''Apple Jam'' is a bonus disc included as the third LP record in English rock musician
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
's 1970 triple album ''
All Things Must Pass
''All Things Must Pass'' is the third studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes the h ...
''. It consists of four instrumental
jams
Jams or JAMS may refer to:
*Plural form of jam, a type of fruit preserve
*Jams (clothing line)
*JAMS (organization), United States organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services
*The JAMs, former name of The KLF, a British band ...
, three of which were recorded during the album sessions, and "It's Johnny's Birthday", a 30th birthday tribute to
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
. The disc was
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
' way of placating record buyers for the high retail price of ''All Things Must Pass'', which was one of the first triple albums in rock. It was given a dedicated design by
Tom Wilkes
Thomas Edward Wilkes (July 30, 1939 – June 28, 2009) was an American art director, designer, photographer, illustrator, writer and producer-director.
Life
Wilkes was born in Long Beach, California and raised in southern California. Wilkes atte ...
, with a logo depicting a jam jar and apple leaves.
Two of the jams date from a 18 June 1970 session that marked the official formation of
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
's band
Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previou ...
as recording artists. Augmented by Harrison and guitarist
Dave Mason
David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...
, and produced by
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
, the group recorded songs intended for their debut single that same day. Other tracks on ''Apple Jam'' include musical contributions from
Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
,
Klaus Voormann
Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer.
Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including "You're So V ...
,
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...
,
Gary Wright
Gary Malcolm Wright (born April 26, 1943) is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs " Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and po ...
and
Bobby Keys
Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...
. Music critics have traditionally viewed the jams as dispensable next to the two LPs of songs. Some writers nevertheless recognise the disc's historical importance as a document of Derek and the Dominos' first recording session.
Background
According to bassist
Klaus Voormann
Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer.
Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including "You're So V ...
, a friend of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
since their years
in Hamburg and one of many musicians who played on
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
's ''
All Things Must Pass
''All Things Must Pass'' is the third studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes the h ...
'' album,
jamming was commonplace during the sessions and indicative of the free spirit that characterised the project. Aside from giving Harrison the opportunity to record several songs of his that had been overlooked for inclusion on the Beatles' releases, the album allowed him to include longer instrumental breaks than was typically the case in his former band's work; he also welcomed the chance to record with the musicians he had met while a guest on
Delaney & Bonnie and Friends
Delaney & Bonnie were an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg A ...
' European tour in December 1969.
Harrison recalled that early in the ''All Things Must Pass'' sessions, he and his fellow musicians would improvise on an idea and then ask to hear the jam played back, only to discover that the engineer had failed to capture the performance on tape. As a result, a stereo tape was left running throughout the subsequent sessions to capture any impromptu recordings, leading to the tracks that appear on ''Apple Jam''.
''All Things Must Pass'' was originally scheduled for release with the catalogue number STBO-639, indicating a two-record set.
[Spizer, p. 225.] In a December 2000 interview with ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' editor
Timothy White, Harrison explained the addition of the ''Apple Jam'' disc: "For the jams, I didn't want to just throw
hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
in the cupboard, and yet at the same time it wasn't part of the record; that's why I put it on a separate label to go in the package as a kind of bonus."
[Timothy White]
"George Harrison: 'All Things' in Good Time"
billboard.com
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
, 8 January 2001 (retrieved 26 March 2021). He said he came to appreciate the quality of the jams when mixing the album, especially the "fire" in
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
's guitar playing.
The title of the third disc was a pun combining the idea of a jam session and the Beatles'
Apple Studio to create a reference to a
fruit preserve
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread.
There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method ...
.
Musical content
Side A
"Out of the Blue"
"Out of the Blue" opens abruptly, with the musicians already playing a mid-tempo
groove
Groove or Grooves may refer to:
Music
* Groove (music)
* Groove (drumming)
* The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s
* The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station
* Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station
* ...
.
Lasting eleven minutes, the jam is a
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
instrumental;
in author Simon Leng's description, the improvisation is achieved through guitar
riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
s and "shifting dynamics" over a single-chord theme.
[Leng, pp. 101–02.] The contributors include
Bobby Keys
Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...
and
Jim Price,
[Castleman & Podrazik, p. 197.] both of whom began working as
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
'
horn section
A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the te ...
around this time. Although Harrison credited Clapton as the second guitarist on the track, the part was played by Voormann.
According to Voormann, "He thought it was Eric, because I was playing a little thing like Eric." The other musicians were keyboard players
Bobby Whitlock
Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memph ...
and
Gary Wright
Gary Malcolm Wright (born April 26, 1943) is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs " Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and po ...
, bassist
Carl Radle
Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in ...
and drummer
Jim Gordon.
Originally 20 minutes in length and referred to in Harrison's notes as "Jam (3)", it was recorded at
EMI Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music co ...
on 2 July 1970, the penultimate day of full band sessions for ''All Things Must Pass''.
[Fleming & Radford, p. 33.]
Leng compares "Out of the Blue" to the extended jams typical of the
San Francisco scene and comments that many of those bands would have issued it as a genuine album track.
Beatles historian
Bruce Spizer
David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is a tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books, and is frequently quoted as an authority on the history of the band and ...
highlights Harrison's guitar playing, the "rollicking" piano, and Keys' saxophone contribution, which he likens to the "jam ending" on the Rolling Stones' 1971 track "
Can't You Hear Me Knocking
"Can't You Hear Me Knocking" is a track by English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1971 album ''Sticky Fingers''. The track is over seven minutes long, and begins with a Keith Richards open-G tuned guitar intro. The main song lasts f ...
".
The musician credits also list journalist
Al Aronowitz
Alfred Gilbert Aronowitz (May 20, 1928 – August 1, 2005) was an American rock journalist best known for introducing Bob Dylan to The Beatles in 1964.
Early life and education
Aronowitz was born in Bordentown, New Jersey, and earned a degree in ...
,
who was in London to write a piece about the ''All Things Must Pass'' sessions for the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
''. According to Spizer, Aronowitz most likely played percussion.
"It's Johnny's Birthday"
"It's Johnny's Birthday" is a 49-second track sung to the tune of
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
's 1968 hit "
Congratulations
Congratulations may refer to:
Film and television
*'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary
Music Albums
* ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...
" and delivered in a style that author Ian Inglis terms "
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
sing-along".
[Inglis, p. 32.] Harrison recorded it for
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's 30th birthday,
after
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
, Lennon's wife, had requested a musical gift from him,
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
and
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...
to mark the occasion. Recording took place at EMI Studios on 7 October as Harrison was carrying out final mixing on ''All Things Must Pass''.
The track features Harrison on vocals and all instruments
[Madinger & Easter, p. 432.] – a carnival-style organ and two tracks of acoustic
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
[Harrison & Cooper, p. 53.] – along with vocal contributions from Beatles aide
Mal Evans
Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970.
In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and a ...
and assistant engineer Eddie Klein. Harrison treated the recording with
varispeed
A variable speed pitch control (or vari-speed) is a control on an audio device such as a turntable, tape recorder, or CD player that allows the operator to deviate from a standard speed (such as 33, 45 or even 78 rpm on a turntable), resulting i ...
for comic effect. He presented Lennon with a tape of the song at EMI on 9 October, when Lennon was recording his song "
Remember
Remember may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Remember?'', a 1939 film starring Robert Taylor and Greer Garson
* ''Remember'' (1926 film), an American silent drama film
* ''Remember'' (2015 film), a Canadian film by Atom Egoyan, starring Chris ...
" in one of the studios there, with Voormann and
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
.
[Hertsgaard, pp. 307–08.]
"Plug Me In"
"Plug Me In" is a
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
track with Harrison, Clapton and
Dave Mason
David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...
each taking guitar solos.
[Leng, pp. 100–01.] It was taped on 18 June,
[Harrison & Cooper, p. 54.] a session that marked the recording debut of Clapton, Whitlock, Radle and Gordon's short-lived band
Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previou ...
, which had come together to help Harrison record his album.
[Madinger & Easter, p. 427.] Harrison also contributed on guitar to both sides of the band's debut single, "
Tell the Truth" and "Roll It Over", which were produced by
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
during the same session.
Whitlock recalls "Plug Me In" as an early example of him playing piano, the style of which he credits to
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...
and
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
, as well as a rare contribution from Mason during the ''All Things Must Pass'' sessions.
Although acknowledging that the location for the 18 June 1970 recording has been given as Apple Studio, the compilers of the 2021 ''Archival Notes'' book for the album list EMI's Studio 3, based on the recollection of EMI recording engineer
Phil McDonald
Philip McDonald is an English recording studio audio engineer, best known as the engineer for EMI and later for Apple Records during the Beatles' The Beatles#Controversy.2C studio years and break-up .281966.E2.80.931970.29, studio years, along w ...
.
Side B
"I Remember Jeep"
The title for "I Remember Jeep" originated from the name of Clapton's dog,
[Spizer, p. 226.] a
Weimaraner
The Weimaraner ( ) is a large dog that was originally bred as a hunting dog in the early 19th century. Early Weimaraners were used by royalty for hunting large game such as boar, bear and deer. As the popularity of large game hunting began to d ...
named Jeep who had recently gone missing. The line-up on the eight-minute track was Clapton and Harrison on electric guitars,
[Madinger & Easter, p. 433.] Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
on piano, Voormann on bass and
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...
, Clapton's former bandmate in
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, on drums.
Harrison also added effects on
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
.
Inglis comments on the jam's similarity to Cream's songs, describing it as a "musically sophisticated fusion of jazz/blues tempos within a contemporary rock format".
The main session took place at
Olympic Sound Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, inclu ...
on 29 March 1969, shortly before Harrison started production on Preston's first
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
album, ''
That's the Way God Planned It''.
On 12 May that year – at which point the track was titled "Jam Peace" – Harrison, Lennon and Ono overdubbed handclaps at EMI Studios, and Harrison added the Moog part live as the final mix was being done.
"Thanks for the Pepperoni"
The title for "Thanks for the Pepperoni" came from a line on a
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...
comedy album.
[Huntley, p. 60.] The track is a six-minute jam in the style of
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
's "
Roll Over Beethoven
"Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 hit song written by Chuck Berry, originally released on Chess Records single, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace clas ...
".
Recorded at the same session as "Plug Me In", it again includes guitar solos by Harrison, Clapton and Mason. Leng comments on Harrison's soloing being "uncannily" similar to Clapton's style, saying that Harrison leads for most of the track, which includes his "hottest licks" since the Beatles' "
The End
The End may refer to:
Films
* ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine
* ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds
* ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997
* ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...
". According to Leng, the sequence of guitar solos is: Harrison up to the 1:30 mark; Mason, 1:40–3:00; Harrison, 3:00–3:17; Clapton, 3:18–4:46; Harrison, 4:47–5:52.
Packaging
In his artwork for ''All Things Must Pass'',
Tom Wilkes
Thomas Edward Wilkes (July 30, 1939 – June 28, 2009) was an American art director, designer, photographer, illustrator, writer and producer-director.
Life
Wilkes was born in Long Beach, California and raised in southern California. Wilkes atte ...
gave ''Apple Jam'' a separate design treatment from the first two LPs. The disc's sleeve and face labels contained a jam jar painted by Wilkes, showing a piece of fruit inside the jar and two apple leaves on the outside. To complete the literal pun on the words "apple jam", he painted the title on the jar's lid.
[Spizer, p. 228.] The names of the contributing musicians appeared on the back of the sleeve, separate from the musician credits for the main album, which were printed on the inside of the box housing the three LPs. In many countries, the ''Apple Jam'' sleeve was the only place where Clapton was listed as a musical contributor to ''All Things Must Pass'', since rivalries between competing record companies prevented Harrison from acknowledging him in the main album credits.
As with all the tracks on the third disc,
[Castleman & Podrazik, p. 94.] "It's Johnny's Birthday" carried a Harrison songwriting credit on the original UK release of ''All Things Must Pass''.
[Alan Smith, "George Harrison: ''All Things Must Pass'' (Apple)", '']NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'', 5 December 1970, p. 2; available a
Rock's Backpages
(subscription required; retrieved 15 July 2012). On the first US copies, the only songwriting information on the disc's face labels was the standard inclusion of a performing rights organisation,
BMI. In December 1970, "Congratulations" songwriters
Bill Martin and
Phil Coulter
Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009.
Coulter has ...
claimed for royalties,
with the result that the composer's credit for Harrison's track was changed to acknowledge Martin and Coulter.
Release
Apple Records released ''All Things Must Pass'' on 27 November 1970. Although not the first rock triple LP, it was the first triple set issued by a single act.
The music press were shocked when the release was first announced.
In music historian
Dave Thompson's description, the record soon confirmed these journalists' speculation – namely that Harrison had long been stockpiling his songs, unable to include more than two compositions on each Beatles album, and that "he'd spent a lot longer jamming with his heavyweight friends than anyone could have guessed."
[Dave Thompson, "The Music of George Harrison: An album-by-album guide", '' Goldmine'', 25 January 2002, pp. 16–17.] The album was a major critical and commercial success,
[Kenneth Womack]
"The Hope and Wisdom of George Harrison's 1970 Solo Album 'All Things Must Pass'"
''Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'', 18 April 2020 (retrieved 26 March 2021). despite its retail price – which was over £5 in the United Kingdom and $13.98 in the United States – being considerable for the time. Some of the
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
pressings in North America carried a sticker on the front of the box stating, "2 George Harrison LPs Plus 1 Apple Jam Session" and "3 LPs for the Price of 2".
In the UK, excerpts from "I Remember Jeep" and "Plug Me In" were included in the 10 December ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' album feature on ''All Things Must Pass''.
Leng comments that Harrison displayed a remarkable lack of ego in affording Clapton a large share of the spotlight on the jam disc.
[Leng, p. 100.] Author Robert Rodriguez similarly writes of Harrison's graciousness in this regard, citing "I Remember Jeep" as a Clapton "guitar showcase". In a 1972 interview, Harrison said he was pleased that all the musicians benefited financially from the jam disc, since he had arranged for the publishing royalties to be shared among the contributors.
[Mike Hennessey, "The Harrison Tapes", '']Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'', 15 April 1972. Writing in his 2010 autobiography, Whitlock says he still received quarterly payments for ''Apple Jam'', citing this as an example of Harrison's generosity since "He just gave it to us without saying a word."
When preparing the 30th anniversary edition of ''All Things Must Pass'' in 2000, Harrison changed the order of the ''Apple Jam'' tracks so that "It's Johnny's Birthday" became the opener and "Out of the Blue" closed the album. He said that this was the correct sequence, but it had not been possible in 1970 because of running time considerations for vinyl.
The Seattle-based Beatles
tribute band
A tribute act, tribute band or tribute group is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvi ...
Apple Jam took their name after performing a Harrison-themed concert in 2007. In 2009, the band members included
Alan White, formerly of
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
and one of the drummers who played on the main ''All Things Must Pass'' sessions.
Critical reception
Previewing the triple LP for the ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' in 1970, Mike Gormley said that ''Apple Jam'' contained "some exceptional hard rock and roll" and "Plug Me In" was "one of the best rock tunes ever heard". He concluded: "The album should sell for around $10. It's worth $50." Less impressed with Harrison's religious stance in the main body of songs, Peter Reilly of ''
Stereo Review
''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review''. ...
'' wrote that "he seems freer and more involved" in the collaborative set-up reflected in the jam tracks.
Many critics viewed the third disc as inessential and some complained that it drove up the price for the album. Don Heckman of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' deemed ''All Things Must Pass'' a "blockbuster" and a major artistic statement by the former Beatle, but said of ''Apple Jam'': "Harrison playing guitar with such dynamite contemporaries as Eric Clapton and Dave Mason – nice, but not really a very exciting addition to the album."
Among more recent assessments, Damian Fanelli of ''
Guitar Player
''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...
'' writes that "Winners abound at every turn" on ''All Things Must Pass'' yet the album's "guitar high point" is the jam disc. ''
GQ''s George Chesterton says that rock "never got more imperial" than on ''All Things Must Pass'' but he dismisses ''Apple Jam'' as "frankly forgettable", adding that its inclusion "rather illustrates the excesses of the record industry in 1970 and the baronial power of an ex-Beatle to do whatever the hell he wanted to". Jayson Greene of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' writes that Harrison's 1970 album "in the cultural imagination ... is ''the'' first triple album, the first one released as a pointed statement", adding that "'Plug Me In' and 'I Remember Jeep' and 'Thanks for the Pepperoni' are the sound of a contented artist happily forgetting you are there". He says that while the jam tracks are an indulgence, they nevertheless contribute to the album's legacy as a convention-defying release and provided the forerunner to
the Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
including children's versions of their songs on the band's 1980 triple album ''
Sandinista!
''Sandinista!'' is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, g ...
''
[Jayson Greene]
"George Harrison: ''All Things Must Pass''"
''Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'', 19 June 2016 (retrieved 3 July 2016). Clapton biographer David Bowling picks "Thanks for the Pepperoni" as the best track and says that while Clapton's presence typically inspired such jams, it was the "informal and relaxed settings" when making ''All Things Must Pass'' that "seem to have brought out the best in him".
Roger Catlin of
MusicHound
MusicHound (sometimes stylized as musicHound) was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-ba ...
and
Tom Moon
Thomas Raphael Moon (born November 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist, author, and music critic. He is known for his book '' 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''. He has won two Deems Taylor Awards from the American Society of Composers, Aut ...
, in his entry for ''All Things Must Pass'' in ''
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die
Onekama ( ) is a village in Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 411 at the 2010 census. The village is located on the shores of Portage Lake and is surrounded by Onekama Township. The town's name is derived from "On ...
'', both view the jam disc as a complement to the high-quality, spiritual-themed songs on the first two LPs.
[Graff & Durchholz, p. 529.][Moon, p. 345.] In the 2004 ''
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
'', Mac Randall states that the album is an exceptional work, but its admirers tend to overlook how the last 30 minutes comprise "a bunch of instrumental blues jams that nobody listens to more than once". Reviewing for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
,
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
describes the inclusion of ''Apple Jam'' as "a very significant flaw" but recognises that its content "proved to be of immense musical importance", with the formation of Derek and the Dominos. AllMusic critic Bruce Eder similarly sees the third disc as "historically important as the sessions that spawned Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos".
[Bruce Eder]
"George Harrison"
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
(archived version retrieved 26 March 2021).
Notes
References
Sources
* Keith Badman, ''The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001'', Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ).
* David Bowling,
Eric Clapton FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Slowhand', Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2013; ).
* Nathan Brackett & Christian Hoard (eds), ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' (4th edn), Fireside/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2004; ).
*
Roy Carr
Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines.
Biography
Born in Blackpoo ...
&
Tony Tyler
James Edward Anthony Tyler (31 October 1943 in Bristol – 28 October 2006 in Hastings, East Sussex) was a British writer who authored several books and wrote for the ''NME'','' Macworld'', '' MacUser'', '' PC Pro'' and '' Computer Shopper''.
...
, ''The Beatles: An Illustrated Record'', Trewin Copplestone Publishing (London, 1978; ).
* Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, ''All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975'', Ballantine Books (New York, NY, 1976; ).
*
Alan Clayson
Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as ' ...
, ''George Harrison'', Sanctuary (London, 2003; ).
*
Stephen Davis, ''Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-Year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones'', Broadway Books (New York, NY, 2001; ).
* The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'', ''Harrison'', Rolling Stone Press/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2002; ).
* Don Fleming & Richard Radford, ''Archival Notes – the Making of All Things Must Pass'', Capitol Records/Calderstone Productions (Los Angeles, CA/London, 2021).
* Michael Frontani, "The Solo Years", in
Kenneth Womack
Kenneth Womack (born January 24, 1966) is an American writer, literary critic, public speaker, and music historian, particularly focusing on the cultural influence of the Beatles. He is the author of the bestselling ''Solid State: The Story of A ...
(ed.), ''
The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles'', Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK, 2009; ), pp. 153–82.
*
Gary Graff
Gary Graff (born 1960) is an American music journalist and author.
Biography
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper ''The Taylor Allderdice Foreword''.
He receiv ...
& Daniel Durchholz (eds), ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'', Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ).
*
Olivia Harrison
Olivia Trinidad Harrison (née Arias; born May 18, 1948) is an American author and film producer, and the widow of English musician George Harrison of the Beatles. She first worked in the music industry in Los Angeles, for A&M Records, where s ...
& Rachel Cooper (curators), ''All Things Must Pass Scrapbook'', Capitol Records/Calderstone Productions (Los Angeles, CA/London, 2021).
*
Bill Harry
William Harry (born 17 September 1938) is the creator of '' Mersey Beat'', a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as ''Biped'' and ''Premier ...
, ''The George Harrison Encyclopedia'', Virgin Books (London, 2003; ).
*
Mark Hertsgaard
Mark Hertsgaard (born 1956) is an American journalist and the co-founder and executive director of Covering Climate Now. He is the environment correspondent for ''The Nation'', and the author of seven non-fiction books, including ''Earth Odyssey ...
, ''A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles'', Pan Books (London, 1996; ).
* Elliot J. Huntley, ''Mystical One: George Harrison – After the Break-up of the Beatles'', Guernica Editions (Toronto, ON, 2006; ).
* Ian Inglis, ''The Words and Music of George Harrison'', Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ).
* Simon Leng, ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison'', Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; ).
* Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, ''Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium'', 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ).
*
Tom Moon
Thomas Raphael Moon (born November 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist, author, and music critic. He is known for his book '' 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''. He has won two Deems Taylor Awards from the American Society of Composers, Aut ...
, ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die'', Workman Publishing (New York, NY, 2008; ).
* Jan Reid, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos'', Rodale (New York, NY, 2006; ).
* Robert Rodriguez, ''Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980'', Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2010; ).
*
Nicholas Schaffner
Nicholas Schaffner (January 28, 1953 – August 28, 1991) was an American non-fiction author, journalist, and singer-songwriter.
Biography
Schaffner was born in Manhattan to John V. Schaffner (1913–1983), a literary agent whose clients includ ...
, ''The Beatles Forever'', McGraw-Hill (New York, NY, 1978; ).
*
Bruce Spizer
David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is a tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books, and is frequently quoted as an authority on the history of the band and ...
, ''The Beatles Solo on Apple Records'', 498 Productions (New Orleans, LA, 2005; ).
*
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
, ''The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film'', Backbeat Books (San Francisco, CA, 2006; ).
*
Bobby Whitlock
Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memph ...
with Marc Roberty, ''Bobby Whitlock: A Rock 'n' Roll Autobiography'', McFarland (Jefferson, NC, 2010; ).
{{All Things Must Pass
George Harrison