The 50th anniversary edition of George Harrison's first post-Beatles album, All Things Must Pass, will be released this Friday.
The 23-song, three-record set has been completely remixed from the original tapes, making it sound brighter, fuller and better than before.
Commenting on the album for its 30th anniversary reissue in 2001, Harrison said, “I still like the songs and believe they can continue to outlive the style in which they were recorded.”
But, he thought producer Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production was a bit much.
And that's what his son Dhani, who oversaw the reissue, said he did.
“Making this album sound clearer was always one of my dad’s greatest wishes and it was something we were working on together right up until he passed. But with the help of new technology ... we are now able to make that happen."
Among the songs on All Things Must Pass are "My Sweet Lord," What Is Life," "Isn't it a Pity," "Beware of Darkness" and the title track.
The 50th anniversary edition comes in multiple configurations, including aUber Deluxe Editionfor $1,000.
This gets you eight vinyl albums, five CDs and one Blu-ray 5.1 surround sound disc housed in an artisan designed wooden crate. There are 47 demos and outtakes, 42 of which have never been released.
The crate also contains two books. One is an elaborate and expanded 96-page scrapbook curated by his widow, Olivia Harrison, with unseen imagery and memorabilia from the era, handwritten lyrics, diary entries, studio notes, tape box images, a comprehensive track-by-track and more.
The second is 44-pages and chronicles the making of the album through extensive archival interviews with notes. This book pays homage to Harrison’s love of gardening and nature and contains a wooden bookmark made from a felled Oak tree on his Friar Park estate.
But wait, there's more.
Also included are 1/6 scale replica figurines of Harrison and the gnomes featured on the album cover, a limited-edition illustration by musician, artist and Harrison friend Klaus Voormann, and more.
There is also the Super Deluxe Edition boxed set, a five-LP or three-CD Deluxe Edition, the main album on its own as two-CD or three-LP set, or a limited-edition three-LP color vinyl.
Originally released on November 27th, 1970,All Things Must Pass was Harrison's third solo album, following 1968'sWonderwall Music and 1969'sElectronic Sound. The three-album set contained 18 songs on the first two discs, with five jams on the third.
He had written many of the songs while in The Beatles, with at least two -- "Isn't It a Pity" and "Art of Dying" -- dating back to 1966.
Joining Harrison in the studio were Eric Clapton and his band at the time, The Dominos, Ringo Starr, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann, Billy Preston, Bobby Keys, future Yes drummer Alan White, Badfinger, Dave Mason, Ginger Baker, Gary Brooker, Peter Frampton, Phil Collins and many others.
All Things Must Pass went onto top both the U.K. and U.S. album charts, with Rolling Stone calling it “the War and Peace of rock and roll” and “an intensely personal statement and a grandiose gesture.”
It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014; was number-368 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All-Time"; and number-79 on The Times of London’s list of the "100 Best Albums of All-Time."