All You See Is George

I was a latecomer to George Harrison fandom—not that I didn't always appreciate his Beatles output, in particular "Within You Without You" but also "Old Brown Shoe," "Here Comes the Sun," "If I Needed Someone." (I once ranked my 50 fave Fab Four songs, and those are the ones that made the cut.) But I'd never really given my full attention to All Things Must Pass, his unduly capacious triple album from 1970, until a few years ago, despite assurances of friends that it was well worth my time.

It has since become my favorite album by an ex-Beatle—and not only because my heart has never quite warmed to the jagged catharsis of Plastic Ono Band, and my enjoyment of McCartney and/or Wings won't quite let me overlook his excesses, even on records I cherish. All Things Must Pass also gets huge points for being the most original ex-Beatle record, measured in terms of how much it departs from his work, or anyone else's, in the Fab Four. I'm not talking about the rootsy influence of Dylan and the Band, or the spiritual themes—these were already seeping into his writing and playing as early as Revolver. The jazzy, time-signature-jumping sophistication of "I'd Have You Anytime," ATMP's disarmingly mellow opener, doesn't sound all that far from the guy who had recently wrote "Something" (itself a huge leap forward seemingly out of nowhere—though not a favorite of mine, that song towers in the Beatles pantheon).

But already by the second track, "My Sweet Lord," we are in genuinely new territory. Yes, the lads had worn their girl-group influences on their sleeve from the start, but apart from a few early covers, they never made a song that sounded like a full-on Chiffons/Ronettes tribute (so much so that, yes, Harrison famously lost a plagiarism suit over it). And though the Beatles did work with Wall of Sound builder Phil Spector, he didn't polish up pop rave-ups for them but instead came in and slathered orchestral bombast across Let It Be.

Spector's pawprints are all over All Things Must Pass's other two Motown-style bangers, which I like even more than "My Sweet Lord" and were the gateway drug that put this record over the top for me: "What Is Life?" and "Awaiting on You All" each have an entirely earned big pop-orchestral sound driven by monster guitar hooks. Listen back to those and tell me there's anything in the Beatles catalogue that sounds like them. I'll wait.

Yes, the "Apple Jams" disc is an entirely disposable after-party, but the rest of All Things Must Pass is marked by harmonic and lyrical ambition the likes of which had only been hinted at in Harrison's Beatles work. I'm especially fond of a live acoustic version of the sinuous "Let It Down," one case in which Spector's over-emphatic production is not missed—the song's chord progression has an almost palpable gravitational pull, and curiously not only when they descend.

Oh, and I didn't even mention the sweet slide guitar that struts in and makes itself at home on "My Sweet Lord." Kind of a signature sound of Harrison's, wouldn't you say? And yet it was brand new on this record. Think about that: The lead guitarist for the greatest rock band ever, whose contribution was no small part of that band's success, introduced his most distinctive instrumental sound after he left the band. Which other Beatle could boast that? This isn't quite fair; it is at least partly a measure of how high a bar Lennon and McCartney had set for themselves (and everyone else) that their solo work sounds more (or less) like their Beatle selves; it would be a lot to expect them to pull new rabbits out of the hat after the full-service magic show they'd already put on. Still, George's achievement here is under-appreciated, like the discovery of a new planet that had been there all along but had been eclipsed by its neighbors.

I'm reminded of a passage from Rob Sheffield's indispensable Dreaming the Beatles, in which he quotes John Lennon as saying, "George himself is no mystery. But the mystery inside of George is immense. It’s watching him uncover it all little by little that’s so damn interesting.” With All Things Must Pass, he uncovered a lot all at once.

Side note: I just happened to notice that "I'd Have You Anytime" contains the lines "Let me roll it to you"—which provides the chorus for one of McCartney's best solo songs...in which he happens to sound a bit like Lennon.