Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/george-harrison-beware-of-d.html
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Somehow I managed to never realize that it was a cover…
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The Leon Russell tie in on the vocals was beyond awesomeness.
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This is easily my favorite song of his. And All Things Must Pass is a fantastic album - so moody, and dripping with melancholy.
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GH. Sadly missed.
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take cur, bewur
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i might get in trouble for posting this on the internet, but i’ve privately argued that “all things must pass” and “plastic ono band” rival most of what the beatles ever did together. anyway, i’d personally take those as my “desert island discs” over the ubiquitous white album.
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Came to make this comment. 
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No trouble here, well I never really ‘got’ Lennon’s solo stuff mostly, but Harrison’s songs in and out of the Beatles show how much of a wasted chance it was, their cliques and rudeness about his work (especially Lennon towards Harrison, when tbh you can easily argue that many of Harrison’s output eclipses a lot of Lennon’s, especially later on) leading to the dissolution of the Beatles.
I mean the writers of shite like Ob La Di Ob La Da and Run For Your Life passing on ‘All Things Must Pass’, ‘Wah-Wah’, ‘Not Guilty’, ‘Isn’t It a Pity’ and originally ‘Only a Northern Song’ etc.
Not a massive fan of any of them but really only George’s music has spoken deeply to me - bar a few tracks off Abbey Road (Golden Slumbers / You Never Give Me Your Money) which show a wistfulness and gravitas that Macca seemed to lack at important points previous.
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POB is a tough listen, but I fully agree on ATMP - it’s a masterpiece and easily the best Beatles solo album (uh, if you ignore the 3rd “bonus” disc)
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George only started writing prolifically in the last couple of years of the Beatles, and a lot of the songs he contributed prior to then are mediocre IMO. “Only a Northern Song” he wrote as a joke to get out of his publishing contract with (yes) Northern Songs.
His Indian-styled stuff is fairly dreary with the exception of “The Inner Light”. When he was given 4 slots on the White Album he filled 2 of them with throwaways “Piggies” and “Savoy Truffle” (in the case of “Not Guilty” I believe they were all so sick of it after doing over 100 takes that they were happy to drop it from the album).
I love All Things Must Pass, but I’m not sure how many of those songs were seriously offered to the Beatles.
I wouldn’t call Within You or Without You dreary?
The songs I listed - some of which go back to 1966 like Isn’t It A Pity? are far from mediocre.
Yes he did not great songs - but listen to any of the Beatles albums apart from Sgt Pepper and most of Abbey Road and there is TONS of filler. Especially White Album, and George’s few songs wouldn’t be the problem if not for cack like Bungalow Bill, the musical warcrime that is Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Sexy Sadie or Rocky Racoon (or indeed Abbey Road’s dreadful Maxwell’s Silver Effing Hammer). The quality is low across the whole album! Would make a good single album.
But George can be forgiven all sins for ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ which pretty much knocks all other songs off the White Album bar maybe Helter Skelter and Blackbird, maybe Dear Prudence. I mean even the one Ringo track is better than most of the Lennon/Macca dreck snoozefest on that LP. I had to look the tracklist up, I’d forgotten most of the songs!
People think the Beatles were ace cos of all the classic singles, all those number ones…but listen to the albums then the quality bar drops dramatically. I think that’s why people love Sgt Pepper’s the most because it’s the only one that works as an album completely, no filler. All the songs are classics. That wasn’t true of other albums of theirs. Always a few songs you’d leave off a tape, even with a strong album like Revolver or Rubber Soul, and sometimes that was Harrison learning his craft…but just as likely to be an indulgent Lennon or McCartney number, or a novelty Ringo one.
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Leon Russell was electric in that concert.
Jumpin' Jack Flash / Young Blood - Leon Russell (George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh) 1971 from Tony DeSanto on Vimeo.
Another Wrecking Crew alum.
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