BOXING DAY
(RECOVERY . . . . .egg nog anyone?)
No thanks!
 |
| Tom Waits contemplates the previous day's foolery |
. . . . . we're allowed to you know . . . . . . such a lovely song . . . . .we can feel the question
....even if answer came there none
On this day in music history: December 26, 1970 - “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks. Written by George Harrison, it is the first solo chart topper for the former Beatles lead guitarist. Inspired in part by the huge gospel crossover hit “Oh Happy Day” by The Edwin Hawkins Singers (#4 US Pop, #2 UK), “My Sweet Lord” is written while George Harrison is appearing as a guest on friends’ Delaney & Bonnie’s European tour in 1969. Initially, the song is for Harrison’s friend Billy Preston who records it for his second Apple LP “Encouraging Words”. While working on his third solo album “All Things Must Pass”, George decides to record a version of “My Sweet Lord” himself. The track is recorded at Abbey Road Studios in May of 1970 with musicians Klaus Voorman (bass), Jim Gordon (drums), Ringo Starr (drums and percussion), Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Joey Molland and Mike Gibbons of Badfinger (acoustic guitars) Billy Preston, Gary Wright (keyboards), and Harrison himself on acoustic guitar, slide guitar and lead vocals. The background vocals, credited to the “George O'Hara-Smith Singers”, is actually the former Beatle himself overdubbed several times. The orchestration is recorded at Trident Studios in London during August of 1970. At first he declines to release a single from the album , but is persuaded by producer Phil Spector, US Apple promotion manager Allan Steckler and then Apple business manager Allen Klein of its hit potential. Entering the Hot 100 at #72 on November 28, 1970, it rockets to the top of the chart just four weeks later. A huge hit around the world, “My Sweet Lord” is also the subject of a long and arduous lawsuit. Bright Tunes Publishing claims the song plagiarizes The Chiffons 1963 hit “He’s So Fine”. The matter eventually is settled more than two decades later. In another ironic (or perhaps not so ironic) twist, former Beatles manager Allen Klein purchases the publishing rights to “He’s So Fine” during litigation over the song, further extending and complicating the lawsuit. Harrison eventually purchases the rights to The Chiffons song from Klein’s company for $587,000 in 1998, the original price that ABKCO paid for the copyright twenty years earlier in 1978. “My Sweet Lord” is backed with the song “Isn’t It A Pity” which also features members of the band Badfinger on guitars. The single version differs from the album version of the song, being an alternate take as well as having a longer running time. Two months after George Harrison’s passing in November of 2001, “Lord” is reissued as a single and hits number one on the UK singles chart in January of 2002, thirty one years after its original release. “My Sweet Lord” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
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