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Remastered, Repackaged...Love Rekindled... 

This is a more than timely re-release. It is a great reminder of the magnificence of third Beatle--Harrison’s post Beatles debut. A reminder too of the incredible output of the greatest pop band of all time. Before we get to George let us consider the facts. These four Liverpool mop tops made no less than 12 studio albums in the seven years that they were recording. Yes, maybe their early albums were churned out in next to no time with a few covers and a couple of fillers but there are still more classic songs in those first few years than most bands ever come up with. When they did start to take their time there was still a double album in 1968 and two albums in quick succession recorded in 69. 

Add to that that their singles in that period didn’t go on the albums and it is simply mind boggling in an era when Springsteen and U2, to name but two examples, only release three albums each in the nineties. Add to that that in 1970 all four Beatles released albums and that Harrison’s was a triple and the story gets more and more convinced that The Beatles were the great song writing geniuses of the 20th century.

Harrison’s triple, the world’s first, did of course have that rarely played jam sessions indulgence but it can be forgiven. For four sides he revealed beyond doubt that he had emerged from the shadows of Lennon and McCartney to make an album that baring Imagine by John and Band On the Run by Paul, the famous writing team just never got close to in the solo years. Harrison of course had brought some fine tunes to the table in the latter part of the 60s. While "My Guitar Gently Weeps" was as good as anything on The White Album and "Here Comes the Sun" and Sinatra’s favorite ever song "Something" were easily the standouts of the fabulous Abbey Road. Quite how some of these songs never made those albums suggests that the most famous song writing partnership in pop were not just so keen to allow the youngest Beatles to steal past them on the song writing front.

So what we get in 1970 is the result of the great rock 'n' roll laxative. Breaking up let Harrison empty his song writing blockage. To hear it freshly remastered is to hear it in all its surprising beauty and big Phil Spector production. Harrison says in his newly written liner notes that he could be tempted to remix the whole thing. If his re-recorded version of "My Sweet Lord" is an indication of what he might have done then maybe he should lock the tapes in a vault but you can see some of what he means. Maybe on "What Is Life" and "Awaiting On You All" there is a little pomposity. Maybe in hindsight though All Things Must Pass is not overcooked. He might have seen something in the Beatles Anthology version that would lead him to see that it should have been undercooked. But none of this should stop the thrill of this collection. Variety from the ballad’s like "Isn’t It a Pity" to the country influenced Dylan cover "If Not For You" and the opening, "I'd Have You Anytime," co-written with the aforementioned Mr. Dylan. This is as solid an album as you are likely to ever hear.

Of course, there is the obsessed eastern spirituality that has been evident in everything Harrison has done since and one wonders if it had not been the trendier eastern variety of deities that Harrison’s took to his heart would this have been so well received. "My Sweet Lord" even it did cost George half a million dollars for being to close to "He’s So Fine" is an all time great single and in some ways though it has its chanted Krishna improvisation it could almost be seen as a prototype for all the modern Christian worship that has brought about it’s very own industry. Simplistic but positively spiritual, the Chiffons never sounded so good. Indeed, all his spiritual searching can be cross related to anyone seeking the transcendent. 

Beautifully repackaged and weighing in about £12 cheaper than the original and including 5 outtakes including the previously unreleased "I Live For You" and that new "My Sweet Lord" (I even find that intriguingly lovely), the remastered sound is a treat. 

If you only buy one post Beatles album then this is the one. 

Steve Stockman 2/17/2001