All Things Must Pass Away (Harrison, Clapton) - new book!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Solaris, Mar 13, 2021.

  1. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Hi Everyone,

    Some of you who follow my Producing The Beatles podcast may know I spent last year writing a book with Ken Womack on the making of All Things Must Pass and Layla, which is due out from Chicago Review Press in July. You can now pre-order the book on Amazon and Target, and other outlets may have it up as well. Here's the Amazon link:

    www.amazon.com/All-Things-Must-Pass-Away/dp/1641603259/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=all+things+must+pass+away&qid=1615662129&sr=8-1

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    We interviewed over a dozen people involved with the sessions, including Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Alan Parsons, Chris Thomas, recording engineer John Leckie (who was at all but one ATMP session), and even one of the Apple Scruffs who trailed George during this time. We got all the recording dates from solo Beatles scholar Chip Madinger, who patiently answered lots of tedious questions to clarify details, and we scoured the earth for archival interviews and contemporaneous articles from the music papers of the period, as well as a mountain of other research. Thanks to Mark Lewisohn, I interviewed arranger John Barham at length via email, and he kindly sent me scans of his scores for "My Sweet Lord" and "Isn't It A Pity," which will be used as the front and back endpapers of the hardcover edition of the book.

    Early on my hope was to "do a Lewisohn" on George's album, and the stars aligned to allow us to largely do just that, as well as to provide context and the lead-in to how Harrison and Clapton got to where they both were in 1970. That context is particularly important for Clapton's part of this story, and in determining exactly how Derek and the Dominos took shape during the making of George's album. While we weren't able to arrange an interview with Bobby Whitlock, his autobiography and the exciting, whirlwind thread on this forum back in 2008, cross referenced with other sources and interviews, provided critical insight as well.

    The ever-lingering question of who exactly played on every track on All Things Must Pass may unfortunately be impossible to answer with complete certainty, but by establishing where people were on certain dates, we made quite a few interesting discoveries, and even a new wrinkle or two involving that famous Phil Collins story. As we do press and talk more about the book in the coming months, I will emphasize how absolutely important it was for us to establish a timeline, which in itself made certain things clear for the first time.

    As we went through the research, interview and writing process, one preconceived notion after another fell by the wayside. We found that so much of what we thought we knew about the making of All Things Must Pass wasn't quite right, and in some cases was simply wrong, but I think we've finally sorted out the truths from the myths, and have given both these albums the intelligent attention they deserve. I'm very proud of the depth of detail we've been able to invest in the telling of this story, and I can't wait for all of you to read it!
     
  2. GuyDon

    GuyDon Senior Member

    Ordered! Sounds fantastic!
     
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  3. groundharp

    groundharp Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger

    Location:
    California Day
    It seems significant that Clapton, Whitlock, and Gordon, the three most important surviving contributors to both albums refused to participate.
     
    Fullbug likes this.
  4. john lennonist

    john lennonist There ONCE was a NOTE, PURE and EASY...

    Didn't John attend the sessions (on at least one occasion)?

    Most people think he didn't play anything, but a couple said he did (or may have), IINM.

    I assume (if he did attend a session or two) he just dropped by to say "hi."
     
    lordcat and DK Pete like this.
  5. Yankeefan01

    Yankeefan01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tonawanda, NY, USA
    It does sound very interesting. A lot of detective work involved by you guys as there is quite a bit of information out there. Looking forward to it.
     
    Fullbug and Solaris like this.
  6. ronton99

    ronton99 Forum Resident

    What an interesting idea: to tie the making of those two albums together since there were obviously mutual personal and musical dynamics at play between these two (three?).
    I don't know if you go into much personal stuff, but George and Eric's continued friendship through it all has always been a bit of a head scratcher.
    And hopefully there are lots of musical details as well.
    I'm really looking forward to this book!
     
  7. Yankeefan01

    Yankeefan01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tonawanda, NY, USA
    That does seem very interesting, especially Whitlock who seems willing to talk at length about both subjects. He's always posting something new on YouTube. Just curious if what he was saying is true about Peter Frampton just making what amounted to a cameo appearance and not playing on ATMP as far as Whitlock has alluded.
     
    AngusStanley and john lennonist like this.
  8. Yankeefan01

    Yankeefan01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tonawanda, NY, USA
    Yeah, those two albums and the addition of Duane Allman on the Layla album. The stars really aligned for these two albums that's for sure.
     
  9. Almost Simon

    Almost Simon Forum Resident

    Both albums in my alltime top 3 list (461 Ocean Boulevard the other,) so i think this book will be up my street. Amazon UK price a little too high for me to pre-order right now but hopefully will drop to a reasonable level in time. Following this thread for sure.
     
  10. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Wasn't that all a part of the "Johnny's Birthday" scenario? I'm also assuming he dropped by to say hello or something; I think I've read somewhere that supposedly George and John were in neighboring studios (at some point or points) simultaneously while each was working on their respective albums at the time.
     
    john lennonist likes this.
  11. Chemically altered

    Chemically altered Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ukraine in Spirit
    Sold! I'm can't imagine a book I'm looking forward to more than this one!
     
    Solaris likes this.
  12. RC1

    RC1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK
    Been on my wish list for months, looking forward to it
     
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  13. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Somehow I initially missed your actual post...I just read it. The book sounds like a "must have" for anyone that's a fan of ATMP or Layla or both.
     
    longdist01 and Solaris like this.
  14. Terry

    Terry Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee
    Not a fan of the title
     
    Autotune Sucks and groundharp like this.
  15. oboogie

    oboogie Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    Very much looking forward to reading this... thanks Jason!
     
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  16. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    They didn't refuse to participate. Bobby Whitlock was open to doing an interview but we weren't able to get it done before the publisher's deadline. Jim Gordon is in prison and is very unwell, but we used an interview from 1982 that only came to light in the last couple of years, and I even found a quote from him from late 1970 from the LA Times that added a little bit to the story. We chose not to pursue an interview with Clapton for various reasons, and while it would have been great to talk to him, he's gone on record so much in the last 50 years that we have plenty of material with his voice in the book.

    I want to emphasize that we have been scrupulous in fact checking and cross referencing interviews, and walking the fine line between oral history/conflicting memories and cold, hard documentation, which can be one of the greatest challenges of a project like this.

    Frampton isn't on the album much, and he's never really said he was there more than a few days and for overdubs later. Alan White confirmed this to me, but Frampton is certainly present in a photograph taken the week he says he was at the sessions, so he was definitely there. Once you read the book, you'll see there's a good reason for George needing another person to strum acoustic guitar that particular week.
     
  17. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Congrats! Cool...I'll check it out. : )
     
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  18. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    So what about Phil Collins?
     
  19. Isn’t Gordon still locked up for murdering his mother ?
     
    Paul W likes this.
  20. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I was sent an unpublished interview done with him by a journalist who was hanging around the studio when George was remastering ATMP for the 30th anniversary release. Again, Collins has told that story numerous times, so there's not much left to get out of him for an interview. However, I don't think he's playing on the song he thinks he's playing on.

    Yep
     
  21. Hawkman

    Hawkman Supercar Gort Staff

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I am ALL OVER this book!!!! These two albums played a VERY big part in my musical youth so to speak and 'All Things Must Pass' is my favorite Beatles solo album. Between that album and 'Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs' I can't think of two albums that got more play at that time than those two.

    I'm in! Pre-ordered!!! Is it July yet? :)
     
    jricc, supermd, Ryan Lux and 3 others like this.
  22. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
    I found it a bit off-putting as well. It’s like it’s saying, “Eric, are you dead yet? No? Well, you will be soon.”
     
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  23. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    If you read the book, I think you'll find that the title is more reflective of other passings within the narrative, and of George's passing while EC still remains alive and well.
     
  24. BlueJay

    BlueJay Forum Resident

    I'll probably get this and enjoy reading it. The new interviews sound as if they will add something of value to the narrative. I wasn't that impressed by Kenneth Womack's George Martin volumes which seemed to be just a rehash of well documented recording histories and old interviews, with few new insights. Does the July publication date hint at the release date of the ATMP reissue?
     
  25. groundharp

    groundharp Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger

    Location:
    California Day
    Oh, I don't think he's getting out... ever.

    But I don't think that that in itself precludes the possibility of an interview. A conversation with Gordon should have been looked into, at least. After all, he has plenty of "Time" on his hands.
     
    jeremylr likes this.

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