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50 years ago today George Harrison released his critically acclaimed triple LP All Things Must Pass. The first solo record by a Beatle after the dissolution of the band, Harrison shocked the world with a magnum opus of songs that showed off his songwriting competency. The quiet Beatle seemingly came out of nowhere and put out an album that stands along some of the finest work that The Beatles did as a group. So how did this happen so suddenly after the breakup of The Beatles that George Harrison emerged as a brilliant songwriter? The answer has to do with The Beatles themselves and the frictions within the band.
As it has been well documented, Lennon and McCartney had developed a bit of a rivalry between the two. They would try to best each others song's by writing back and forth with a lot of experimentation happening on the production side of things in the studio as well. Meanwhile George was writing a lot of the songs that would end up on All Things Must Pass. Lennon-McCartney would ignore Harrison's songs and be generally dismissive of any of his contributions, despite the fact he was writing some of the arguably best songs on later Beatles albums (While My Guitar might be the standout track off the White Album and you could pick either Something or Here Comes The Sun off of Abbey as the highlight). So while John and Paul were reaching new heights with their songs, Harrison was keeping ground with them and possibly surpassing them. But due to the egomanical pissing match going on between John and Paul, these songs never got a chance to be recorded.
It turns out that in the end, this would benefit Harrison greatly. He had amassed a fair share of quality material written over the course of 3-4 years in addition to what he was writing during and after The Beatles imploded. Free from his controlling bandmates, he was finally able to record these songs alongside the legendary Phil Spector and fully realize his musical aspirations. The album comes out with low expectations and George blew everyone away. In my opinion, it is the greatest Beatles solo release and the only double album where all the songs are fantastic. Usually whenever I hear a double album there's always at least 2-3 tracks I'll skip over or there's a feeling it's a double album just for the novelty. All Things Must Pass does not exhibit any signs of this (although you could make a case that the second version of Isn't It A Pity is padding). I should mention the third record is just instrumental jams which while good aren't required listening. Also worth mentioning as a side note of you like Phil Collins (who doesn't) he was used as a session musician on Art Of Dying pre-Genesis days. He tells a hilarious story about the recording session in his autobiography and I believe it was one of his first times in a studio.
It's a beautiful album with a lot of top quality material, so if you're a Beatles fan but have never checked out the solo work after the group split up, I highly recommend this album. Hell I highly recommend this album to anyone. Finally, it goes without saying that 2020 has been a rough year for all of us. I find it fitting that 50 years later George is here to remind us once again that all things must pass. RIP George, we still miss you
As it has been well documented, Lennon and McCartney had developed a bit of a rivalry between the two. They would try to best each others song's by writing back and forth with a lot of experimentation happening on the production side of things in the studio as well. Meanwhile George was writing a lot of the songs that would end up on All Things Must Pass. Lennon-McCartney would ignore Harrison's songs and be generally dismissive of any of his contributions, despite the fact he was writing some of the arguably best songs on later Beatles albums (While My Guitar might be the standout track off the White Album and you could pick either Something or Here Comes The Sun off of Abbey as the highlight). So while John and Paul were reaching new heights with their songs, Harrison was keeping ground with them and possibly surpassing them. But due to the egomanical pissing match going on between John and Paul, these songs never got a chance to be recorded.
It turns out that in the end, this would benefit Harrison greatly. He had amassed a fair share of quality material written over the course of 3-4 years in addition to what he was writing during and after The Beatles imploded. Free from his controlling bandmates, he was finally able to record these songs alongside the legendary Phil Spector and fully realize his musical aspirations. The album comes out with low expectations and George blew everyone away. In my opinion, it is the greatest Beatles solo release and the only double album where all the songs are fantastic. Usually whenever I hear a double album there's always at least 2-3 tracks I'll skip over or there's a feeling it's a double album just for the novelty. All Things Must Pass does not exhibit any signs of this (although you could make a case that the second version of Isn't It A Pity is padding). I should mention the third record is just instrumental jams which while good aren't required listening. Also worth mentioning as a side note of you like Phil Collins (who doesn't) he was used as a session musician on Art Of Dying pre-Genesis days. He tells a hilarious story about the recording session in his autobiography and I believe it was one of his first times in a studio.
It's a beautiful album with a lot of top quality material, so if you're a Beatles fan but have never checked out the solo work after the group split up, I highly recommend this album. Hell I highly recommend this album to anyone. Finally, it goes without saying that 2020 has been a rough year for all of us. I find it fitting that 50 years later George is here to remind us once again that all things must pass. RIP George, we still miss you
) but George writing songs about his bandmates being children always turn out great. While My Guitar, I Me Mine or in this case, Wah Wah. 
