My Sweet Lord (1970) vs. (2000)

In my opinion, the original My Sweet Lord was way too "Spectory" overproduced and when Harrison decided to re-work the recording in 2000 - potentially due to the legal difficulties (I say this because he changed the core melody of the song, even though it was like 20 years later,) I took a liking to the 2000 version purely because of the more abundant and in my opinion vibrant slide guitar work. In addition, Sam Brown's backing vocals are superb along side the Indian-styled intro brings together his casual style of music and his religious/Indian side.

What is you opinion on the MSL 2000 version and which do you prefer? (1970 or 2000)

1970 Original:
2000 Re"work": George Harrison - My Sweet Lord (2000 Version)

 

Prefer the second version for the slide guitar and the backing vocals

 

Not even close

The original by light years

I'd LOVE a proper remix of ATMP album though, without "Wall of Sound", and 5.1 hi res as well

 

I'm on of those people who never appreciated Spector's style and probably never will, but the original by far.

The remake sounds like he's recording a song he's been playing for 30 years and is trying hard to reinvent it.

 

I even prefer The Pirate Song to the 2000 re-do.

 

I agree with you on the basis of a stripped down version of ATMP.

 

The original is better to me. George's vocal's are much stronger.

 

George would have had no legal difficulties if he had decided to keep the exact same melody because George (via Harrisongs Publishing) OWNS the copyright to "He's So Fine" (previously owned by Bright Tunes Music Publishing). In the strange convoluted history of the "My Sweet Lord" versus "He's So Fine" plagarism court case, and due to Allen Klein's evil ways (Klein bought Bright Tunes so as to profit off the court case), George ended up owning the publishing rights to "He's So Fine".

Not sure though if Harrisongs still owns the song today, but it was under George's control in the year 2000.

 

Oh, I didn't know that. That's really interesting.

 

Love the original which gives me goosebumps as everything builds as if ascending into the heavens!

The remake may be sweeter yet it doesn't provide the same emotional impact for me.

 

Actually I think 5.1 with the "Wall of Sound" is how it should be heard. Imagine all those instruments peeled apart. I still cant believe after all these years we haven't had a mammoth box set of ATMP .That 2000 version didn't even scrape the surface.

 

"He's So Klein"...

 

In brief:
Bright Tunes, the owners of the publishing to "He's So Fine", sued Harrison for copyright infringement due to "My Sweet Lord". So George tried to settle the case out of court. A deal was worked out for both parties --- but then Allen Klein stepped in: It turned out that Klein wanted to purchase the company for himself, and to that end was supplying Bright Tunes with insider details regarding the sales figures and true copyright value of "My Sweet Lord". So Bright Tunes backed out of the deal with George, and Allen Klein bought Bright Tunes---and Klein continued the lawsuit against George (YIKES!!!). The final court decision was that George lost the case for "subconscious plagarism" and George was ordered to pay Klein damages. But due to Klein's duplicity in the matter, and underhanded crooked ways, the judge decided that George would only have to pay Klein $587,000, which was the exact amount of money that Klein had paid for Bright Tunes in 1978. And in return George (via Harrisongs) was awarded the publishing rights to "He's So Fine" (and, I presume, other songs in the Bright Tunes catalog).

 

How did I miss the remake! It can’t hold a candle to the original. I don’t like it at all.

 

Hell to the no. The remix sucks.

 

Wow. I didn't think anyone preferred the 2000 version! The original, all the way.

 

The original by far.

 

Original, although the remake is nice as well.
There's this sadness hanging over the remake, it's audible and we all know why.

 

I'm in the minority, and I stand proud!

 

Which for me, makes it all the more precious and memorable.

 

The backup singing with Sam Brown is great but... How do I put this delicately... A female backup chorus is kind of ordinary. A wall of stacked and Beatley sounding George Harrison's is something a little more special IMO.

 

I prefer the original and for me Harrison focused way too much on slide guitar post-Beatles. I don't really care for slide unless its truly exceptional.

 

The remake loses the delicacy of the original melody which, by the way, He's So Fine notwithstanding, makes for a much better song in My Sweet Lord than in the former. I also feel that the slide playing on the original-the melody, the tone-is one of George's all time finest moments as a guitarist; that said, the guitar work in the remake, while nice for what it is, can't begin to compare. As another poster pointed out, while well intended, the remake sounds like a conscious attempt at a remake for its' own sake. I hear/see it as an artist trying to update a perfect painting.

 

The original.

 

I much prefer the original version. This song stirred up a memory. In the mid 1980s, I worked with a guy who said he loved this song, till he found that "My sweet lord"wasn't referring to Jesus. I didn't know that it did or didn't, and didn't care. It's a beautiful song.