George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (50th Anniversary – Super Deluxe) (1970/2021) [FLAC 24bit/192kHz]

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary, George Harrison’s, All Things Must Pass, is being celebrated with a suite of new releases highlighted by a stunning new mix of the classic album by Grammy Award-winning mixer/engineer Paul Hicks, overseen by executive producer Dhani Harrison. The 3CD Deluxe Edition contains an all-new remix by Paul Hicks and features the main album on Discs 1 & 2 followed by Disc 3 featuring 17 tracks of demo recordings, session outtakes and studio jams. Housed in a square box with scaled down version of the original poster, it includes a 20-page booklet with photos, introduction, and notes from Dhani Harrison and Paul Hicks on remixing the album.

When it was originally released in 1971, George Harrison’s first solo rock album managed the impressive feat of being both expansive and consistent. With four LP sides of gentle, spiritual, and highly melodic songcraft and two more of loose, muscular rock jams, it was a consummate expression of everything that Harrison had creatively held onto during the Beatles years. But for an album that was already seen as sprawling on its original release, it’s simultaneously surprising and appropriate that there was enough unreleased and complementary material to fill up this expansive new edition beyond what had already been included on the 30th anniversary edition. That earlier edition tweaked the album’s running order for the sake of CD sequencing, tacked on a good selection of bonus tracks, and was remastered under Harrison’s guidance, making it feel like a definitive statement. However, it was again remastered 10 years later, and now, a half-century after it was originally released, we are getting even more bonus tracks, another remastering, and, perhaps most notably, a brand new mix.

The album’s original running order is restored here, but that’s where fealty to the original All Things Must Pass ends. All of the studio recordings have been dramatically remixed, dialing back the overwrought reverb from Phil Spector’s original production (an approach that Harrison wanted for the 30th, but demurred on) and making numerous other tweaks throughout. Of course, as with anything related to the Beatles, these changes are not without controversy. Some fans will love them, some fans will hate them, but to anyone coming to this album with no preconceptions, the new mixes evoke the warmth and spaciousness of the original album without some of the touches that now sound quite a bit dated.

Beyond the new mix though, there’s lots more to dig into. The 30 demo versions reveal these songs in their most simple forms, and while many of them may give some diehard fans the fully de-Spectored version of these songs they’ve been clamoring for, the truth is, the true power of this work came from the combination of songwriting, playing, and studio care that went into it. Far more illuminating and enjoyable is the final disc of alternate takes. Yes, there are some goofy asides-“Isn’t it so shitty/ Isn’t it a pain/ How we do so many takes” from “Isn’t It A Pity (Take 14)”-and (amazingly!) a Lennon/McCartney number (“Get Back”). But among those bits of studio detritus are nestled gems like take 27 of “Isn’t It A Pity,” which presents the song in a slower version that is dirgelike in its intensity, yet still possessed of its innate ethereality. The fact that a cut like this was kept in the vault all this time either means that this edition is indeed the final word on this classic album or that there’s even more in store for the centennial edition that will be downloaded straight into our brains. – Jason Ferguson

Tracklist:
1. George Harrison – I’d Have You Anytime (2020 Mix)
2. George Harrison – My Sweet Lord (2020 Mix)
3. George Harrison – Wah-Wah (2020 Mix)
4. George Harrison – Isn’t It A Pity (Version 1 / 2020 Mix)
5. George Harrison – What Is Life (2020 Mix)
6. George Harrison – If Not For You (2020 Mix)
7. George Harrison – Behind That Locked Door (2020 Mix)
8. George Harrison – Let It Down (2020 Mix)
9. George Harrison – Run Of The Mill (2020 Mix)
10. George Harrison – Beware Of Darkness (2020 Mix)
11. George Harrison – Apple Scruffs (2020 Mix)
12. George Harrison – Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) (2020 Mix)
13. George Harrison – Awaiting On You All (2020 Mix)
14. George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (2020 Mix)
15. George Harrison – I Dig Love (2020 Mix)
16. George Harrison – Art Of Dying (2020 Mix)
17. George Harrison – Isn’t It A Pity (Version 2 / 2020 Mix)
18. George Harrison – Hear Me Lord (2020 Mix)
19. George Harrison – Out Of The Blue (Remastered 2020)
20. George Harrison – It’s Johnny’s Birthday (Remastered 2020)
21. George Harrison – Plug Me In (Remastered 2020)
22. George Harrison – I Remember Jeep (Remastered 2020)
23. George Harrison – Thanks For The Pepperoni (Remastered 2020)
24. George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
25. George Harrison – Behind That Locked Door (Day 1 Demo / Take 2)
26. George Harrison – I Live For You (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
27. George Harrison – Apple Scruffs (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
28. George Harrison – What Is Life (Day 1 Demo / Take 3)
29. George Harrison – Awaiting On You All (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
30. George Harrison – Isn’t It A Pity (Day 1 Demo / Take 2)
31. George Harrison – I’d Have You Anytime (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
32. George Harrison – I Dig Love (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
33. George Harrison – Going Down To Golders Green (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
34. George Harrison – Dehra Dun (Day 1 Demo / Take 2)
35. George Harrison – Om Hare Om (Gopala Krishna) (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
36. George Harrison – Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) (Day 1 Demo / Take 2)
37. George Harrison – My Sweet Lord (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
38. George Harrison – Sour Milk Sea (Day 1 Demo / Take 1)
39. George Harrison – Run Of The Mill (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
40. George Harrison – Art Of Dying (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
41. George Harrison – Everybody/Nobody (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
42. George Harrison – Wah-Wah (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
43. George Harrison – Window Window (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
44. George Harrison – Beautiful Girl (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
45. George Harrison – Beware Of Darkness (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
46. George Harrison – Let It Down (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
47. George Harrison – Tell Me What Has Happened To You (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
48. George Harrison – Hear Me Lord (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
49. George Harrison – Nowhere To Go (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
50. George Harrison – Cosmic Empire (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
51. George Harrison – Mother Divine (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
52. George Harrison – I Don’t Want To Do It (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
53. George Harrison – If Not For You (Day 2 Demo / Take 1)
54. George Harrison – Isn’t It A Pity (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 14)
55. George Harrison – Wah-Wah (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
56. George Harrison – I’d Have You Anytime (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 5)
57. George Harrison – Art Of Dying (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
58. George Harrison – Isn’t It A Pity (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 27)
59. George Harrison – If Not For You (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 2)
60. George Harrison – Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine) (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
61. George Harrison – What Is Life (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
62. George Harrison – Beware Of Darkness (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 8)
63. George Harrison – Hear Me Lord (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 5)
64. George Harrison – Let It Down (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
65. George Harrison – Run Of The Mill (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 36)
66. George Harrison – Down To The River (Rocking Chair Jam) (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
67. George Harrison – Get Back (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
68. George Harrison – Almost 12 Bar Honky Tonk (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
69. George Harrison – It’s Johnny’s Birthday (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 1)
70. George Harrison – Woman Don’t You Cry For Me (Session Outtakes And Jams / Take 5)

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