All Things Must Pass WAS NOT REJECTED by the BEATLES part 2 |
2020 ж. 6 Қар.
201 639 Рет қаралды
In this video (part two), I continue the deep dive on George's ALL THINGS MUST PASS. We find the reasons it was not recorded properly by the Beatles during 1969 AND that the other Beatles certainly did not reject, which has been the incorrect narrative for over 50 years. This video contains dialog and rehearsal of the Beatles working on All Things Must Pass, which they rehearsed over 70 times.
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George comes off sounding like he imagines Paul and John dislike the song, but I think its just his insecurities.
Well said!
George always seems like a pretty angry guy. I think that was part of his personality, that he's being held back. I'm sure he was treated like a young brother at times and he's never forgotten it
all of them really had an issue at that time where they imagined things to be more negative than they were like if they couldve just taken a little time and actually TALKED to one another I think things could be different
@@Adamdidit They knew this was being filmed. So they were basically acting. No one knows and there is no reason for them to say what actually happened when they recorded songs. If the tune was good they could finish it very quickly because they had played many hours together since they were in their early teens. They knew each others strengths and weaknesses. I'm sure George felt insecure and who wouldn't when you are working with two of the greatest song writers of the 60s. If there was no filming John and/or Paul might have said look this song is boring. It sounds flat. Lets just bang it out at a faster past and see how it goes. It is true that John liked to work very quickly. Paul would take more time and run the group into the ground. But George made great contributions also through out there career. The real truth no one will or ever will know except them.
I feel like I can hear the insecurity.
Sounded like Paul and John were encouraging George to me.
Paul always seemed to be trying to encourage and help George on most of the bootlegs and outtakes I've heard. I Me Mine, is a perfect example. Paul practically wrote the chorus of the song. I know the "older" John and Paul could "niggle" George as he says, but there is plenty of recorded evidence of both John and Paul being supportive and into George's songs. Like any group of close friends or family, they got on each other's nerves. The negative stories have always been hyped and over analyzed, to the point of urban legend. As George said himself, "The microscopes that magnetize the tears..." I actually prefer the Beatles half done version, and George's solo demo to the version on the ATMP album. Paul and John's backing vocals were really making the song even more magnificent.
@@swivelhips586 Also, a lot of the so-called jabs at each other are just part of the British way of friends having fun at each other's expense.
@@swivelhips586 It would have been great if the Beatles had recorded All Things Must Pass, but it does always seem as if George is the holdout on the suggestions. Had they though, what would George's solo album been called? So it had to be what it had to be.
Yeh, I think they're being encouraging!
Maybe the Let I Be album should have been called All things must pass.
Lennon often gets painted as the difficult moody one, but based on Get Back at least, George seems to be that guy.
I think he had every right to be tbh, they didn't give him enough time for his song during those sessions
@@pearcefitzpatrickodonovan480They gave him plenty
It's clear that George envied the control that Paul got, without much objection really. I imagine that considering he was writing some great stuff, definitely better than say, Maxwell, he felt that he should get a turn at being the guy in charge, just as Paul and John would be when they're showing off their songs. Though he was definitely irritable when things weren't going exactly to plan.
@@rileyalt1251 If they were allowed to continue the group, I am sure that George would have been the primary voice in the 70's.
yeah for the early half no doubt. i'm actually working on a set of hypothetical beatles continuation albums so i've thought over it quite a bit. @@HardCold-Alquan
Thank you for this video. All these years, I always thought that John and Paul had little respect for George's song writing. This shows us a different side to that story.
Does it? It’s like a photo: The documentary captures a snapshot of the Beatles recording history, not the full story. I think that the years in years that they spent together before this documentary has created a clear impression on George his behaviour and his perception of things. He perceiving things a bit negative? Sure. But why? Maybe years of being secondary? And to be clear, the Beatles simply would not have been the Beatles if not for Jon and Paul’s songs for the first three years. I really don’t think that George would’ve had much of a chance to read all of this wonderful music if not for everything that John and Paul did in the touring years.
My take from watching “Get Back” is that, if anything, George was the most difficult Beatle at the time. Not criticising him, I understand where his resentments came from but I got the sense watching it that the others were trying their best to include him. I worry about Ringo when I watch it. He was clearly not happy but said nothing. He just seems to want the old feeling back.
I just remember there being a disagreement between Paul and George about each one's "process" (e.g. Paul wanted to "make it simpler" and then "add complications" after). I wouldn't say that means either one was right or wrong. Maybe their styles just weren't meshing at that time. I'm definitely not a Beatles expert btw. I'm just going by what I saw in Get Back.
The Ringo I saw was very engaged. He was listening to every one and waiting to add his part. when Paul was noodling around on Get Back, Ringo was listening and at the moment it started to sound like a song, he started to tap his foot. He's already thinking about what he's going to add to it.
I get the same thing. He seems to project some kind of double bind all the time: help me with my song, but don't take it away from me. He wants the Beatles to emulate the "bands-sound" but then doesn't really step up to tell them exactly how. Bit of a Diva....
Yeah, but when George was talking to Paul, Paul was giving him the eye roll and then turned his head away
Your absolutely right....George didn't have confidence in himself
during these rehearsal tapes you can clearly here how perfect RINGO was for the band and how he perfectly held the groove his meter is excellent and he can easily switch from soft to hard his sense of dynamics is incredible. one of the most underated rock drummers of all time.
He's amazing... He never over plays just gets that groove going .. He adds 100% to the beatles sound
They wouldn't have been the same without him.
Absolutely
Never sack your drummer, don't lose your drummer - its never good for a band.
So many people like to repeat the phrase “ one of the most underrated rock drummers of all time” This is false Nobody “underrates” Ringo So why is it so often repeated by people ?
I love that the reaction to a sudden "I'm leaving the band" is for the other three to aggressively launch into a Hendrix-esque jam session.
ya with some nice rock guitar riffing from John.
Raw gut rock and roll
I wonder if the author here took johns I’m So Pissed comment in the English (I’m so drunk) or the American (I’m so angry) context.
@@andiholman2543 yes interesting, not really like John to use American ism speak, not from what you hear in all his other interviews/recorded anyway.
@@andiholman2543 I dind't know that different!!! Thanx! I had the American meaning in my head. I'm a Spanish speaker. Too many American movies, hahaha.
The main thing I got from these recordings is the quietness of Ringo
He was drinking the 6 beers..
The "less is more" approach to drumming.. well music in general just worked so well in this case and for The Beatles in general regarding Ringo. Just the perfect icing on the cake.. or foundation depending on how you look at drumming.
He may not have had a vocal mic.
Didn't miss a beat
ringo didn't have a voice mic so all the band banter recorded over the years hardly ever has Ringo in it. He's there but we can't hear him. He's a rock solid beat and most sessions ran for hours with Ringo giving them a foundation beat to build from and they often ended when Ringo stood up and called it a day.
When people do this much research into an issue, and put this much work into it, they earn a "subscribe" from me. Well done to the author!
Thank you my good man! More to come!
Not if their wrong. Paul & George argument is Hey Jude, not Two of Us.
@@tedsarnowski2427 Paul brings up Hey Jude during the Two Of Us argument, but it certainly was about Two Of Us. Paul thought that it should be simplified and George thought that it already was "not complicated".
@@tedsarnowski2427 what?? Hey Jude was already released at the time of the recording... I guess you lost me, explain what you mean
Me too, I've just Subscribed 🎶👍🙎♂️👍🎶
George immediately seemed uncomfortable with the idea of doing it solo. John and Paul seemed supportive of him.
John and Paul were being encouraging toward George doing the song solo. Some people put a negative spin on everything.
george kept pushingn acoustic....it was good call by j/p. wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much effort put into dirge of a song.......george had no idea what the goal was, which was the concert......
Paul suggesting George do a solo acoustic version was a generous, selfless offer. Paul had the skill to recognize that All Things Must Pass worked better as a solo acoustic song, like Yesterday or Blackbird. It was a slow, somber and reflective song, unlike upbeat Beatles standards. Paul was encouraging George to stand out on his own and shine.
always say "unselfish" NEVER say "selfless" that means something entirely different. It implies someone exists without a "self"
And George refused
I am a 69 year old Beatlemaniac who lives 30 miles away from Liverpool. I have everything they ever recorded and have read dozens and dozens of books about them. I watched your All Things Must Pass Part 1 yesterday and found it a complete revelation and a real pleasure to watch. The stories of ill feeling probably came about because the group were very seretive and only put out a fraction of information and kept the rest close to their chests. I had no idea that a nameless album was a possibility. I have a copy of the Get Back album and found it a bit thin. Thanks again.
Thank you for the warm comment. More to come!
To me George sounds really unsure about his music, and John and Paul try to cheer him on, but he's just so insecure about the song and how it'll be that he's the one that seems to reject it time and time again. And then, when all of a sudden he comes out with a triple album when he goes solo, it might just have made more sense to people to think "ah, all these songs must've been rejected by The Beatles, and therefore he has them". But 71 run throughs of a song is indeed NOT what I'd've thought of as a rejected song! I'm very glad you've made this videos on the matter, as they really do show more evidence of what actually happened here than the usual music review do. Thank you!
When John says ‘I’m pissed’ he’s just saying he’s drunk. There’s even a resigned, weary chuckle in his voice.
May be true, may be not, but this is another example of some people reading a comment positively or negatively. To get all literary here, as the saying is in "Gawain and the Green Knight:" 'Honi soit qui mal y pense." One translation being"shame be the one who thinks evil of it." It sure is nice to find fans who love the music and see things in a positive light.
Pissed means drunk in England. It means annoyed in America. Pissed off means annoyed in England.
@@realavi1 It's the 'so' pissed part that gives it the usual Lennon ambiguity!
George seems grumpy and lacking in confidence with this way of working. He said as much on Anthology.... he didn’t like the cameras, he didn’t like Twickenham, he didn’t want the pressure or hassle of a concert. To my mind he’s trying to find his way with this song and up against John and Paul he lacks confidence in getting it right and finding the solutions. He sounds unsure, hesitant and that it’s not ready to be filmed. It’s a work in progress. It probably was a bit slow for the concert at that time. To hear that his relationship with Pattie was also hitting the skids then you can understand that he went from hanging out at Woodstock with Bob and the band to this stress and anxiety. The song needed Phil Spector’s touch and more time as we later found out. It is clear that John and Paul are offering a lot of love, respect and support here. Nice work, thank you.
Especially when you consider the last time they went live it was electric guitars and amps as John said. George had no idea how this song would sound live. Also there is the fear that doing solo acoustic would basically be George's Yesterday. Does George really want that spotlight when his marriage is already on the rocks?
they put wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much effort into this song on such a tight timeline......should have bailed it sooner...or george could have wrote something concert friendly
It seems that the authors of many "Beatles books" are quick to blame McCartney for all the negativity between the guys, but they fail to acknowledge that Lennon could a real asshole. Lennon's criticism's of his former group in Post-Beatles interviews, proved that.
pretty much
It's one of the few things I respect Paul for that he didn't talk trash about any of them.
and then they had to kind of coddle George's fragile ego..
Egos are funny, or odd. They all were very talented individuals who could lean on each other at times then strike out to demand their own opinions or feelings as the most important- like any talented people in a collaborative venture. Even less talented people have egoistic tendencies from time to time & clash. You can absolutely adore your spouse or parent & clash so why not with any partner?
When I first heard All Things Must Pass on George’s album I thought the song was about the Beatles. Now hearing this I think it was initially about his marriage. So maybe his reluctance to do the song at that time was that he still had hope for his marriage and didn’t want to strike the final blow on film.
That’s a great point. It makes sense that he wanted to keep that more private. Thank you for the comment, Michael.
Good point! Also more relevant to George,s contributions.. though not pertinent to this recording. Probably should’ve commented in diff thread. 50 plus years later George s something and here comes the sun are the biggest Beatles songs
@@tonygallo1104 And While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
I always took the song to be more about life in general. Something much bigger than all of us. As Shakespeare said, "nothing last's forever."
Damn, talk about somebody doing their homework! This was a very well-researched documentation. I think if the Fabs were not stressing out over an up and coming live appearance they probably would have perfected All Things Must Pass. You could already tell that it would have eventually evolved into something special. John and Paul were very encouraging, that's the Beatles that I'd like to remember. Thank you again for sharing this. Peace.
You are welcome! Thanks for the warm comment.
Just watched 3 of your videos. ( the 2 all things must pass, and the 2 of us) and love the research youve done, and that present others research in as well. Very well presented and as a lifelong Beatles fan that used to wait for older brothers to walk in the house w new 45 s in the early- mid sixties, i love and appreciate the work you have put in. Thanks for all and you def have a new subsciber!
I think Paul and John were supportive of George. But George was being fussy. You can tell John really liked the song. The show was effecting the songs they were looking to finish up, they were also pretty aimless at these sessions.
also john has a casual snarkiness that i think george took personally like the "you want voices? every song can have voices" kind of comment where its just like john saying we can turn every song epic but how much time do we have to kill with added harmonies which could be added later. george was just shy and felt in the spotlight too much and with such strong personalities between john and paul he filled a more passive space energetically within the band. ringo is obv the king neutral
Agree, george saw there wasn't going to be enough time to get this song the way he wanted with the show going on in 2 weeks
I think that's what was frustrating Paul. They were aimless. And he was wanting some structure so they could accomplish their goals. He suggested it on more than one occasion.
One other thing that rarely gets mentioned: The Beatles had just completed working on The White Album a mere month before they began the Let It Be project. Being the big, double album that it was meant that the band was spent by January '69. John had shot all his recent songs out onto the white album, and he just hadn't found the time or inspiration to compose more so quickly.
There were ELEVEN FULL WEEKS (77 days) between the final day of work on the White Album (October 17th)... and the start of the "Get Back"/"Let It Be" project. The last two days that any of the Beatles recorded for the White Album were Sunday, October 13th (when John recorded "Julia" by himself) and Monday, October 14th (when George added some overdubs to "Savoy Truffle"). Ringo left that Monday morning for a 2 week holiday in Sardinia with his family. The next two days (October 15th and 16th) stereo and mono mixing were done. George Harrison flew to Los Angeles on the 16th. John and Paul along with George Martin, Ken Scott & John Smith - spent the last 24 hour session (that began on the 16th and went all through the night and finished on the 17th)... working mostly on the final running order of the songs.
Excellent point. That also shows how productive they were.
You are spot on. I wonder why the rush to get it done ? Couldn't they have given it some more time ?
@@FortYeah - They were amazingly productive during this period. The number of songs that they brought to the table during the month of January 1969 is almost hard to believe. Besides the great songs on what became the "Let It Be" album - they also began work on many of the songs that would end up on "Abbey Road"... and also many songs that would end up on John's, Paul's and George's solo albums.
@@chriscorman734 - EMI set a deadline that they had to be finished by (for all of their albums). The White Album was released on November 22, 1968 in the U.K. and November 25th in the U.S. There were about two million advance orders for the new Beatles album - just in the U.S. They need time to produce all the albums, album covers, pictures that were included, etc... and then to distribute them throughout the world. The only way to get all that done on time... is to have all the recording work finished by a certain date. With that deadline looming - John & Paul (with George Martin) stayed up all night to create the final running order for their new double album. Btw... they had spent about 5 months working on the album.
I think you made a very good point, there seems to be this narrative going on that George songs were rejected when in fact he was insecure about some stuff and decided against including them in the end. It was he who decided that and not the others who seem to have spent enough time working on the songs.
Fascinating, I hadn't twigged that George had serious domestic issues around this time. It strikes me that while George can write some brilliant songs, he struggles when it comes to arranging and structuring them, something Paul could do in his sleep. Thus while Paul could be annoying to the other Beatles because he had the arrangements in his head already "perfected" and just needed a backing band to do what he told them (again and again and again until he was happy), George was at the other extreme, not knowing what he wanted, and as a result things tended to drift as take after take were done trying to work out the right arrangement.
The thing was that George needed serious time to get his stuff together, whether it was guitar parts or arrangements. When he had the time during the making of ATMP he didn’t have anyone breathing down his neck telling him to hurry up, so it turned out beautiful. On the other hand, he didn’t have anyone around to tell him to eliminate the Apple Jam part of the album because it was crappy....
@@matthewsnyder6127 That approach also goes completely against the late 60s Lennon style of recording quickly and getting new songs out straight away
@@PlanetoftheDeaf Well, sure. Lennon had had the benefit of complete studio attention devoted to his many songs over the life of the group (and was never satisfied with the results anyway). George starts coming up with the goods and now the rule is "we have to do it live." It's no surprise George pulled back his songs from consideration for a live show when he knew how good they could sound when treated properly. Also, keep in mind that even stage monitors were a radically new practice in early 1969. They were still taping two microphones together because sound systems weren't routinely equipped to supply two separate mixes. So George was right to worry that a live show was risky as far as quality of sound and using acoustic instruments in that environment.
@@matthewsnyder6127 I always wondered why they taped two mikes together. I'd thought it was various other reasons.
@@matthewsnyder6127 I was referring to that period in time. Ballad of John and Yoko, Give Peace a Chance, Cold Turkey etc are all quite "rough" recordings, spontaneous sounding rather than super produced
It seems to me that the authors had settled on the theme of the recording sessions being a "disaster", then fitted the conversations to suit that narrative.
I agree. In spite of much of the progress and final results of the project, the authors felt the need to stick to the narrative. I'll diving into this topic further in upcoming videos. Thanks for watching!
11:14 George's guitar through a Leslie speaker cabinet. Nice! To be honest, I was never a super fan of this song, liked it but never loved it -- always found it a bit dreary. But when I heard it played at the end of the documentary of the same name (about Tower Records), I came around to it in a big way. I think the song just wasn't ready to be on a Beatles album, and the one person who seemed to stand in the way the most was George himself!
@@NewFalconerRecords you are right. Despite the lyric, it is a bit dreary. I always preferred it to I Me Mine and Old Brown shoe, but you are also correct in saying they weren’t ready for the song yet. I wonder what it would have sounded like in Abbey Road.
You guys are extremely right. I actually read that book awhile back and I was convinced that the whole recording/filming sessions was horrible. I don't doubt that there was some tense arguments etc (Paul+George, John+George) and George quitting the band for a bit but I am sure the whole history of the band recording together, each album probably has some bad history to it. Great Channel BTW!!!!
@I want to be smaller I agree with you to a certain point. Perhaps he was convinced that he was coming into his own as a song writer/arranger and he felt his ability to fully create and mature was being pinned down. (I am glad that The Beatles didn't take the CCR approach with their last album..see Mardi Gras) Anyway, I do believe that the Get Back/Let It Be album, as good as it was, could have been a lot better with a couple of additions and subtractions and that would be a big debate with all of us Beatles-ologists!
Great investigative journalism. I know the Beatles were super supportive of each other during their early years, glad to see that never changed....
May I just say that I’ve listened to this analysis like 5 times now. As a lifelong Beatles fan and first hearing this version on bootleg in 1995, it’s totally changed my perception of how The Beatles approached it. Well done! I hope you can get more subscribers amongst the Beatles community. This is top stuff!
Thank you sir for the kind compliment. More to come!
Thank God Here comes the sun was done. Such a beautiful piece.
The version of All Things Must Pass with all three Beatles singing on it should've made the cut on anthology 3
Its much better than the solo version. They should have recorded it when they did 'real love'
I agree with you. This series really does show how they were still working as a group and Paul doesn't seem nearly as bossy as I've always thought he was. And John is much more engaged than I had always imagined he was.
We have always been led to believe that George's songs took a backseat. In this case George wanted the backseat it seems. Maybe that is how it really was. Great video Matt. Very informative and interesting.
Thank you. Yeah, I didn't expect to find George pulling back but he seemed to not make decisions or know how to pull his songs in for a landing.
@@popgoesthe60s52 The absence of George Martin may have contributed to that.
That's a good point. Martin certainly made a difference on Something and Here Comes The Sun,.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Maybe in the back of his mind he really wanted to do after the Beatles.
Yes, I totally agree. He may have felt inferior to John and Paul , and thus naturally took the backseat. After the Beatles broke up, I'd imagine George was kicking himself for not showing out a bit more.
Makes me wonder if by the time they went back to Apple George had already decided that All Things Must Pass would be a solo song. It is ironic that it became the title of his first post-Beatle solo album, as if it was a statement and announcement of the finality and death of the Beatles. That is how I had always perceived it these many years.
I agree with your take on this Todd Partridge. It seems that George clearly had other plans in mind. When he tried to work out the song with the band he probably decides it’s best done as a solo project.
I think you're right. He behaves in a passive aggressive way, I mean he presents the song, but then seems to do what he can to stop it from being included.
I read a long time ago about the drama going on in his personal life outside of the band, that clearly escalated after he introduced the song, and kinda theorized that he was still in 'repair mode', so recording, and releasing a song called "All Things Must Pass" might have been a bit abstract under the circumstances, which is why he progressively got more wishy washy about it.
George Harrison struggled without George Martin. It’s very difficult being band leader, singer, writer, arranger, director, etc... Frankly it was just the tension between people when they are on different levels. George was catching up that’s all.
I love the backing vocals on All Things Must Pass. I really wish we could have heard the song on a Beatle album. I think you’re right in that John and Paul seem to be encouraging George on the song. To play the song as a solo on the acoustic guitar seemed to be a helpful suggestion. It’s interesting because all you hear is how George complains of his songs not being picked during this time.
George seemed to not be a team player on his own songs but was able to contribute on John and Paul's songs. I could see the others getting frustrated with his inability to arrange. George Martin producing may have helped. The backing vocals are good enough to justify recording it. His solo version pales badly for me.
I read somewhere that Paul like the phrasing "Get Back" from Georges song Sour Milk Sea. So Paul wrote a song around it. True or BS?
@@jake105 I hadn't heard that one. I can hear the similarities.
YeahGeorge was insecure - about his writing- the backing Vocs were great shoulda built it around that. That’s where the magic was. They also shoulda made 2 or 3 double albums- with all the material. Woulda been another great Beatles’ first. I mean when have heard of a band doing 3 double albums in a row!?? Like ‘Walkin a Dog’ Dig it..
@@jake105 no clue but sour milk sea, should have been a Beatles song. That's a good song
We learn that the beatles were great alone, but together they were LEGENDS
This is so insightful. The part about George and Patti having marital problems speaks volumes about why George was so easily upset during the Let It Be sessions. Lots of new information here. Very well done. Thank you!
Hi Randy - thanks for watching!
CORRECT: I'm convinced you are correct and this is why. I'm from the same sort of area as The Beatles and so I think I understand the intention of what they are saying at 3:26 onwards and am certain the people that wrote that book misunderstood their intention and actually completely misheard an important word. Here is my reading of it. Paul is the one that suggests George do himself on acoustic and is probably thinking of the famous moment the band left the stage and Paul played Yesterday alone on an acoustic. Here it is introduced by George - kzhead.info/sun/qr2jnZqall-hgIU/bejne.html I can see how a none native northern English speaker might misinterpret it when Paul says "it's a bit of a thing for you to do." He doesn't "doubt his ability to do it on his own," he means it'll be bit of a moment for him. As in an opportunity to be centre stage. How I know the people writing the book misunderstood how we speak is you then quote them as saying John agreed and said it would be "quite an order." He doesn't say "ORDER" he says "HORS D'OUERVES" and so they completely misunderstood due to his accent, I guess. So John picks up on Paul's encouragement and says it will "Do an hors d'oeuvres, you know." Meaning, give the audience something extra, a treat before the full Beatles as a band. I completely agree with what you say here in the video. The guys writing that book should have asked someone from Liverpool to listen and get their reaction to what they mean. Although, you are American and you picked it up.
Brilliant! Not coming from Liverpool but speaking French, that is what I heard and understood. "Do an hors d'oeuvres, you know." It is the only way that conversation makes any sense. If it was the way the book describes, George would have walked out or at the least spoke out. There is no doubt from anyones perspective, George has the talent and ability to to perform his work.
@@merlinzipp - Yes, clearly those writers misunderstood the accent and intention. It also totally makes sense that then because George walked out for a few days and so the opportunity was lost. Funny, but coincidentally this popped up in my KZhead suggestions today. Peter Frampton talking about how he ended up playing lead guitar on "All Things Must Pass." It's interesting that Klaus Voormann ended up playing bass on it. He was there right at the beginning in Hamburg and asked to be The Beatles bassist when Stuart Sutcliffe left but was told Paul was taking over on bass. It just seems so of full circle that he then replace Paul on bass after The Beatles for "All Things Must Pass" of all songs. I really respect Klaus Vormann, he's played bass on some great songs like "You're so vain" and for Lennon and I love the cover art he did for "Revolver." kzhead.info/sun/dM6rYK-tonqBpn0/bejne.html
"it's a bit of a thing for you to do" also makes sense if you consider that George was very reluctant to do a live performance. I think you're right! And Paul really liked the song: kzhead.info/sun/opqikbePinRtpX0/bejne.html
I don’t think you have to be particularly Liverpudlian to pick up on that, but it helps no doubt. To me “ quite a thing” translates to quite an event. “ John was all about word play. Of course an appetizer is exactly what he meant. It was all encouraging to my ear. They put a significant amount of time into it, so the proof is in the pudding as they say. Building up a song from scratch can be hard work. Perhaps people that haven’t done this can’t fully appreciate that. Certain songs can be frustrating and exhausting. Others can feel effortless. A large number of factors are at play here but I don’t think discouragement is one of them. George doesn’t feel the song is ready and it’s seems he’s in a bad spot in general. Not to mention his fairly well known anxiety about performing live at that time. Thanks for your marvelous work here. Spawning some great discussion.
@@AnyoneCanSee I do not believe Peter Frampton played any lead guitar anywhere on ATMP album or song. What Peter had claimed with out any corroboration mind you, is that he played acoustic Guitar on every song when George was adding the extra acoustics that Spector advised at the end. We know Frampton was around because he was working on another album and in the building . There are photos to corroborate that. He was never given credit by anyone to this day. Alan white also makes some claims that are disputable.
Interesting about Pattie walking out at that date. Maybe that’s why George started to appear unshaven and eventually went for a tache later on in the month... Amazing how it all fits.
Exactly. No one bothers to cite this issue as a potential problem that would affect the band. Thanks for the comment!
I had no idea that happened. Things don’t happen in a vacuum, and sometimes it’s easy to forget that the Beatles are actually four real people with real lives, not song-writing machines.
Going through a divorce is very difficult, emotionally and spiritually. No wonder George was the way he was.
Great insights. Sheds a lot of light on the rubbish that has been printed for decades.
I definitely hear it the way you hear it. It seems like it was an agenda that lead them to say Paul and John were being negative towards the song and George. If they had continued as a band, this song probably would have been on their next album.
In my opinion, Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" LP is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. It is absolutely up there with the Beatles best work. It took him a little longer to come into his own (He was the youngest after all) but he turned out to be every bit as accomplished as Lennon and McCartney. Excellent analysis and fair treatment of dispelling some misconceptions.
George had ONE great accomplishment in his career: ATMP. Paul and John were brilliant, iconic songwriters from 1963 until 1980 (John) and the early '90's (Paul).
@@willrohan7256 That is wholly untrue.ATMP, Bangladesh, GH, Cloude 9, Brainwashed are all great great albums. LIMW, 33 1/3 are very good. Not to mention Brilliant songs while a beatle and travling wilbury's. Plus Ringos 3 biggest hits. Incredible career
I have always considered "All Things Must Pass" to be my favorite album of all time, an amazing collection of music and philosophy. My favorites are "Beware of Darkness,""My Sweet Lord," and "All Things Must Pass."
@@victorarena23 Yes, absolutely agree!
You must be kidding
After being bottled up for such a long time George is finally getting the attention he long deserves and for good reason, he's blowing up. At the same time he himself has to switch gears from a more passive presence to a shot caller position (like Paul) and he just doesn't seem ready for that and waivers. Good news is "all things" did get recorded, and masterfully so, too late for the project at that time. John showed such poise during all the fits and I wish they had spent that waisted time working on anything, repeat ANYTHING, he wanted to try...instant gold.
John and Paul are trying to inspire George, to boost his confidence. I would love to have heard a finished product of this song as performed by The Beatles. It would have been on par with Here Comes The Sun or Something.
Hell. On a par with "Let it Be!" Imo A perfect ending song on an album.
Agreed. These are sensitive moments from both guys. They were a family. John could be caustic when he was annoyed but he was far more sensitive than these biographies allude to much of the time.
Once again-Pop Goes the 60s:-THANKS! BRILLIANT!!
Interestingly, even when released on George's album, I thing the song "All Things Must Pass" was somewhat ignored and underrated. Maybe because of the overbearing production and the way it was buried at the end of an album side. You never heard the song on the radio, discussed, or performed as a cover. But lyrically and poetically, it is simply one of George's best songs and a virtual philosophy of its own.
George was a budding genius in the songwriting game and he half-knew it. You've got to realize that even though he WAS a Beatle, he was pitching his babies before the by-this-time legendary Lennon-McCartney; he had to feel a bit insecure and nervous. But he had the heart of a stage mother with all these talented babies spilling out of him now. "I I Me Mine", "For You Blue", "Something", "Here Comes the Sun", the songs on "All Things Must Pass". And look what an impresario he became AFTER the Beatles: Concert for Bangladesh. His own successful solo projects. Much later, but the Traveling Wilburys. Look at all the all-star jams he put together with Delaney & Bonnie, Clapton, the Dominoes. No, George was no longer just "my friend George" that Paul brought along with him after meeting John the first time in 1957. Not at all. He was ready to leave the nest. Thank GAAAAWWD for Billy Preston, bringing it all back together.
Interesting how John was aware with his remark of the beatles being "stuck on the cavern days" when it came to live music...sounds like he was kind of intimidated and well aware about several bands those days giving it all on live shows regardless of amazing studio recording techniques and translating that to live shows, sounds like he was impressed with those other artists by that time, including the experimental bands. The stones catched up with the live shows in the late 60's...shame that the beatles didn't because they made great shows as solo acts afterwards.
I think George's eventual solo version is better overall, except Ringo's drumming here is pretty perfect.
If they weren't hung up on the "Get Back To The Roots" thing and the filming of it, I'm sure The Beatles would've had a magnificent version of ATMP...especially with George Martin producing. Although I love George's solo version with Spector, I still enjoy these January '69 versions more because they still have that Beatles mojo and that will always trump anything that they could do without each other.
I think the version on Beatles Anthology 3 is the best.
@@jjmarz1001 I never paid much attention to it. Time for a re-listen. ("Not Guilty" is my favorite part of that release.)
His drumming on the ATMP version is pretty good too. That performance is the epitome of his sense of time.
@@matthewsnyder6127 Ha ha oops I totally forgot that. *facepalm*
Great job on this 2-parter, very illuminating. I'd never known ATMP was that well developed. And here you did this deconstruction a year before Peter Jackson's film is released. Bravo.
Much thanks for watching and for the warm comment.
I thought I'd read and know all there is to know about the Beatles but this was new to me, fascinating and very well researched. Thank you!
Another thing that occurred to me when you mentioned the influence of The Band on George Harrison - 'All things must pass' has a similar feel to 'I shall be released', the Band's version of the Dylan song. It did make me wonder...
Me too
Fascinating discussion! My favourite version of ATMP is George’s solo demo. I like Paul’s suggestion of George doing an acoustic version. There are beautiful moments in the band version but, for me, it drags and drags. I 100% agree with you Matt about George not wanting to do his songs live which suggests that he heard them with a fuller production.
I think you are right that Faul and John are supporting George with "All Things Must Pass"
I feel an element of Georges half-way representation of "All Things Must Pass" to the Beatles was quite possibly, he wanted to save it for his anticipated solo effort.
Perhaps one of the next subjects can be Maxwell's Silver Hammer? It feels like "Paul was bossing us around" and "grinding that song for weeks" are really overblown but get repeated over and over as well.
Something that stands out to me in these tapes is how incredibly witty and quick with words John is. I've always loved his wordplay nonsense songs, but I assumed it had to have taken him a while to craft that stuff. But over and over he just throws out these amazing rhymes and phrases, just to be silly, and they're all interesting. Even if they don't make sense, they have such an edge and a wit to them.
I agree! I remember at one point in the sessions, a small group discussion was under sleet about the project and John arrived. The others paused to great him and someone- I think it was the director- said “We were talking…” and before he could finish the sentence John replied “about the space between us?” And he does it with ease!
Never knew that story about Pattie walking out on George. It explains a lot. Good video
I think your take on 'All things must pass" is spot on. I am enjoying your education being provided here. I learned alot and I thought I knew alot. Thank you
these videos are great man!
"If your wife walks out on you... I would be distracted!" Wonderful understatement, I would say. Excellent and very convincing assessment of the situation. thanks for this. I believe when George left, John suggested they get Eric Clapton in to replace him - is that a comment on George's marital situation?
Claptons advance on Patti was a whole year later but excellent connecting of the dots!
@@popgoesthe60s52 Ha! Good point : )
Probably more to do with the fact that they had just worked with Clapton during the White Album.
@@sammccubbin1047 and John played with Clapton on tne Rock and Roll Circus a monrh earlier
I really enjoyed these two videos. I think that a lot of biographers and music writers tend to just cite other authors without going back to the original source so certain ideas are perpetuated and masquerade as fact. As for John's "I'm so pissed" comment, I think he was just saying that he was drunk and not thinking straight, but perhaps Americanisms had entered his vocabulary...? I look forward to more videos like this.
Good point. They may have been drinking at lunch, which I've heard. I had forgotten about being "pissed" in the English sense.
Almost certainly the British English sense of 'pissed'. US sense not common in UK even now, and certainly not in 1969
@@Muninman Yes, I should've caught that! Thanks for the comment.
Yours is an excellent narrative. I'm impressed, particularly about how supportive Paul was and the stuff going on with Patti.
In British English slang "pissed" means drunk. Might this be a reason why George is fed up: John is unfocussed.
I think the pressure from the light show got in the middle of the creative process, and then this situation on George’s marriage was the icing and the not so friendly environment of the filming studio was the cherry of the cake.
Great post. Really enjoyed the sensible non-sensational commentary.
Being British, “pissed” may mean “drunk.”
Your totally right dude. Paul and John are completely supportive of George and his song. All things must pass. Hey these topics are great man. Just found you. Keep it up.
That's about as good an analysis as I've seen anywhere on the topic of "George's songs were rejected." Thank you for you hard work on these videos.
Thank you, gigglehertz!
I am baffled. They are clearly supportive of George,
To answer your question, assuming that they are listening to the same tape you are, and they are not referencing something else we haven't heard, I think you're absolutely right. There's a complete discrepancy between what the authors conclude and what we heard. In fact I'm struck by how respectful and supportive John and Paul are both being about the song as well as George's importance in the group--even suggesting, a la "Yesterday," and how that was done with Paul solo, George might perform this one on his own. How flattering is that? And of course John even suggesting that many of the effects George wanted in the song that George presumes are only possible in the studio could happen on stage too. What is quite clear is that George has no enthusiasm for the live show, and, rightly or wrongly, doesn't appear to feel that a live version could do justice to it. But more and more as I watch and re-watch, you can just see that George is over the whole Let it Be project almost from the get-go, and was only, if ever, half-heartedly on board. He didn't like being filmed, he didn't like the intrusive microphones eavesdropping, he didn't like the idea of a live show--it seemed that there was no element of the entire concept that he was enthusiastic about! It's also interesting that George proposes a model that would come to be accepted with other groups (e.g. The Rolling Stones, The Who) in the future: the individuals each can do solo projects, and the group returns periodically. But no one has enthusiasm for that at that time, quite possibly because there wasn't a contemporaneous example of it.
how many pop culture subjects are there where you can have an entire universe just in one aspect of it? Beatles: music, culture, fashion, politics, group psycho-dynamics, art, humor....
The original idea for the January 69 show was to perform songs from the white album which had just been released, but as soon as they get to Twickenham (or Twinkingham as the Americans call it), they suddenly switch to making it a show of all new material. But no one ever explains why this change happened.
This video is a breath of fresh air.
Great video.I could never understand why they did not finish it and it was not on the album.George did not want to!!
Excellent series. While I have no doubt that George at times got overlooked in terms of songs, looking at the various session records show that they did put quite a bit of effort into trying to get some of his songs down. And as you say, the Get Back recordings show that both John and Paul were trying to get him going with their suggestions. George also has complained over the years that Paul would want to work on his songs first and then he'd work on George's, but at least in this case, All Things Must Pass was the first song they tried to get down and Paul was doing his best to help George along. Shame it wasn't given another go during the Abbey Road sessions because they were this close to getting it together and the backing vocals were just amazing. Looking forward to your take on the vastly overrated Paul/George "fight"....
Thank you Bill! More to come.
@@popgoesthe60s52 - According to Goeff Emericks book, it was Johns songs, pre 68 that were always the first to be worked on.
I think the backing vocals are awful. I mean horrid. listen to the final version and then listen to this mess. The beatles were amazing at 3 part harmonies but they struggled mightily with this one
@@victorarena23 - George hadnt even finished the lyrics yet Vic, let alone the harmony and chorus arrangements been settled on. Some songs of the beatles took over a hundred takes before they finished it up. Lot of drug and alcohol intake in the later years its a wonder they ever got their songs finished. Plus the early recording sessions at Twickenham were pretty bad, just being there in a big cold studio in the morning really didnt help the situation either.
@@hammer44head agree the song was not ready. but it's clear here that at least this song was not rejected. I assume and have read that isn't it a pity hear me lord and art of dying were rejected by John
The version of 'All Things Must Pass' With the horns is my favorite. I want to hear it at my funeral.
This is all so interesting. Love it. Thank you! Discovered your channel yesterday, and I'm glad I did!!
Excellent !!! It's so interesting ! Now we can really understand what was happening at that time between them ! You know, i think it was time for them to split and go different ways ! Each one of them had become a complete artist, and breaking up was just a normal and natural outcome ! They didn't enjoy it anymore ! They are the greatest band of all time, and their accomplishments will never be matched ! Paul is the greatest composer of all time, all styles included ! And they didn't even know how to read music !!! It is unbelievable what they've accomplished ! The world will never see or hear anything like that again ! As the poet Keats used to say : " A thing of beauty is a joy forever !
You don't short cut anything good job, you should be proud of your work.
I've seen a bunch of your videos for a while now, and I think I never told you I found them great and essential when it comes to know a bit more about the Fab Four... Hope you are fine and still kicking! Keep posting!
Thank you, Luis!
Bad new sells. The authors lied to sell a book. Thank you for your research and presentation.
I can definitely here "The Band" here -- I can here it sort of shaping up to sound like "The Weight."
I think part of the problem is that, initially at least, George wanted The Beatles to sound like The Band. And, when that wasn't going to happen, he seemed a bit stuck as to how the song should go; how it should sound. It all seems so unfocused... but then so did much of the Get Back sessions.
Yes I agree, I also hear John and Paul being incredibly supportive of George.
I’m about 80% listening to the get back nagra tapes, and had not seen these vids until now. I’m pretty much aligned with what you say. They put an awful lot of effort trying to develop all things must pass
I really dig your analysis of this especially with the audio you provide. It definitely sounds like John and Paul are into it and want to see it through but George doesn’t really seem to know exactly what he wants. And they’re let him run the sessions. And it sounds like George was dealing with a lot of heavy stuff outside of the band as well. I think it’s great that we are all finding out so much more about these sessions than what has for so long been the accepted narrative. Can’t wait for the Peter Jackson film to really show us the lads in a new light. Thanks for this video. Really well done.
It seems to me the guys who wrote that book have never spent any time in a band trying to write/arrange a new song.
Great Clarification of Harrison history
After all these years and books dude I think you're finally getting the grasp on what really happened
love these videos, you do a great job reporting and contextualizing before making conclusions
ATMP was not the first instance of a Harrisong was left behind. I mean they did 102 takes of Not Guilty and he still wasn't satisfied with it!
I had no idea about this. 53 years later, I find out! Enjoyed it.
I'm speechless. You're absolutely right. Much better to follow your analysis than to read those books. The way you dissect the conversations is amazing! Chapeau!
They hear Lennon saying "order" rather than "hors d'oeuvre." He definitely is NOT saying "[tall] order." I'm not sure George says "drag" either. He is talking about playing acoustic guitar rather than the wah-wah electric. This invites technical problems/recording problems.
I like his pronunciation of Tweekingham. Twickenham
And yet, at the end of the day, George always had way fewer songs each album. I suspect there were two tiers of acceptance, subconsciously experienced by the band: 1. accepted to the point of putting in hours of time trying to develop the song; and 2. accepted to the point of actual album (or single) inclusion. George was clearly making tier 1 quite frequently towards the end of the band's time together but was seldom making tier 2.
I think this is true. I also think that denigrating George for his lack of confidence is way too harsh. He is, after all is said and done, in a band with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I don't care who you are, if you're debuting new songs in front of those cats in 1969, it's gotta be unnerving, no matter how well you know them, and no matter how kind and accommodating they're being, or not as was also the case in many instances. Not to mention that George was always perceived as the baby, Paul's odd little immature friend, and third man in. No matter how much you love your baby brother, and I do believe they loved him and valued him dearly and still do, he's still the little fella - in a way he's even lower on the ladder than Ringo, who they initially thought of as a superstar - it's Starr Time! Liverpool's greatest drummer - when they hired him, and they counted themselves lucky that he agreed to join, so remained a little bit in awe of him all the way through. George was always subtly condescended to, without malice mostly, but still... Doesn't matter how old you end up growing up together, that dynamic happens very quickly in the beginning of any teenage relationship and is almost impossible to change once it's set.
Or maybe George's songs really weren't that good, but as a close friend the Beatles felt obligated to include some stuff of his and Ringo's.
When I first learned to play ukulele, this was one of the first songs I played. I played: All Things Must Pass, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. The next morning I heard that George had passed away!
Fascinating, thank you. I feel like Paul was really trying to encourage George and give suggestions. Not the bossy moniker that was pinned on him in other accounts.
It seems like it was Harrison who rejected - All things must Pass.
Wow the Band influence is very apparent
You are the best narrator and knowledgeable Beatles Narrator. I find all this information to be rich in conternt and very meaningful. Thank You
Thank you, Robert. Plenty more to come!
I like your videos of all the other informative non commercial type videos. The other ones, the narrator makes it about themselves more than the subject. You're calm, relaxed and don't draw attention to yourself. Thanks. And thanks for the great videos about the Beatles.
I appreciate that feedback DD. I don't think I'm nearly as interesting at the music and the band's stories!
@@popgoesthe60s52 that's the key I think, you're humble. :)