O4cast

On this day in music history: November 27, 1970 - “All Things Must Pass”, the third solo album by George Harrison is released. Produced by George Harrison and Phil Spector, it is recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Trident Studios and Apple Studios in London from May - October 1970. With the announcement of The Beatles split in April of 1970, George Harrison wastes no time in beginning work on his third official solo release. With his two previous albums “Wonderwall Music” and the experimental “Electronic Sound” being largely instrumental works, plans for Harrison to record a more straightforward album begin in early 1970. Having worked the expansive recording sessions for “Let It Be” into a cohesive album, George asks producer Phil Spector to work on his album. After Harrison plays Spector literally dozens of songs he has been stockpiling since The Beatles “Revolver” album in 1966, he signs on to the project. Many of the songs are ones the guitarist had presented as potential Beatles songs, but were set aside since Harrison rarely had more than two of his songs (with a few exceptions) on any of the bands’ albums. “All Things Must Pass” features musical support from Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Klaus Voorman, Gary Wright, Dave Mason, Peter Frampton (uncredited) and Ginger Baker. One of the sessions for the track “Art Of Dying” features a then nineteen year old Phil Collins (pre-Genesis) playing percussion, though his overdubs do not make the final mix. Completed in the Fall of 1970, the album is released as a lavish twenty three track triple LP box set with a poster. The main eighteen tracks are contained on the first two LP’s with the last five on the third LP titled “Apple Jam”, consisting mostly of loose instrumental jams. It is a huge critical and commercial success upon its release, spinning off two singles including the chart topping “My Sweet Lord” (#1 Pop) and “What Is Life?” (#10 Pop). Regarded as one of the best post Beatles solo albums, “All Things Must Pass” is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2014. The album is remastered and reissued twice on CD in 2001, and again in 2014, with a limited vinyl reissue released on Black Friday Record Store Day in 2012. The vinyl LP set is reissued again in 2017, as both a stand alone release and as part of the box set “George Harrison - The Vinyl Collection”. “All Things Must Pass” spends seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 6x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.