(“my sweet lord” is a song by english musician and former beatle george harrison that was released in november 1970 on his triple album “all things must pass”)
(also issued as a single, harrison’s first as a solo artist, “My Sweet Lord” topped charts worldwide and was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK)
(in America and Britain, the song was the first number one single by an ex-Beatle)
(harrison originally gave the song to his fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record; this version, which Harrison co-produced, appeared on Preston’s Encouraging Words album in September 1970)
Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord” in praise of the Hindu god Krishna, while at the same time intending the lyrics to serve as a call to abandon religious sectarianism through his deliberate blending of the Hebrew word hallelujah with chants of “Hare Krishna” and Vedic prayer.
(the recording features producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound treatment and heralded the arrival of Harrison’s much-admired slide guitar technique, which one biographer described as being “musically as distinctive a signature as the mark of zorro”)
Preston, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and the group Badfinger are among the other musicians appearing on the recording.
(later in the 1970s, “My Sweet Lord” was at the centre of a heavily publicised copyright infringement suit, due to its similarity to the ronnie mack song “He’s So Fine”, a 1963 hit for the New York girl group the chiffons)
(in 1976, harrison was found to have subconsciously plagiarised the earlier tune, a verdict that had repercussions throughout the music industry)
(he claimed to have used the out-of-copyright “oh happy day”, a christian hymn, as his inspiration for the song’s melody)
(harrison performed “My Sweet Lord” at the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, and it remains the most popular composition from his post-Beatles career)
He reworked the song as “My Sweet Lord (2000)” for inclusion as a bonus track on the 30th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass.
(many artists have covered the song including Andy Williams, Peggy Lee, Edwin Starr, Johnny Mathis, Nina Simone, Julio Iglesias, Richie Havens, Megadeth, Boy George, Elton John, Jim James, Bonnie Bramlett and elliott smith)
(“my sweet lord” is ranked 460th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”)
(the song reached #1 in britain for a second time when re-released in january 2002, two months after harrison’s death)
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