get out.
We will have to beg to differ how this went down Max. Lennon’s scratched raw version is the stuff of legends. The milked version to me is milked. Sorry.
Would John Lennon have released himself on a piano playing to a cheap cassette player? It’s a demo so when he got to the studio…he could have shown the band what the song sounded like. Him and Paul did the same thing. They would record basic tracks and then show the others. They had hundreds of demos.
So no…I don’t consider this “milking”…. you know the songs I played for you from me? I have a rough demo of all of them that I used to show the guys in the band. It’s to show the others the song…..not to release.
His version, as scratched as it is ….is way better than their version polished decades later. You prefer polished and milked, I don’t and that’s that. We could go on and on in circles. I’m sure in years to come the raw version will go down as THE ONE. not the sh/tty version with Paul and Ringo years later.
In your opinion it is…and that is awesome…on this one I do like the finish version…. yea it is polished…but you could say that about 99 percent of all songs. Most songs that we listen to start off with a lone person on a tape…but they go to the studio and fill it out. If they would have left it as a lone person on a tape…we wouldn’t hear it. It would not be played.
I like the demo…I really do…I wish he would have done it with better quality…I did think George, Paul, and Ringo did their thing on it well. George played on this in the 90s. Thats cool if you don’t like it…you have this one to listen to. Matt I’ve been listening to the demo since the early 2000s…it was leaked in the 90s
If they were upright and transparent they would have just released Lennon’s original uncut instead of polishing it…. I understand the processing Max. That’s where you and I seem to differ.
I as a fan wanted to hear the ‘real stuff’ original, not what McCartney and Ringo manufactured later. Anyone can do that sh/t and make it seem more popular or conducive to modern audiences. Like I said, I’m against it.
George plays a lot on it also…. in some cases Matt I do like the demo more… not in this case but in a lot I do. It’s just a preference…I love what Ringo did with those fills. Now days I would imagine you would get demos with the finished version.
It’s fantastic ‘Strawberry Fields’ like this. I’m a Beatles fan. haha. Thanks for the link. Stupendous.
I thought you would like it.
Just added that version to the collection. You were on the money. Thanks Max.
This might open a lot of bands to you….not just The Beatles. Now after all of these years demos are being put on albums as well as the original
You have opened my eyes Max to the possibilities. I was once blind and now I can see.
LOL… sorry Matt….I woke up this morning in bed with the laptop on my lap.
I wish I could do that Max. As they say in Spanish you are a ‘Dormilón’ (sleepyhead). Haha I hope you have a great day, man.
I’ve been listening to Perri’s ‘Pixie Dust’ all morning. I wish one day I could hear a bad song from her. It hasn’t happened.
As soon as I get to work I’ll take a listen…I know how you feel…about the people I’ve been fans of.
Perri Time I reckon lol:
The wording of Perri’s songs are second to none. ‘Jar of Hearts’ is a modern legend. That is the pinnacle for any artist. Dylan would be proud of writing that.
Max have you heard this from Perri just released called Pixie Dust?
She is without doubt the greatest female artist I’ve heard.
Well Matt I didn’t want to get you upset!
It upset me I’m afraid. But that happens and it’s no fault of no one except those who milked the cow.
How many Dylan ‘scratched’ releases like ‘Every Grain of Sand’ with a dog barking are now renowned better than the studio? Oh please. Lets go down this track if you like Max.
I respect that you like the demo more….in a few instances I do also….not in this case at all… but in some song yea I do…nothing wrong with that… I like George’s demo to While My Guitar Gently Weeps… not as much as the finished song though.
There is no comparison. Lennon mastered it even as scratched as it is. You can’t improve that.
Hey we disagree….but I love your passion!
here is an example…I will bet you would like this more.
You are 100% correct. This is a song.
Lennon didn’t think so. He did close to what George, Paul, and Ringo did on this one.
Personally I love it also…I think it’s cool.
Don’t get me wrong…I love demos and the originals…I love hearing both and see how a song progresses…because I do the same…
My God that pisses me off that his original didnt get released as is. This is exactly my problem with him.
A record company would not release that….well scratch that…not on a single anyway. I like almost anything Lennon did….but my favorite of the redone ones is Free As A Bird…George plays some great guitar on that.