George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door by Thomson Graeme

Author:Thomson, Graeme [Thomson, Graeme]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780857128584
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Published: 2013-09-16T23:00:00+00:00

All Things Must Pass was released in the UK on November 30, 1970, with ‘My Sweet Lord’ issued as a single in America a week beforehand. He was unsure about that, too, worried that such a bold statement of faith would alienate listeners. He gave notice of its imminent release on October 24, then three days later announced that it wouldn’t be coming out after all. Eventually, Spector correctly identified the fact that its simplicity and repetition, the drive and sheer power of its sound would trump any lyrical concerns. And he was right. In the end the medium was the message. This inclusive pop-mantra worked: people felt better just by hearing it, and it sold in its millions.

The album did likewise. Released in an elaborately hinged cardboard box, with a huge colour poster of Harrison inside, it was the first ever triple box-set released by a rock artist. Barry Feinstein’s monochrome cover image depicted him in Friar Park, an eccentric, rather mournful country squire in Wellington boots and battered hat. He is surrounded by four gnomes reclining on the lawn – ‘Do not keep off the grass’ – the composition slyly and symbolically illustrating his emancipation from the tyranny of The Beatles’ collective identity. Precisely the same meaning can be derived from one of the many possible interpretations of the album title itself.

Both the lavish package and the music inside provided a striking assertion of self-confidence and irrefutable evidence of how far Harrison had come in such a short time, yet the connective tissue that holds the record together thematically is not vindication, but instead the conflict of opposites. It is there for all to hear in the 18 songs, and may never have been expressed more honestly or with more emotional, if not always literary, eloquence. Beatles Good and Beatles Bad, Frankie Crisp and Swami Vivekananda, life and death, love and anger, doubt and faith, Maya and bliss, struggle and reward, Hare Krishna and base humanity. Above all, it lays bare the intrinsic confusions of a superstar who can have whatever material or bodily satisfaction he craves yet above all desires some kind of spiritual succour from his life. “The whole album is about God and rock and roll,” says Bobby Whitlock. “All of it. The whole album is one big cryptic message – the two tides hit together on that record.”

In this sense, All Things Must Pass is a question which supplies its own answer. It is far from perfect, but how could it be? Its ragged lack of resolution is part of the deal and accounts for much of its charm. Certainly the third disc of “Apple Jams” illustrates how perilously close the enterprise came to continually slipping into matey indulgence, an unfettered demonstration of proficiency and prime-cut chops. It also indicated how Harrison’s innate inclusiveness could be his undoing; a more ruthless hand at the rudder would have left these work-outs in the can. Few reviewers lingered long on their limited charms, and even fewer listeners.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.