All Things Must Pass

All Things Must Pass, George Harrison's groundbreaking 1970 triple album, is dedicated to the Hare Krishna cult, and yet, in spite of this, its music is commanding in its presence, and demands attention. The album, from its beginning to its end, is filled with lush music that is beautiful and fulfilling. The listener is captivated by the smorgasbord of music present in it to continue to listen all the way to the end.

In spite of the album's appeals to Hare Krishna, and its own disdain for the figures of organized religion, its music is designed in such a way that it can appeal to almost any religious group. Whether one is Christian, Jew, or Hindu, there is something to be found in the music present in the album. It proclaims the truth than in all facets of life, all things must pass.

The music on the album comes from a wide variety of sources, and some of the music on the album even stretches back to 1966. Most of its compositions were written when Harrison was a Beatle. However, Harrison never got a chance to use these tracks. As a result, he accumulated a large backlog of music which he held on to. With the breakup of the Beatles, Harrison was now free to use these compositions which he had held on to.

Eighteen tracks were selected for the album. These eighteen tracks, plus five largely instrumental tracks that made up the Apple Jam disk in the original vinyl release, became the tracks present on the album. Even with all of these tracks, however, there were still several tracks that were recorded which ultimately did not meet release on the album. Many of these remain unreleased.

Of these eighteen tracks, Harrison viewed it as an imperative that the album receive a notable producer, a producer who could shape the album and make it a success. For the task of producing the album alongside himself, Harrison chose noted American producer Phil Spector. Spector established his fame for his "Wall of Sound" technique, and he had produced the Beatles Let it Be album, released earlier in 1970.

Harrison wanted Spector's dense musical sound to lend an air of gravitas to the album. Spector obliged and the two men co-produced the album, although stretches of the album were produced by George himself, as Spector was not the most reliable producer. The album ultimately met its completion, and a release was set for late November.  A major promotional effort was begun by Apple Records, the recording company set up by the Beatles to produce and to manage their works in 1968.

Ultimately, All Things Must Pass met release on November 27, 1970 in the United States and on November 30, 1970 in the United Kingdom. In both countries, it was critically and commercially well-received. The album established George Harrison as an artistic force to be reckoned with, and he became established as an artist. Ultimately, however, Harrison was never able to surpass All Things. He was able to produce some very good albums, but would never reach the heights of All Things Must Pass.

To this day, it still remains the best-selling solo Beatle album, and for better or worse, it is the album that George's career is measured up to. All Things Must Pass put George on the worldwide stage as his own independent artist, but at the same time, it was such a success that it would have been almost impossible to surpass. Harrison, perhaps knowing this, never did create an album that surpassed All Things, making it, for better or for worse, his quintessential work.