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All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!!
- Thread starter Rumble Thunder
- Start date
Massive George Harrison ‘All Things Must Pass’ Box Due in August
As Klaus Voormann recalls, the bass player, artist, and friend of the Beatles had no idea what was about to hit him when he arrived at EMI Studios (later known as Abbey Road) one day in late May of 1970. All he knew was that George Harrison was about to start a new project and that Ringo Starr would be drumming. Before he realized it, Voormann was rehearsing a bunch of unheard Harrison songs — one after another, 15 in all, including “What Is Life,” “Awaiting on You All,” and “My Sweet Lord.” “I had no idea how many songs he had,” Voormann says, still marveling. “It was amazing. We were just busking along more or less to what George was playing.”
That session was the start of what became All Things Must Pass, the momentous triple LP that instantly established Harrison as an artist in his own right months after the Beatles had incinerated. The combination of Harrison’s songs and producer Phil Spector’s reverb-heavy, musicians-army approach to record-making yielded an album that was both stern and stately but also buoyantly melodic. (The title and even the cover — Harrison seated in the garden of his Friar Park home, surrounded by four garden gnomes — could be interpreted as his comment on the end of the Beatles.) Once the CD era kicked in, the album was remastered and reissued several times; a 30th-anniversary edition in 2000 included Harrison’s remake of the devotional “My Sweet Lord,” his biggest hit on his own.
But for its 50th anniversary year — which started last November — All Things Must Pass will receive its most lavish revisit to date. In addition to a remix of the original album, the expanded 50th Anniversary Edition (out August 6th) will include three discs of unreleased material. The first, from the initial day with Starr and Voormann, includes all 15 of those tunes played by the trio; a second disc consists of Harrison solo demos of another 15 songs, including George-unplugged versions of “Wah-Wah” (his wry commentary on Beatles meetings) and “Beware of Darkness.” The third, which Harrison’s son and the reissue’s executive producer Dhani calls “the party disc,” features alternate takes, unheard jam sessions, and studio chatter from Harrison and the pile-on of musicians — Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Dave Mason, and Eric Clapton and the other Dominos — who contributed to the album.
Equally fascinating, the core All Things Must Pass has been subtly remixed — both to bring added sonic clarity to Spector’s lovingly dense and echo-heavy arrangements and to adhere to Harrison’s own wishes before his death in 2001. “He hated the reverb,” Dhani says. “He said this to me a million times: ‘God, that reverb!’” Voormann also recalls Harrison making similar comments to him years later about the multiple overdubs: “I remember him saying, ‘It’s too much,’” Voormann says.
As Klaus Voormann recalls, the bass player, artist, and friend of the Beatles had no idea what was about to hit him when he arrived at EMI Studios (later known as Abbey Road) one day in late May of 1970. All he knew was that George Harrison was about to start a new project and that Ringo Starr would be drumming. Before he realized it, Voormann was rehearsing a bunch of unheard Harrison songs — one after another, 15 in all, including “What Is Life,” “Awaiting on You All,” and “My Sweet Lord.” “I had no idea how many songs he had,” Voormann says, still marveling. “It was amazing. We were just busking along more or less to what George was playing.”
That session was the start of what became All Things Must Pass, the momentous triple LP that instantly established Harrison as an artist in his own right months after the Beatles had incinerated. The combination of Harrison’s songs and producer Phil Spector’s reverb-heavy, musicians-army approach to record-making yielded an album that was both stern and stately but also buoyantly melodic. (The title and even the cover — Harrison seated in the garden of his Friar Park home, surrounded by four garden gnomes — could be interpreted as his comment on the end of the Beatles.) Once the CD era kicked in, the album was remastered and reissued several times; a 30th-anniversary edition in 2000 included Harrison’s remake of the devotional “My Sweet Lord,” his biggest hit on his own.
But for its 50th anniversary year — which started last November — All Things Must Pass will receive its most lavish revisit to date. In addition to a remix of the original album, the expanded 50th Anniversary Edition (out August 6th) will include three discs of unreleased material. The first, from the initial day with Starr and Voormann, includes all 15 of those tunes played by the trio; a second disc consists of Harrison solo demos of another 15 songs, including George-unplugged versions of “Wah-Wah” (his wry commentary on Beatles meetings) and “Beware of Darkness.” The third, which Harrison’s son and the reissue’s executive producer Dhani calls “the party disc,” features alternate takes, unheard jam sessions, and studio chatter from Harrison and the pile-on of musicians — Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Dave Mason, and Eric Clapton and the other Dominos — who contributed to the album.
Equally fascinating, the core All Things Must Pass has been subtly remixed — both to bring added sonic clarity to Spector’s lovingly dense and echo-heavy arrangements and to adhere to Harrison’s own wishes before his death in 2001. “He hated the reverb,” Dhani says. “He said this to me a million times: ‘God, that reverb!’” Voormann also recalls Harrison making similar comments to him years later about the multiple overdubs: “I remember him saying, ‘It’s too much,’” Voormann says.
... ... GNOMES! GNOMES! GITCHER GNOMES HERE! Guaranteed ta sittin' yer garden, or wherever ya put 'em! Gitcher Gnomes here! GNOMES! GNOMES! ... ...
Interesting look at their song --Rain
Interesting! I recall recognizing some kinda great "new sound" at the time, but certainly didn’t know what all was involved. I was just 14 and had never played with a tape recorder, only a couple guitars, where I still had a lot to learn.
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Woo hoo! 6 hours of Beatles writing, rehearsing, being scrutinized, acting out and performing! I can't wait.
Woo hoo! 6 hours of Beatles writing, rehearsing, being scrutinized, acting out and performing! I can't wait.
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I was just reading more about Stu Sutcliffe, as his 81st birthday was on the 23rd this week, and was surprised to learn that he joined the band before Pete Best! So, Pete was surely the original, actual 5th Beatle. They were a 5-piece band, with Pete being the newest member, when they started using that name. So, mystery solved. And that makes Ringo actually the 6th Beatle!
But, yes, there were others who certainly helped, in one way or another, to make The Beatles who they ultimately became. So, I did a quick search for a "list of all 5th Beatles". And this is the first list I found that I could really get behind.
I've linked this article to the Resources section of your All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!! Wiki page for future reference. Feel free to comment here any names you believe to be more, or less, deserving of the title. If you have another "list of all 5th Beatles" you prefer, please share it here, too.
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I was just reading more about Stu Sutcliffe, as his 81st birthday was on the 23rd this week, and was surprised to learn that he joined the band before Pete Best! So, Pete was surely the original, actual 5th Beatle. They were a 5-piece band, with Pete being the newest member, when they started using that name. So, mystery solved. And that makes Ringo actually the 6th Beatle!
But, yes, there were others who certainly helped, in one way or another, to make The Beatles who they ultimately became. So, I did a quick search for a "list of all 5th Beatles". And this is the first list I found that I could really get behind.
I've linked this article to the Resources section of your All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!! Wiki page for future reference. Feel free to comment here any names you believe to be more, or less, deserving of the title. If you have another "list of all 5th Beatles" you prefer, please share it here, too.
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I guess I would have to go with George Martin since his recordings, expertise and musicianship all had a hand in building up the group into a better place. Without the presence of George Martin, the group might have run into serious difficulties jeopardizing the tremendous talent that resonated within.
Framed poster in my music room
It’s been there for almost 20 years
It’s been there for almost 20 years
I don't ever recall seeing a 16 RPM record or record player. So, I just looked it up and, though kinda rare, I'm still surprised I never noticed them.
Anybody here have first hand experience with 16 RPM (actually 16-2/3 RPM) records?
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