GEORGE HARRISON HAD A stockpile—fantastic compositions overlooked by his bandmates over the years, along with some written more recently following The Beatles’ official breakup. The band’s final album release, Let It Be, came on May 8, 1970. But by that time, George had already put the ball in motion to begin recording his first true solo album later that month: All Things Must Pass, a triple-album set released in November that year. The album featured 17 new songs, along with a bonus disc of jams recorded mostly during the sessions, Apple Jam.
ATMP's 50th anniversary is now being feted with a suite of new special editions, which include a brand-new remix from the original multitrack tapes by Grammy-winning engineer Paul Hicks and executive-produced by George’s son, Dhani Harrison. The special editions feature everything from 2-CD to 5-disc sets (as well as multiple-disc vinyl pressings) containing not only Hicks’s new remixes, but George’s demos (described below), outtakes, and a Blu-ray disc with 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos mixes. There’s even an “Uber Deluxe” set packaged in a beautifully crafted wooden crate containing all of the vinyl and CD/Blu-ray sets plus an All Things Must Pass scrapbook curated by Olivia Harrison (which also appears in other deluxe sets) with George’s lyrics, tape box images, and more. The Uber set also includes a “Making of All Things Must Pass” volume, a set of replica garden gnomes (as featured on the LP’s cover), and a limited-edition lithograph by bassist Klaus Voormann, who played on the album. (For details, visit www.georgeharrison.com.)
The Right Staff
The first step in the process for Harrison involved finding appropriate players to accompany him on the new recordings. The previous December, he had joined American R&B rockers, Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, who were touring Europe with an all-star backing band. The group included Eric Clapton, drummer Jim Gordon, bassist Carl Radle, and Hammond organ player Bobby Whitlock, as well as sax player Bobby Keys and horn player Jim Price. (The first four, of course, would become Derek & The Dominoes the following year.)
After the tour wrapped up, Whitlock returned to England, staying at Clapton’s Heartwood Edge estate. One afternoon, he says, “George called and said he wanted us to put a band together, to be the core band for his new album he was about to record.”
Whitlock and Clapton happened upon Jim Gordon in London on a session and invited him to play, rounding out the foursome with Radle, who came over from the States, all four staying at Heartwood. Harrison eventually came and played the foursome his songs on an acoustic guitar.
The other part of the core band came in the form of Ringo Starr and bassist Klaus Voormann, who would become a common fixture on Harrison’s, Starr’s, and Lennon’s albums of the ’70s. Voormann had been one of The Beatles’ friends from their early days in Hamburg, and he went on to design the cover of their 1966 LP, Revolver.
Arranger John Barham, who
