PASSING TRADE

‘So go away away, leave me alone, don’t bother me…’ Those words, from Don’t Bother Me, a glum kiss-off to an lover, which appeared on The Beatles’ 1963 album With The Beatles, mark George Harrison’s first recorded entry as a songwriter. It wasn’t of any significant artistic weight that would rattle the axis of the golden Lennon/McCartney team, nor would it hint at the glory and sophistication that would be his masterpiece solo record.

Flash forward more than half a century later, and Harrison’s landmark All Things Must Pass album is not only considered perhaps the greatest solo record by a Beatle, but is also routinely selected in the music press as among the most important rock albums of all time.

Relegated to second fiddle status with The Beatles, initially content with his role of laying down inventive guitar lines and vocal harmonies and contributing the occasional song, as the years rolled by Harrison’s confidence grew and his craft sharpened; songs like I Need You, Taxman, I Want To Tell You, Within You, Without You and It’s All Too Much displayed a unique artistic flair and singular musical personality. From there his continued growth as a songwriter bore rich fruit; witness White Album jewels While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Savoy Truffle and Piggies, B-sides The Inner Light and Old Brown Shoe, and his stellar contributions to Abbey Road: Something and Here Comes The Sun, arguably the best songs on The Beatles’ swansong album.

In the shadow of the Beatles’ breakup, Harrison’s songwriting was blossoming. Having been limited to one or two songs per album, he began stockpiling them during the latter years of The Beatles’ career, with a few auditioned during the Let It Be sessions (namely All Things Must Pass, Let It Down, Isn’t It A Pity and Wah-Wah).

“I was probably trying to get them recorded in amongst all the usual John [Lennon] and Paul [McCartney] stuff,” Harrison recalled in a 2000 interview with Billboard. “For me, that was the great thing about splitting up: to be able to go off and make my own record and record all these songs that I’d been stockpiling. And also to be able to record with all these new people, which was like a breath of fresh air, really.

“For me, that was the great thing about splitting up: to be able to go off