The first hit album by a Beatle was “All Things Must Pass” released by George Harrison in 1970. The triple record had many incredible songs that showed the incredible songwriter that the former Beatles member was.
To this day is his best-selling album, with an estimated amount of more than 7 million copies sold. Millions of fans have their favorite songs from that record but which were George’s favorites? He revealed them in an interview with Chris Carter back in 2001, shortly before his death. Rock and Roll Garage selected what the musician said about those songs during his career.
3 “All Things Must Pass” songs George Harrison listed as favorites
“Run of the Mill”
(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “I like ‘Run of the Mill’, you know, just something about the words, what is saying,” George Harrison said. The musician wrote this song shortly after the troubled “Get Back” sessions in 1969. The lyrics were inspired by what was going on inside the Fab Four at the time. He even recalled that in his book “I, Me, Mine” (Recovered by American Songwriter).
“It’s like the North of England thing, you know, ‘Trouble at t’mill’: It was when Apple was getting crazy. Ringo wanted it blue, John wanted it white, Paul wanted it green and I wanted it orange. Paul was falling out with us all and going around Apple offices saying ‘You’re no good’, everybody was just incompetent (the Spanish Inquisition sketch). It was that period, the problem of partnerships.”
Besides Harrison, were also part of the recording of the track: Gary Wright (Piano), Bobby Whitlock (Harmonium), Carl Radle (Bass), Jim Gordon (Drums), Jim Price (Trumpets, horn arrangement) and Bobby Keys (Saxophone).
“Isn’t It a Pity”
The second one is ‘Isn’t It a Pity,’ which, according to George, could have been a Beatles song. However, it was really hard for McCartney and Lennon to accept compositions by him and Ringo. They always prioritized the Lennon/McCartney material before considering what the other two members had to offer.
“’Isn’t It A Pity’ would just have been a Beatles song, wouldn’t it? And now that could be said for each one of us. ‘Imagine’ would have been a Beatles song, but it was with John’s songs. It just happened that the Beatles finished,” George Harrison told Billboard.
After mentioning that song, Harrison explained the meaning of it: “We take each other for granted and forget to give back. That was really all it was about. It’s like ‘love lost and love gained between 16- and 20-year-olds.’”
“But I must explain: Once, at the time I was at Warner Bros. and I wrote that song ‘Blood From A Clone’, that was when they were having all these surveys out on the street to find out what was a hit record. And apparently, as I was told, a hit record is something that is about ‘love gained or lost between 14- and 19-year-olds.’ Or something really dumb like that. So that’s why I wrote “Isn’t A Pity” (laughs); I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll get in on that!” George Harrison said.
There are two versions of the song on All Things Must Pass. The first is the well-known seven-minute version, and the second is a shorter one, approximately five minutes long.
Were part of the famous versions some incredible musicians like Pete Ham and Tom Evans from Badfinger and his ex-bandmate Ringo Starr on drums.
Awaiting on You All
“I like ‘Awaiting on You All’. I like the same ones as I liked then (back in 1970) but I like them all in some way, otherwise I wouldn’t have done them,” George Harrison told Chris Carter.
As mentioned in the book “Living In The Material World” (Recovered by Beatles Bible), he suddenly came up with the idea one day while in the bathroom.
“I was cleaning my teeth and suddenly in my head came this ‘You don’t need a dum dada-pmm pa-pmm-pa. You don’t need a bmm papa-bmm.’ All I had to do was pick up the guitar, find what key it was in, and fill in the missing words.”
In his biography “I, Me, Mine”, the late musician explained that the track was about “Japa Yoga meditation”, which he said was the repetition on “beads (mala) of mantras”.
“A mantra is mystical energy encased in a sound structure, and each mantra contains within its vibrations, a certain power. They are constructed from the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet (Devanagari – language of the Gods) and they turn the mind toward concentration on the supreme releasing spiritual energy in the Chakras of the Body.”
“Most mantras for Japa utilize the many names of God. The maha-mantra has been prescribed as the easiest and surest way for attaining God-Realisation in this present age. (It can also rebuild the atoms in the body and make your life sublime!),” George Harrison said.
That praised track featured George’s longtime friend and collaborator Eric Clapton. He played the electric guitar alongside the Beatle and also recorded backing vocals.
I'm a Brazilian journalist who always loved Classic Rock and Heavy Metal music. That passion inspired me to create Rock and Roll Garage over 6 years ago.
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After graduating in journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, I pursued a postgraduate degree in digital communication at the same institution. The studies and experience in the field helped me improve the website and always bring the best of classic rock to the world!
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