Some things shouldn’t pass

George Harrison is the quiet Beatle. He’s the most unassuming of the fab four, and was often left in shadow by the more boisterous Ringo Starr, and his two megastar bandmates, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

George was the youngest member, and started off his career by simply playing guitar in the band.

But, as the Beatles got older, he burgeoned into an incredible songwriter in his own right.

The magnum opus of his solo career is the immaculate album, ‘All Things Must Pass.

This album is full of incredible songs, and in its ranks, boasts Harrison’s most famous solo work, ‘My Sweet Lord’. But, this album is a highly-underrated ‘70s classic that is every bit as good as any Lennon or McCartney solo effort.

My personal highlight is its song, ‘Wah Wah’, named after the guitar effect pedal that is all over the catchy opening riff of this song.

You couldn’t get a more cheery vibrant song full of masterful harmonies and catchy melodies. This song feels very ahead of its time and was covered extensively in 90s by bands like Ocean Colour Scene, beck and Jeff Lynne.

This album was produced by disgraced master producer, Phil Spector, whose signature sound is all over the album. Often credited as the architect of ‘the wall of sound’, this album sounds huge, and the production is reminiscent of Spectors’ other work with Ike and Tina Turner – and, indeed, his work on The Beatle’s album ‘Let It Be’.

Harrison, himself, describes the flawed geniuses’ recording as being ‘perfect from start to finish’.

‘All Things Must Pass’ shows how much George Harrison evolved – both as a musician and songwriter.

His guitar work on the album is fantastic as ever – and is much more sophisticated than in his early Beatles days.

A great example of this is the intertwining lead lines on the opening song, ‘I’d Have You Anytime’, where Harrison proves he is possibly the greatest ‘guitar studio parts’ writer ever.

Then, there is the massive hit on the album the classic, ‘My Sweet Lord’.

Only a Beatle could make a song about abandoning religious intolerance, and the Hindu god Krishna, a pop classic, and Harrison did it; with the song selling millions of copies worldwide. It even became the biggest-selling single of 1971.

This album is perfect – and every track is unskippable.