Short, sharp and frank reviews from a confessed vinyl junkie. I’ll be posting my most loved records and most recent purchases right here for your perusal every week.
Having watched all three episodes of the stunning ‘Get Back’ documentary, and given it’s been 20 years this week since George sadly passed away, I thought now was as good a time as any to feature this superb solo effort from ‘the quiet one’.
I was chatting with a friend this week in regards to the fact Yoko is seemingly (and understandably) happy she’s been shown in a different light in the new film and is apparently, no longer to blame for the break up of the worlds greatest band. Personally, having read many books on The Beatles and having watched endless footage of interviews of all four members, I concluded a long time ago that George was the main reason for the break-up.
Whilst there was also plenty of other rifts involved, George was quite clearly sick of not getting his own material on The Beatles output. He was the first Beatle to release a solo album, the instrumental soundtrack to the film Wonderwall, followed by his electronic, experimental offering Electronic Sound. George was also the first Beatle to release a solo album post break up, his third studio album, All Things Must Pass.
The new remastered and remixed version of this classic has never sounded better. Whilst Phil Spector may have been a (very twisted) genius, I’ve always thought his work on All Things Must Pass was over the top and too difficult to decipher what’s going on throughout. It’s only now that you can hear intstruments in the original recordings that were unidentifiable before, that you truly appreciate its beauty.
The end result is a much cleaner and clear sound, so hats off to Paul Hicks for uncovering this gem. That said, the musicians involved obviously made sure this album was going to sound as good as it does, and when you’ve got Billy Preston, Ringo, Klaus Voormann, Eric Clapton and Bobby Keys (amongst many more) involved, you know you’re onto a winner.
The outtakes and demos featured on the other records are, without doubt, yet more evidence of the man’s genius. It’s great to hear different versions with a more stripped back feel, but I guess they’re only there for die-hard fans. The quiet one did good. R.I.P. George x
Listen to George Harrison – All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary – BELOW:
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