Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Favorite Finds



George Harrison's first post-Beatles album was All Things Must Pass, which was a collection of music he had composed to be used as Beatles songs and released in 1970. A three disc album of nearly perfect song after perfect song. I'd label this one of my favorite finds of 2006 (thanks, as usual, to APitty).

There is, of course, the single "My Sweet Lord", a jovial little track about Harrison's maybe not-so-subtle but easy-to-swallow Christianity. It sounds like one of those moments when your head spins at the awful enormity of everything; except with autoharps, hawaii dripping guitars, and cathedral echo hallelujahs. And its not written in a Sufjan Stevens kinda showoffy, I-heart-christ bumper stickery way but in a healthy, Jesus-and-me-on-a-road-trip-smokin-ciggas kinda way. I've been stabbing the repeat button over and over on this one.

I Live For You is only available on the reissue of the album that came out in 2000. The clincher for me on this song is the steel guitar that bends and bows around the lazystrummed hallways of this song. He recorded this one in 2000 and you can really hear his threadbare vocals about to snap in pieces at any moment, which lends itself to the song itself which just sounds so... weary. Its a great testament to his talents right up until his death. Why he didn't include it on the original is a mystery, its better than a lot of the other tracks (especially the jam sessions at the very end).

It just goes to show that Harrison was the cool beatle, the Beatle you'd want as your cool older brother that was in a band and drank YooHoo.

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