George Harrison - My Sweet Lord (Alternate Take) [HiQ]

"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song is primarily about the Hindu god Krishna. It is ranked #460 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

The song was originally intended for Billy Preston, who had a minor hit with it in early 1970, in his album Encouraging Words. It was written in December 1969, when Harrison and Billy Preston were in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The recording of the song took place in London. Preston was the principal musician while Harrison was engineering the sessions.

When released as a single, "My Sweet Lord" became an international #1 hit. In October 1970, Harrison told the British press that it was going to be his first solo single, but a few days later he changed his mind and said it would not be made available thus, as he did not want sales in that format to detract from those of the album. (The other three former Beatles had also released solo albums earlier that year, without releasing a single in Britain from any of them). It was released as a single in the US (Apple 2995) on 23 November 1970. Within a few weeks, EMI and Apple Records bowed to media and public demand, and the UK release (Apple R 5884) followed on 15 January 1971. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.

Entering the British charts in the first week at number seven and then hitting the summit for five weeks, it was the first single by an ex-Beatle to reach number one. It did so again in the UK when reissued in January 2002 after Harrison's death from cancer. It reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 26 December 1970, remaining on top for four weeks.

In Britain, the original single was officially a double-A Side with "What Is Life". In the US it was a double-A-side with "Isn't It A Pity"- with both sides featuring a full Apple label.

The song has also appeared on The Concert for Bangla Desh (1971), The Best of George Harrison (1976), Live in Japan (1992), and Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison (2009).

Following the song's release, musical similarities between "My Sweet Lord" and The Chiffons' hit "He's So Fine" led to a prolonged copyright infringement suit, known as Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music, which lasted over 10 years. In 1976, a U.S. district court decision found that Harrison had "subconsciously" copied the earlier song. In 1978, before the court decided on damages in the case, Harrison's former manager Allen Klein, who represented Harrison earlier in the proceedings, purchased the copyright to "He's So Fine" from Bright Tunes. In 1981, the court decided the damages amounted to $1,599,987 but that due to Klein's duplicity in the case, Harrison would only have to pay Klein $587,000 for the rights to "He's So Fine"—the amount Klein had paid Bright Tunes for the song.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• George
• Harrison
• My
• Sweet
• Lord
• Alternate
• Early
• Take

[peacemanken]

Thx Mirko! I love it Bro:)

[TheBeatleMirko]

@peacemanken Thank you!! It's nice to meet you again!!! :D

[claudiozarzizi]

grazie...mirko

[claudiozarzizi]

i understand....my love..no my lord...sorry.........munchen

[richardartedigital]

Thank you very much!!!

[LennonForever38]

and this is the master take is it not?

[LennonForever38]

where did you get this?

[810joeb]

I can go more on this. On my first REAL recording session at Chess, it took us over 5 hours to record TWO songs! We were the first White group to go on the Chess label. The record tanked! I have the entire 5 hours on CD. Out take after out take. This recording of My Sweet Lord is an obvious out take. It dosen't mix with the released version. The guy who said it was the base for the released song was WRONG! The timing doesn't match up. I've tried that.

[810joeb]

BEAUTIFUL! Just plain wonderful. It's an out take and beautiful. The way the song should be played with all of the mistakes. Yeah, I heard flawed chord changes and stuff. The guy who said it is the original take is beyond WRONG!

[810joeb]

Great raw stuff on a song that has become as iconic as the artist. This is another Imagine.

[arturofuhrer]

Every single day I miss you more and more Georgie, rest in peace my friend

[coolheir]

...best opening acoustical guitar sequence of any song ever written....it in itself evokes something spiritual in me every time....thanks for sharing this.