I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

god it is worth trudging through the first 3.5 hours just to feel the full measure of relief and joy when billy preston shows up

I know, it's an enormous change. I posted this upthread, but when the companion book to the film and box set was published earlier this year, a lot of readers zeroed in on George's remarks about Billy Preston. With Preston's organ taking on all the fills George was going to do, it was major relief for George and took away the source of his biggest arguments at Twickenham.

"For You Blue," a song that means nothing to me

They probably had no conflicts because it meant nothing to any of them as well.

Hell, George gave them the easiest songs in his stash because they'd trigger the least trouble.

George was writing shitty dirges the night before and bringing them in the next morning as legit pieces I'd be mean too

"I Me Mine" is the only shitty dirge he brought. "Old Brown Shoe," "All Things Must Pass," "Something," "For You Blue"? Nah.

what is it with you and old brown shoe lol

finally, the main question on ilm comes out

I was kind of shocked that Paul had completely forgotten "All Things Must Pass" when he did at Harrison's tribute concert a year after his death - like he had no idea how the song went and had to be taught it from scratch. Granted it had been 32 years since they rehearsed it (even if they did run through it MANY times over multiple days), but it wound up being the title track of George's multiplatinum, chart-topping AOTY-nominated album. Like even then, Paul still didn't give a shit.

*when he did it at

you cant be serious

First thing I do when I pick up a bass is play the opening lick of "Old Brown Shoe".

Old Brown Shoe is balls.

AMAZEballs, that is.

It always sounds like nobody knows what speed they should be playing.

lol

What's with the Enoch Powell stuff when jamming Get Back? I've honestly never really thought about the politics of that track. Slightly unnerving. Especially with the Clapton context.

Watching GH helping Ringo along with Octopus' Garden at the start of Ep3, so so great.

And in their generally musically fraught environment, it comes across as an act of genuine friendship.

Swap out “Maxwell’s” for “Old Brown Shoe” and Abbey Road improves considerably.

Watching GH helping Ringo along with Octopus' Garden at the start of Ep3, so so great.

― Maresn3st, Saturday, November 27, 2021 4:52 AM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

best part of the original film, the episode i’m most looking forward to

but it wound up being the title track of George's multiplatinum, chart-topping AOTY-nominated album. Like even then, Paul still didn't give a shit.

Paul has said that, after the breakup, it was years until he could listen to Beatles records again. I imagine that George — the bandmate he was most dismissive of — having a far bigger (and universally acclaimed) record than him was very difficult to swallow in 1970. Paul probably didn’t even listen to the whole thing until the late ‘70s.

Or even 'at all'

not sure when i'll watch any of this thing, but just wanted to say there's been some really excellent posts itt this week! great reading for a beatle fan.

Jeez did they really have to start this thing with the 1000th "history of the Beatles" montage? Jfc

Whenever I listen to Old Brown Shoe, I wish zz top were doing it instead

really wish George had attempted to do one of his solo LPs in the style of ZZ Top

well, in 1968, he did Wonderwall in the style of Oasis.

My Sweet Legs

If the rooftop concert had happened in the United States, police would’ve just arrested Billy Preston and left.

— rick (@yes2nola) November 27, 2021

i've only watched part 1, but it was difficult to see george being dismissed so nonchalantly, knowing how deeply his friendship with paul and john had touched him. i can definitely see how this served as a catapult to release all things must pass

it also nicely portrays how everything paul did was done in a charismatic way to underplay his vicious intentions. it's a pretty dangerous approach because without knowing all the baggage between him and george, you'd think george was the uptight one. so it's easy to gloss over the fact that for years george had wrote hundreds of songs and neither paul nor john wanted to play them. that's pretty much indicative of how out of place he was

john went on record to say something really awful about all things must pass, as well. "I think it's all right, you know. Personally, at home, I wouldn't play that kind of music, I don't want to hurt George's feelings, I don't know what to say about it."

i just read a lot of jealousy in that statement

it's funny how the songs george proposed in get back turned out to be on an album that was momentarily bigger than the beatles and the most accomplished post-beatles album

John was also the one who insisted George get "The Inner Light" and "Old Brown Shoe" as B-sides and said "Something" should be the A-side. It's complicated!

right, but how many george songs did he actually allow "in"? he was as much of a gatekeeper as paul with a bit more heart, sure

I would not have allowed "Only a Northern Song" anywhere near my record but y'know

Well didn't George Martin veto that one and GH came up with 'Within You..'?

yep

this is obviously subjective, but songwriting is an exchange of ideas and sometimes re-working them may be necessary. i think quite a few of george's songs that weren't on all things must pass could've benefited from paul's and john's input. that would've probably put the beatles, what, 5 to 10 years ahead of their time? but it didn't work out that way

george was arguably the least difficult beatle to work with, which i'm sure only makes the process of songwriting easier. in some ways, all the beatles' virtues turned to negatives by the time the band drifted apart. their unwillingness to work with anyone else turned to the members in their own band. george was so malleable he went along with everything until he felt completely disconnected and alienated from them. if anything, you see george as the one who really wanted to expand musically and culturally

Currently googling the history of guitar tuners, there are some school band issues going on at points.

john went on record to say something really awful about all things must pass, as well. "I think it's all right, you know. Personally, at home, I wouldn't play that kind of music, I don't want to hurt George's feelings, I don't know what to say about it."

On a funnier note, he also said that George looked like an asthmatic Leon Russell on the ATMP cover!

"I've had some wine yeh know, remember Bob Wooler?', holy shit

really wish George had attempted to do one of his solo LPs in the style of ZZ Top

That would've been MUCH more preferable than the one he did in the style of Jimmy Buffett.

i just read a lot of jealousy in that statement

idk, I think it would be more for the spiritual element. John was pretty disillusioned by that point - just look at "God"!

Before he died, he said this in one of his final interviews:

Q: "How about George's solo music?"

LENNON: "I think 'All Things Must Pass' was all right. It just went on too long."

Granted, not a HUGE compliment, but he's not wrong about it being too long thanks to that crappy third disc.

I like George but ATMP (the song and most of the album) is interminable

I always preferred the version released on Anthology 3 back in 1996. It was one of three polished solo demos he cut at Abbey Road on his 26th birthday, less than four weeks after the rooftop concert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODEhwaU2Uw

I heard this first and loved it, only to be disappointed by Spector's elephantine arrangement on George's solo album. I've grown to enjoy Spector's arrangement despite its flaws, but the Anthology 3 version is still my favorite. I programmed it into my own version of Get Back as it felt like fair game.

Yeesh, the Beatles were pushing 30 when they officially split, but I just realized, Paul is only 26 and George is only 25 in January 1969. Halfway through their 20's and the end of the Beatles is already on the horizon.

i want a George Harrison biopic, titled Thanks for the Pepperoni

Peter Jackson should've found a way to shoehorn this in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gk1tnvl8mo

Sweet Jesus, I had no idea they made that into a video game. That's almost as absurd as this fictional one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AUaXI4jU88

Finished it. Enjoyed it a lot as an immersive experience - but not sure I can face hearing either Get Back or Don't Let Me Down again for a long time.

haha yeah otm with Dont' Let Me Down

The P. Jackson cosmetic smoothing is way too much, Lennon in particular often looks like an AI-generated hologram of himself. Yassification in full effect. Guessing that the others' facial hair mitigates the software effect somewhat