All Things Must Pass was not the first solo release that George Harrison recorded outside of The Beatles. He recorded the soundtrack album for the film Wonderwall in 1968 and released the experimental instrumental music album Electronic Sound in 1969. All Things Must Pass came out in November of 1970 after The Beatles had broken up and included some songs Harrison initially wrote or demoed while in The Beatles or even in some cases had played on sessions with The Beatles but which, for whatever reason, never made it on to any of the group’s albums.
The album was a huge commercial and critical success and could arguably be considered one of the four best solo albums from any of The Beatles, alongside The Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, and Band on the Run. For me, it’s the best. This new 50th anniversary reissue of the album on Capitol, through Universal Music was delayed because of the virus and has been met with mixed reactions, not because of the unanimously praised music, but due to the price and formatting of some of the editions.
The release comes in various configurations, including standard 2CD, a 3CD Deluxe Edition, Super Deluxe Edition 5CD/Blu-ray, standard 3LP black vinyl, 3LP E-Commerce Exclusive Edition pressed on green and black splatter color vinyl, 5LP Deluxe Edition, Super Deluxe 8LP, and limited Uber Deluxe Edition. For this review, we will be covering the 8LP and 5CD/Blu-ray editions.
The original release included three albums housed in a box, unheard of at the time for popular music. That release contained two albums that represented the traditional song-based cuts and one album called “Apple Jam.” All of the new configurations include a new mix by recording engineer Paul Hicks. The new editions include a size variation of the original poster. They also include either an insert or a booklet. The deluxe 5CD/Blu-ray edition (housed in a seven-inch, 45 RPM-size, lift-off box and the 8LP version includes a 60-page book, with the LP version’s being album-sized and hardcover. The 5CDs and 8 LPs contain the same music. The Blu-ray only contains the new mix of the original three-album track listing and, like on previous Beatles and solo Beatles releases, contains an imaginative and seamless on-screen menu. The Uber Deluxe Edition contains many unique items that have been reviewed elsewhere.
The songs that George Harrison wrote for All Things Must Pass were written at various times. “Art of Dying” was written in 1966; “Isn’t It A Pity,” (always available in two different versions on the album) was considered for Revolver and was demoed during the Let it Be sessions; “Let It Down” dates back to 1968; and “Hear Me Lord” and the title cut were also worked on during the Let It Be sessions. Several songs were originally written specifically for Billy Preston for his first two Apple Records albums, which were produced by George Harrison. They include “What Is Life,” intended for That’s the Way God Planned It, and the title cut and “My Sweet Lord,” for the Encouraging Words album.
There are also several songs with a Bob Dylan and The Band connection. “Behind the Locked Door” was inspired by Bob Dylan’s song “Lay, Lady Lay,” and Nashville pedal-steel player Pete Drake, who played on “Lay, Lady Lay,” also plays on this track. When Bob Dylan went to play at the Isle of Wight festival in late August of 1969, Harrison stayed with him and wrote the song where Dylan was living. “All Things Must Pass,” which was also rehearsed during the Let It Be sessions, was inspired by the album Music From Big Pink, from The Band. “I’d Have You Anytime” was co-written by Harrison and Dylan. “If Not For You” was written by Bob Dylan and his version appears on his New Morning album released in 1970. The song “Wah-Wah” was written on January 10th, the day Harrison temporarily quit the Beatles, during the initial phase of the filming of the Let It Be movie.
The tracks on the third “Apple Jam” album are very much a mixed bag. Harrison felt that given how many wonderful musicians there were on the album sessions and how they enjoyed occasionally jamming, he would include the disc as a bonus. The first song, “Out of the Blue,” was partly the unofficial birth of Derek & the Dominoes (Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon). In fact, as a return favor for their working on the album, Phil Spector was tasked with producing two tracks for the group that would be part of the group’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album sessions: “Tell the Truth” and the outtake “Roll It Over,” both of which included Dave Mason. (“Tell the Truth” would be re-recorded with producer Tom Dowd for the official November, 1970 album release.) Additionally, “It’s Johnny’s Birthday,” an affectionate and amusing recording that Harrison made for John Lennon for his 30th birthday, appears on the “Apple Jam” album. The eight-minute jam “I Remember Jeep,” named for Eric Clapton’s dog, features Harrison, Preston, Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Ginger Baker, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono.
For this 50th anniversary edition, Paul Hicks came up with a brand-new mix of the original three-album set. This is the first time the album has ever been completely remixed. Much like the Let It Be Naked reissue of the Let it Be album from the Beatles, it appears that once again the aim is to either eliminate or minimize the production (or, as some people have said, the overproduction), by Phil Spector.
Discs four and five contain the demos Harrison recorded on day one of the initial sessions (May 26, 1970) and disc six contains the demos he recorded on day two (May 27, 1970). There are demos of 17 songs that made it to the final release and 13 of songs not on the final album. Discs seven and eight contain outtakes and jams and only five are of songs not on the original release.
The box itself houses a replica of the original three-album vinyl set; a second larger box, which replicates an EMI tape box, houses the three demo vinyl albums, and there is a separate 60-page hardcover book. In the original three-album set box, there are replications of the inner sleeves included, but the albums themselves are in poly-lined, white jackets with cut corners and the original orange Apple labels are used. The demos, outtakes and jams albums are also housed in poly-lined white jackets with cut corners, and art consistent with the theme of the project is used for the inner sleeves. The labels are replicas of the kind used by Apple Records for acetates and promo copies. The book includes track-by-track session-ography, annotations from Harrison on the songs and recordings and, wherever possible, replications of the original lyrics, along with intimate session photos.
A great place to start with this new set is to listen to the demos. There are 30 demos that cover two days in the studio and what really was the beginning of this project. Thirteen of the demos are of songs that were not recorded for the album. One of them, “Sour Milk Sea,” was recorded by Jackie Lomax and produced by George Harrison. Many of the demos feature just Harrison on an acoustic guitar. Oddly enough, the instances where the demos are more group-oriented are some of the weakest here and demonstrate by contrast what a great job Phil Spector did in producing the final sound of the album.
Two very good demos that did not appear on the album are “Dehra Dun” and “Om Hari Om.” They refer to Harrison’s Eastern religious interests and work fine just as they are. The “Sour Milk Sea” demo is also quite good in its very sparse instrumentation. Another demo of a song not on the original album that is good, although it’s no more than a snippet of a song, is “Window Window.” Other worthwhile listens that didn’t make it to the album are “Cosmic Empire” and “I Don’t Want to Do It.” It should be interesting to see if any musical artists cover any of these songs that have never received an official produced studio release.
Of the demos of songs from that did appear on the original album that are enjoyable to hear, check out “Behind the Locked Door” with its Dylan feel; “Apple Scruffs;” “Isn’t It a Pity;” “I’d Have You Anytime;” Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll);” “My Sweet Lord;” “Run of the Mill;” “Art of Dying;” “Beware of Darkness,” with the line that didn’t make it into the finished track, “beware of ABKCO;” “Let it Down;” and “If Not For You.” Some of the recordings reveal how Harrison was still working out the lyrics to some of the songs and would just hum or improvise in spots where the lyrics weren’t complete.
The versions here of “My Sweet Lord,” “All Things Must Pass,” “Awaiting on You All,” and “Run of the Mill” originally appeared on Harrison’s Early Takes, Volume 1. “Awaiting On You All” is the only track that wasn’t a demo and was listed as an early take. “I Live for You,” a demo of “Beware of Darkness” and an alternate version of “Let It Down” appear on the 2001 reissue of All Things Must Pass and is included again on this set.
The Sessions and Outtakes and Jams disc(s) are also suggested listening after the demos discs and before listening to the new mix of the album. It’s amazing listening to how good some of the first takes are, particularly of “Wah-Wah.” Other tracks that are included here as first takes have a you-are-there, live-in-the-studio feel, including “What Is Life.” A track that offers something unique from the original is take 14 of “Isn’t It A Pity,” with its tart and playful lyrical changes, reflecting the tedium of doing the same song over and over again in the studio.
Take one of “Isn’t It A Pity” provides a unique musical departure from the studio original and “If Not For You,” with its more pronounced piano with this arrangement, would suit Bob Seger perfectly. There are some tracks that are very jammy that work real well, especially “Hear Me Lord” and “Down to the River,” with its downhome, tipsy feel. “Get Back,” done with a horn-heavy casualness, is quite an oddity in that it was Paul McCartney’s song. The first take of “It’s Johnny’s Birthday” is a wonderful curio and “Woman Don’t You Cry For Me” is a note-perfect, front-porch acoustic blues track that makes one wish Harrison had made an entire album of this kind of music.
Much has been made of the new mixes by Paul Hicks and how they have been “de-Spectorized.” In some cases, particularly on the second original album disc, the new mixes are quite subtle. Also, in many cases, it’s not so much that Spector’s fulsome “Wall of Sound” has been eliminated, but that Harrison’s voice has been brought more to the fore. This is similar to the approach on the recent John Lennon box set reissues, although the effect appears to have been more pronounced on the Lennon reissues.
Overall, the new mix is somewhat muted in parts and doesn’t quite have the shimmer and energy of the original Spector mix. There are also instances where certain instruments can be heard much more clearly. That is the case with the guitars on “What Is Life” and with the horns on “Let It Down” and “Run of the Mill.” The horns in fact are revealed to be more important to the overall sound than on the original mix. On “Wah-Wah,” a different sort of echo or reverb feel is evident and Harrison’s vocals sound quite different. What appears to be the sound of engines or motors at the end of the song is now very clear. “Hear Me Lord” now has a distinctly louder rock edge.
As on some of the other Beatles and solo Beatles reissues, there is a Blu-ray disc that includes various formats, including Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD master audio 5.1 192-24, PCM stereo 48-24, and PCM stereo 192-24. The 192-24 format for the PCM stereo mix is quite unusual and is of the highest quality. The Dolby Atmos mix is so well executed that even listening in that mode through a 5.1 setup can yield better sound than the 5.1 mix, depending on what equipment it is played on. The Blu-ray disc from this reissue and many others related to The Beatles, as reason enough for people to still want to own physical media.
There has also been much discussion of the pricing of some of these sets. The Uber set retailed at $1,000 and is certainly only for die-hards and those with deep pockets. The 8-LP box reviewed here, which lists at $200 and can generally be had for $170, is a tad overpriced, but given that there are eight records housed in a replica of the original box and a replica of an EMI tape-box, a 60-page hardcover book, a poster and an overall beautiful presentation, the set ultimately has good value.
The 5CD/Blu-ray set, reviewed here, on the other hand seems quite overpriced. If the box was a larger size, more consistent with the recent Lennon sets and boasted a thicker book in hardcover instead of paperback, it would still be overpriced at $150. That isn’t to say the serious Harrison fan wouldn’t want the set and perhaps buying the 8-LP set now and waiting for the price to drop on the 5CD/Blu-ray set is the way to go.
Finally, without splitting hairs, although the quality of these sets, particularly the 8-LP one, is superb, there were problems with both sets I received. While it was no big deal that one of the vinyl albums came with a plain paper sleeve instead of a poly-lined one, the booklet on the 5CD/Blu-ray set was printed poorly and the first ten pages were stapled so far into the spine that the middle parts of all those pages couldn’t be read completely. For anyone who ordered the set online, that would be a hassle.
This is quite a significant reissue series for an album that is monumental not just for George Harrison fans, but as part of music history. The theme of things passing, reflected the weight that was felt with the passing of The Beatles and the end of the ’60s and in some cases, the album acts as a hopeful eulogy of the loss of both the group and the decade. It’s a shame that some of the consternation over pricing and particular box sets that the average fan can’t afford has at times overshadowed the sheer excellence of the music and how important the album is as part of Harrison’s beloved and respected legacy.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
