“ALL THINGS MUST PASS” ~ HARRISON ~ 1970 ORIGINAL US 3-LP APPLE ~ COMPLETE & CLEAN!

 

ARTIST: GEORGE HARRISON

TITLE: “ALL THINGS MUST PASS”

LABEL: APPLE STCH 639 ~ ORIGINAL FIRST PRESS 1970 3-LP BOX

VERSION: ORIGINAL 1970 FIRST US PRESSING ~ SCRANTON PRESSING ~ w/ POSTER

COMMENTS: ONE OF THE NICEST COMPLETE ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF THIS 3-LP SET WE’VE SEEN

This week on EBay we are offering up this beautiful, complete, totally original 3-LP 1970 US copy of “All Things Must Pass” on the Apple Label.

This is an original Scranton Pressing released on November 27, 1970. It is complete with its original box, 3 LPs, each in their custom inner sleeves and each with custom labels. The poster is here as well. Totally original, totally complete. A real beauty and one of the nicest copies of this classic 1970 record that we have seen in a long time.

With all the hype of the George Harrison Estate releasing the 50th Anniversary version of this album, I thought there might be someone out there that would want a beautiful fine copy of the original to compare the new material with.

The new material, due out any day now, does NOT contain any of the original 1970 mix of the album. It uses the Hicks remix from the 30th anniversary as the ‘Original’ album, adding many new outtakes and sessions. To really appreciate the greatness of this album, and all the forthcoming new material, you need to listen to the original 1970 version again as a baseline.

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When this album was released just before Christmas 1970, the sound quality and audio mix of this recording was just amazing. The Phil Spector production, the huge amount of talented musicians on the album, and the wonderful songwriting made it a real sonic treat. It was recorded at one of the best studios in London and ‘finished’ at one of the few London studios that had a modern 16 track mixing board, Trident. It sounded great back then; thick, layered, textured, dynamic, but at the same time very personal.

I’ll be anxious and curious to compare this ‘original’ album to whatever Dhani and Olivia give us next week on the new release.

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CONDITION:

This is an absolutely beautiful copy of the 1970 first US pressing of George Harrison's “All Things Must Pass” 3-LP boxed set on Apple STCH-639.

This is a Scranton pressing as identified by the IAM triangle in the runoff and the inclusion of the NYC address at the bottom of the writing inside the orange cover.

This has the original ‘orange’ Apple labels, all three original textured paper inner sleeves, and the original giant foldout poster.

Everything is very clean, fantastic original condition.

The discs look perfect and play flawlessly. The records have clean, glossy vinyl, perfect labels, no marks or blemishes and super-clean spindle holes, suggesting minimal play. Beautiful. I’m picky about grading and almost never call something Mint or EX unless sealed. I’ll call these EX-

The inner sleeves are clean, flat and have sharp corners, without significant splits or stains. (Only one has a small 1” early split on the bottom). The sleeves are printed on both sides. The Apple Jam one has a great unique design.

These sleeves were designed to fit into the box very snuggly and the corners of these sleeves are often ‘ruffled’ from taking them in and out of the box. (Look at the sleeve condition of most copies listed on EBay). These sleeves look fantastic. Just today, while photographing, I realized they are the colors of George’s garden at Friar Park; green, brown and blue. The black and white garden picture is on the front of the LP, then open the box to find the colors of the garden inside. Fifty years owning this record and never really appreciated that till today.

The original huge poster of George, standing in an ornately designed doorway at Friar Park, is still folded neatly and looks barely touched, with clean tack-free, sharp corners. I don’t think this one ever left the box.

The box is still in very good condition for its age and design, with strong unbroken corners and intact sides. The only ‘flaw’ is that the thin black ‘binding’ that held the top and bottom of the box together and acted as a hinge has been very carefully, purposely, cut away to allow the box to open normally into 2 halves.

The Spine is clean and the gold gilt lettering looks great. The black back of the box is relatively clean and scratch/rub free. These all-black rear covers often took a lot of abuse, but this one is nice.

The front cover of the album features a stark black-and-white photo taken on the main lawn at Friar Park by Barry Feinstein. George is seated in the middle, dressed as a regular gardener, and towers over the four comical-looking, lazy, relaxed gnomes. Many interpreted the picture as George removing himself from, and rising above, the Beatles' collective identity. George was moving on without them.

The front cover is a paste-down and all 4 corners are sharp and intact. The front cover has a tiny bit of light smudging, but that seems to be a result of the light colored design and seems to be present on every opened copy of this album we’ve ever seen. It’s odd, the very slight ‘smudging’ in the sky almost seems to add a feeling of ‘weather’ or rain clouds to the overall effect, enhancing the great cover photo by Barry Feinstein.

Overall, this is one of the cleanest, nicest and best copies of this 3-LP 1970 original that we’ve ever run across, and we have seen and sold many. Absolutely gorgeous.

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This album is beautiful, powerful, passionate, and an amazing display of the creativity George Harrison had inside of him.

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THE STORY OF ‘ALL THINGS MUST PASS’

Harrison was frustrated during his Fab Four years by the songwriting dominance of Lennon and McCartney. Sure, George had some input and wrote some great Beatle songs, but much of his creative input, songwriting and production ideas were rejected by the others, as well as by George Martin.

In the later years of the Beatles, George had clearly improved and developed as a songwriter, but nothing prepared the listener for the creative outpouring they would hear on this triple-LP set. George came roaring out of the gate.

No longer overshadowed by John and Paul, the ‘quiet’ Beatle had much to say. This album is a beautiful, powerful, passionate, amazing display of all the pent-up creativity George Harrison had inside of him.

Most Beatles fans knew he could write a great tune, but this album proved he had considerably more fine music saved up inside himself than many people and critics suspected

Many fans, myself included, were expecting an album full of songs like "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", but George had a massive backlog of songs, going back years, he had written that were never used for Beatles projects. Songs such as ‘All Things’ and ‘Isn't It a Pity’ that were overlooked for inclusion on releases by the Beatles. Both ‘Isn't It a Pity’ and ‘Art of Dying’ were written as early as 1966.

He introduced "All Things Must Pass", along with "Hear Me Lord" and "Let It Down", at the Beatle’s Get Back rehearsals, only to have them rejected by Lennon and McCartney. George wrote "Wah-Wah" during his temporary departure from the band in January 1969.

George basically opened up his vaults and let it all spill out. The album, like George, was very spiritual, philosophical and introspective without ever seeming indulgent or overpowering. The music was passionate and frequently upbeat, drawing on all sorts of influences; Rock, country, Indian, folk, pop, and more. The music covers many different styles but is consistently engaging.

It’s amazing to realize that Harrison, with a little help from his friend Dylan on one or two songs, wrote all of this amazing music himself. A real testament to his ability to write, arrange and produce great music. Many of the songs reflect Harrison’s frustration as the Beatles Empire imploded.

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The ideas for ‘All Things’ started back in 1968

Following the release of The White Album in late 1968, Harrison took a trip to America. He ended up in Woodstock, New York, home to the famous rock festival, but more importantly, home to Bob Dylan and The Band. Dylan was working on ‘New Morning’ and the Band were working on their classic self-titled ‘brown’ album.

Harrison spent some time with those musicians and was blown away by what he heard, saw and learned. Music didn’t have to be thick and layered like Sgt. Pepper, or complex like some Indian music, it could be simple, beautiful, spiritual and truthful, in an old-fashioned Singer-Songwriter style.

Inspired by his trip to Woodstock, George turned away from the Sitar and towards the Acoustic Guitar. He began writing prolifically. George worked closely with his pal Eric Clapton, helping write ‘Badge’ for Cream and helping write on Eric’s first solo album.

Harrison got absorbed into American Folk, Country and Gospel styles and started touring, alongside his mate Eric, with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. There he hooked up with the musicians that would form his ‘band’ for “All Things.”

In 1969, he brushed up on his studio and production techniques by producing several Apple singles for others, such as Billy Preston.

The breakup of the Beatles in April 1970 allowed George to branch out and find new musicians to collaborate with and new co-writers outside of Lennon and McCartney. ‘All Things’ clearly reflects the influence of Harrison's late sixties musical activities outside of the Beatles.

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Given his own studio, his own canvas, and his own space, George Harrison started recording what has become a timeless, classic album. At Abbey Road Studios on February 25, 1970, his 26th birthday, Harrison recorded demos of "All Things Must Pass" and two other compositions that he had written during the Beatles ‘Get Back/Let it Be’ sessions.

George invited Phil Spector out to Friar’s Park and played him some songs from his growing library of unreleased compositions he had been working on. Spector was immediately blown away and started to plan recording George’s new album. There was certainly a bunch of new material to work with.

Many of the songs for the album had their root as solo acoustic numbers, leaving room for others—other interpretations, other viewpoints, other instruments and other voices.

The basic tracks for this iconic album were laid down at London's Abbey Road Studios through the summer of 1970. Extensive overdubbing and re-working of the songs took place over the summer with many of Harrison’s music friends adding their touches.

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Harrison chose his basic ‘core’ of musicians to work with him in the studio, fleshing out the songs. Most of them came from the Delaney and Bonnie tour band, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Bobby Keys, Jim Price and Dave Mason. But soon, the recording sessions for “All Things” turned into a ‘who’s who’ of Rock royalty.

Along with Eric Clapton, there were also musicians whose link with Harrison went back many years, such as Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and bassist Klaus Voormann. Gary Wright of Spooky Tooth played keyboards along with Bobby Whitlock. Other contributors included Procol Harum's Gary Brooker  and Nashville pedal steel player Pete Drake.

From within Apple's stable of musicians, Harrison recruited the band Badfinger, future Yes drummer Alan White, Billy Preston and Beatles assistant Mal Evans on percussion. Ginger Baker, Clapton's former bandmate in Cream and Blind Faith, played drums on the jam track "I Remember Jeep".

Most of these musicians knew immediately after their sessions that Harrison was making a great, classic album.

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Interestingly, the double album added a free bonus disc called “Apple Jam.”

It was too good to leave out, but didn’t fit with most of George’s material. Harrison put the Jam record on its own label. He clearly wanted to include it, but it clearly wasn’t part of ‘All Things.’

Most all of the tracks are improvised instrumentals built around minimal chord changes, just ‘jamming at Apple’ or ‘Apple Jam’. The title for "I Remember Jeep" originated from the name of Clapton's dog, Jeep

"Thanks for the Pepperoni" came from a line on a Lenny Bruce comedy album. The Apple Jam instrumentals "Thanks for the Pepperoni" and "Plug Me In" feature Harrison, Clapton and Mason each taking extended guitar solos.

"It's Johnny's Birthday", sung to the tune of Cliff Richard's 1968 hit "Congratulations", was recorded as a gift from Harrison to Lennon to mark the latter's 30th birthday coming up in October.

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The “All Things” sessions ultimately created one of the best Rock Bands of the early 1970’s, the short lived ‘Derek and the Dominos’. Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock and Eric Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos while jamming and fooling around between takes during the recording sessions.

In June, ‘Derek and the Dominos’ cut their debut single "Tell the Truth" and "Roll It Over", which included Harrison on guitar. The songs were produced by Spector and recorded at Apple on June 18th 1970.

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Recording, overdubbing and mixing on ‘All Things’ lasted for five months, until late October.

Spector's erratic behavior during the sessions was a factor affecting progress on the album. Harrison once mentioned that Spector needed "eighteen cherry brandies" before he could start work. One day, Spector fell over in the studio and broke his arm and was sort of pushed out of his production duties. George took over.

A further complication was that Clapton had become infatuated with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, and adopted a heroin habit as a means of coping with his guilt.

In Spector's absence, Harrison completed the album's tracks and overdubs, doing much of the latter work at Trident Studios. Trident was one of the few London studios that had 16 track mixing that could handle Spector’s ‘Wall of Sound” style.

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‘All Things Must Pass’ was released on November 27, 1970 in the United States. “All Things” was a huge critical and commercial success. Both the album and its single “My Sweet Lord” hit #1 on the charts. The album was very popular back then and is still considered among the best of all the former Beatles' solo albums, consistently appearing on many people’s All-Time greatest albums lists.

The album spent seven weeks at No. 1, and its lead single, “My Sweet Lord,” occupied the same slot on the singles chart, marking the first time a solo Beatle had occupied both spots.

‘All Things’ was a massive ‘break-out’ record for Harrison. It established his own individual style and established his own musical identity. It introduced some Guitar playing methods, such as his signature slide guitar technique, and vocal stylings that weren’t obvious from earlier Beatles recordings.The album introduced George’s ‘sound’ and the spiritual themes that he would use in his subsequent solo work.

It is now widely regarded as one of the great records of the rock era.

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