George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass’ Set For 50th Anniversary Radio Special

The 50th anniversary of George Harrison's first post-Beatles solo album, the triple-record-set All Things Must Pass, will be commemorated with a BBC radio special. The Daily Beatle reported the hour-long program, All Things Must Pass At 50, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on November 21st at 8 p.m. GMT, and will be available online for 30 days after that, via https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pljn

Appearing in the special are Olivia Harrison, Michael Palin, Jools Holland, biographers Graeme Thomson and Joshua M. Greene, keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, drummer Alan White, and guitarist Dave Mason.

Joshua Greene, who appears in the upcoming special, is the author of Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, and recorded with Harrison in 1970 while a part of the Krishna sect Radha Krishna Temple. He recalled to us how practical Harrison was in the recording studio: “We came in, he said hello to his friends, slapped a few old buddies on the back. Then he started laughing and yukking it up about people's reactions to a rock group with shaved heads — because he was putting out these albums of Sanskrit mantras. Then he looked at his watch and said 'Y'know, we better get started, this studio is costing us 40 pounds an hour.' That was impressive. He might've been a Beatle, he might've been one of the richest, most successful guys around — but he was very practical.”

Phil Spector set the scene prior to him signing on to produce All Things Must Pass: “(Paul) McCartney was making an album, John (Lennon) had a single ready to go and now John was talking about making an album already — the Plastic Ono Band (album) — and I said to George, 'Y'know, you ought to consider making an album.' I went to George's (estate) Friar Park, which he had just purchased, and he said, 'I have a few ditties' for you to hear.' It was endless! He literally had hundreds of songs — and each one was better than the rest. He had all this emotion built up when it released to me.”

All Things Must Pass was released on November 27th, 1970 and went on to top the album charts on January 2nd, 1971 for a whopping seven weeks.

In addition to the four-week Number One hit, “My Sweet Lord,” All Things Must Pass featured the Top 10 single, “What Is Life,” along with such Harrison standards as the title track, “Isn't It A Pity,” “Beware Of Darkness,” “If Not For You,” “Awaiting On You All,” and “The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll),” among others.

Among the high profile guest who performed on the album were Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Gary Wright, Badfinger, Phil Collins, and Billy Preston.