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Microscope - All Things Must Pass
tkitna:
All Things Must Pass
I have always considered this to be the best solo album of all the Beatles, but admit to not having listened to it for a very long time. Its a long album and its going to be a chore to dissect, but I think its time so we can then proceed with George's other efforts. So here goes,,,,,
I'd Have You Anytime - A song that Bob Dylan helped George out with. Starts off with a nice acoustic and steel guitar playing (think its a steel anyways). Bass has a nice tone. Drums are nice and low in the mix. George's voice sounds nice. Drummer is using brushes. Sweet. 0:48 love the electric guitar here and the little build up. 1:25 I can hear an xylophone or something in the background. 2:22 is a nice little lead guitar part and its evident its not a steel guitar. Beautiful and haunting tune to start the album.
My Sweet Lord - Probably George's most popular song ever. Everybody knows about the plagiarism court case in which George supposedly lifted the song from the Chiffons, but who cares? Its a good song. Love the acoustic guitar and Georges trademark slide electric. 1:30 the background singers come in. 1:52 absolutely adore how the drums sneak into the fray. 2:46 the lead comes in and gets double tracked along the way. Great. George sings with conviction and its just a great song.
Wah-Wah - Always a favorite of mine. George takes a jab at Paul and John with this one. Starts with a nice electric guitar intro. Keyboards and drums fall in right after to set the tone. Like how George sings over the background singers singing Wah-Wah. Bass sounds good again. 1:45 we have some brass and horns joining in. Lead plays along with the horns and its awesome. Just an upbeat tune about a few grudges during earlier times. Outstanding.
Isnt It A Pity - Starts with an acoustic guitar and piano intro. Might be strings in there too, but I dont have my good headphones on. 0:50 the tambourine comes in (most underrated instrument in music). 1:15 drums appear and sound good. Has that dead 70's sound but works well. 1:29 Georges voice is double tracked and its a great effect. Big strings at 2:10 with slide guitar. Great solo by the way. Another haunting piece I love. It clocks in a little over 7 minutes, but I never get bored with it.
What Is Life - One of George's more upbeat, better known numbers that I love. The guitar intro is awesome along with the drums coming in,,,,really nice. Bass has that full rounded sound as usual and those horns, please. Fantastic. The hi hat splashes throughout from the drummer is a must. They add so much. The lead solo is tasty to say the least. Just a happy, upbeat song that has me always tapping my toes and wanting to move around.
If Not For You - Dylan wrote this one and this is where the momentum takes a slight dip for me. More acoustic with some slide and the drummer using the brushes again. Piano comes in, but I swear theres wrong notes being played at the 1:00 mark. 1:12 theres that tambourine again. Overall, this is a fine song and I do like it, but its just coming off that high from the previous song that brings it down a notch.
Behind That Locked Door - Starts with slide or steel guitar and acoustic together which reminds me of a country themed song you would hear in a barn while dancing. There's those brushes again, Bass continues to impress. Nice piano. Oh that church organ in the middle. All in all its a nice country, waltz, slower offering.
Let It Down - Hit you like a sledgehammer is how this song starts out. Horns, guitar, drums with echo effect, etc,,,. Love the piano. 0:25 its comes to a calm. Love the melody to the song. Another that is haunting but yet not overly so, if you can understand that. Really, really love George's vocal range here. Not so much lows to falsettos but more in the terms of being smooth to forceful. Great. 2:15 'Let It Down',,,,Yeah. What a powerful song. One of my favorites.
Run Of The Mill - Starts with electric acoustic I think? Some good drumming with melodic horn pieces. Very weird time signatures in this song. I like it. Its a hard song to explain. Its a medium tempo affair and quite enjoyable. Not sure what else to say about it.
Beware Of Darkness - Just love that haunting and beautiful beginning with the guitars and how George's voice sounds when it comes in. Drums sound great. .50 mark somebody hits an xylophone note or something. Just a single one. Piano and strings are great. I adore the emotion this song exhibits and its one of my favorites from George.
Apple Scruffs - Little Harmonica to start us out with an echo effect on the drum rims. Always liked the chord changes through this song. I'm no musician when it comes to notes, but they always sounded cool to me on this song. All great until the singing at the .53 mark with George trying to go up and down the vocal ranges. He doesnt have the voice for it and it sounds awful. 1:51 great backing harmonies. Decent song, but has a few annoying parts.
Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) - Here's a song that I have always enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing while listening to it. Its not a banger, but I find my feet still tapping and my shoulders moving. Drummer uses the brushes and love his bass foot pattern. All instruments sound great here. Nice fallout at 1:28 mark. Song makes me feel good and I like it.
Awaiting On You All - Another favorite of mine. Great upbeat number. I cant help but to dance around to this one either. I'm not even bothering trying to go into detail about the instruments. They are all there and they all sound good. Just do yourself a favor and spin this one.
All Things Must Pass - The title track. Do I really need to go into detail about this one? Oh that smooth intro.with the piano, bass, guitar, and horns, and of course that piercing slide.that sounds like its being shot to the moon. Love the harmonies during the course and the electric guitar. Horns and strings add so much. Another winner right here folks. Beautiful song.
I Dig Love - Damn this album. Just chalk full of great songs and here's another I love. The intro reminds me of a mystery spoof theme for some reason. Always has. Heavy echo effect on the drums. .34 What a groove. Good song, but if I had to find any criticism at all, it would be that its a bit long, around the 5 minute mark, and it really doesnt stray from its path too much which means it can border on the monotonous side. I dont care, I like it.
Art Of Dying - Wow. Rocking start with a fantastic electric guitar tone and then the huge horns coming in. Love, love the bass. 1:38 the middle is great. The horns and lead are relentless throughout this song. Absolutely fantastic.
Isnt It A Pity (Version 2) - Same as the first version with some variations to the piano and additions of more harmonies, lead guitar, and flute, etc,,,. Its a great version. A bit deeper that the first and I believe my choice out of the two.
Hear Me Lord - Man oh man. Coming in with those drums and piano. Good stuff. Those harmonies give me goosebumps. Every instrument sounds fantastic here. George asking for help from the lord. Powerful song to me. Piano has that Lunchbox Oddsox sound. Love the song and what a proper way to end the album before going into the jams.
Continuing on to the third record which are just jam sessions. I'm not going to spend a bunch of time on them, but will give them a going through.
Out Of The Blue - 11 minute jam with some raunchy guitar and nice piano and organ playing. Sax comes in a little down the road and sounds awesome. Cool jam but pretty lengthy. I wouldnt hesitate to throw it on when i'm partying in the garage with my friends and I want some good rocking background music. Its good.
Its Johnnys Birthday - A little 49 second tribute to Mr. Lennon. A sped up and slowed down circus atmosphere. Goofy little song.
Plug Me In - Another 3 minute jam thats heavy with leads and piano with some decent drumming. Not much more I can add.
I Remember Jeep - 8 minute deal here that starts out with wind effects. Production is a bit lower with this one than the previous ones. Has a few weird sound effects thrown in. Its ok.
Thanks For The Pepperoni - A 5 plus minute jam here. Sounds a lot like Roll Over Beethoven with the leads. Again, its alright, but its just improv jamming.
There you have it folks. A triple album if including the jams and what an album it is. As most know, I lean towards Paul when it comes to the solo efforts, but I wont hesitate to claim this album as the best out of all of them. Its just a fantastic effort that I really dont listen to enough. Do yourselves all a favor and listen to this album (especially if you dont happen to own it), because you all deserve it. Its that good.
tkitna:
I have what musicians play on each song somewhere. Its on an old drumming forum. I'll see if I can find it and post it up.
tkitna:
I’D HAVE YOU ANYTIME
(George Harrison & Bob Dylan)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Alan White.
MY SWEET LORD
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Ringo Starr, Jim Gordon, Badfinger
WAH WAH
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Ringo Starr, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Badfinger
ISN’T IT A PITY
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Tony Ashton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Ringo Starr, Badfinger
WHAT IS LIFE
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Badfinger
IF NOT FOR YOU
(Bob Dylan)
Musicians: George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Alan White, Ringo Starr
BEHIND THAT LOCKED DOOR
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Pete Drake, Alan White.
LET IT DOWN
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Gary Brooker, Badfinger
RUN OF THE MILL
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Gary Wright
BEWARE OF DARKNESS
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Bobby Whitlock, Gary Wright, Carl Radle, Ringo Starr
APPLE SCRUFFS
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison
BALLAD OF SIR FRANKIE CRISP {Let It Roll}
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Pete Drake, Bobby Whitlock, Alan White
AWAITING ON YOU ALL
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Carl Radle, Klaus Voormann, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys
ALL THINGS MUST PASS
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Klaus Voormann, Pete Drake, Ringo Starr OR Jim Gordon
I DIG LOVE
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Bobby Whitlock, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, Jim Gordon
ART OF DYING
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Phil Collins
ISN’T IT A PITY (Version 2)
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Tony Ashton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright, Ringo Starr, Badfinger
HEAR ME LORD
(George Harrison)
Musicians: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, Gary Wright, Bobby Whitlock, Billy Preston, Jim Price, Bobby Keys
I dont have the lineups for the jams.
Moogmodule:
Terrific detailed Microscope.
Love this album too but might take a while to do a full reply. Maybe when I’m stuck inside on the weekend.
I think Apple Scruffs from memory was one where George employs his favourite diminished chords. But would have to listen to it again.
The other amazing thing is that, despite filling a double album with songs, with the one repeat of Isn’t it a Pity, George had heaps of other songs leftover, Beautiful Girl, Woman Dont you Cry for Me, I Live for You, You plus others which either he repurposed for later albums or let drop.
Bobber:
Respect my friend. I'm going to listen to this album too. :-)
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