{"id":344510,"date":"2025-12-12T14:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/344510\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T14:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:11:09","slug":"how-a-song-rejected-three-times-by-the-beatles-became-the-emotional-and-musical-centrepiece-of-george-harrisons-classic-solo-album-all-things-must-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/344510\/","title":{"rendered":"How a song rejected three times by The Beatles became the emotional and musical centrepiece of George Harrison\u2019s classic solo album All Things Must Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was always a challenge for George Harrison<\/a> to assert himself as a songwriter within The Beatles<\/a> \u2013 such was the dominance of John Lennon<\/a> and Paul McCartney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One only has to view Peter Jackson\u2019s acclaimed 2021 documentary Get Back to observe the conversational nuances and subtle persistence that George had to employ in his bid to get his songs heard.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One song that Harrison presented to the band was Isn\u2019t It A Pity, a majestic and melancholic reflection on broken relationships and lack of universal empathy, which was rejected for inclusion on Beatles\u2019 releases on three separate occasions.<\/p>\n

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According to Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn, Harrison first brought Isn\u2019t It A Pity to the band in 1966 during the Revolver sessions.<\/p>\n

Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick recalled the song then being put forward for inclusion on Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 and rejected.<\/p>\n

One year later, Harrison presented the song again, hoping to record it for the 1968 double album The Beatles, also known as \u2018The White Album\u2019.<\/p>\n

A taped conversation captures Harrison telling Lennon that the latter had vetoed Isn\u2019t It A Pity three years earlier, with Harrison adding that he had considered offering the song to Frank Sinatra.<\/p>\n

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The Beatles never did record Isn\u2019t It A Pity. Neither did Frank. The first chance the public had to hear it was on All Things Must Pass, Harrison\u2019s stunning, sprawling triple solo album, which he co-produced with Phil Spector and which was released in November 1970.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, The Beatles\u2019 loss was Harrison\u2019s gain. Isn\u2019t It A Pity is one of his finest compositions, described by writer Simon Leng as the emotional and musical centrepiece of All Things Must Pass. It is also a song inspired by humanitarian love and praised for its poignancy, sophistication and emotional depth.<\/p>\n

Isn’t It a Pity (2014 Remaster) – YouTube
\n\"Isn't<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

In some ways, it\u2019s easy to see why The Beatles might not have been drawn to Isn\u2019t It A Pity back in 1966. There\u2019s a mantra-type feel to its enigmatic, descending chord structure, which builds yet doesn\u2019t progress in a traditionally structural sense.<\/p>\n

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Its power lies in its sweeping, melodic intensity \u2013 the ascending chord structure of G-Em6-Cmaj7-G-Ddim-C-G set against the descending strings and the directness of its lyrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn’t it a pity?\/Now isn’t it a shame\/How we break each other’s hearts\/And cause each other pain\u201d<\/p>\n

In his 1980 autobiography I Me Mine, Harrison explained that Isn’t It a Pity is about \u201cwhenever a relationship hits a down point\u201d and how “we all tend to break each other’s hearts, taking and not giving back”. He went on to explain: \u201cIt was a chance to realise that if I felt somebody had let me down, then there’s a good chance I was letting someone else down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two versions of the song would be released.<\/p>\n

Version one closes the first side of the All Things Must Pass album and is the longer rendition, clocking in at a 7:11 running time.<\/p>\n

This is an epic, Spector-influenced performance and features an array of musicians, including Klaus Voormann on bass, Billy Preston on keyboards, as well as multiple percussionists.<\/p>\n

Ringo Starr<\/a> and session keyboardist Bobby Whitlock played on both versions of the song, while classical composer, pianist and arranger John Barham provided the orchestral and choral arrangements on version one and the woodwind arrangements on version two.<\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s newly adopted slide guitar technique is a real highlight of Isn\u2019t This A Pity and the All Things Must Pass album. In one of his deep dives into Harrison\u2019s solo work, Beatles historian Bruce Spizer noted that the opening slide solo on Isn\u2019t It A Pity has a near-identical melody to the one Harrison vocalised when playing the song to the other Beatles during the Get Back sessions on 26 January 1969.<\/p>\n

Version one of It\u2019s A Pity begins small and slowly builds. This version reflects Harrison and Barham\u2019s desire to incorporate orchestration into the rock sound of All Things Must Pass. Barham stayed at Harrison\u2019s home Friar Park while he created the scores for Isn\u2019t It A Pity and other tracks on the album, drawing on melodies that Harrison sang to him or played on piano and guitar.<\/p>\n

Much of the lush grandeur in It\u2019s A Pity comes from the orchestration and elements that are gradually added, such as the tambourine that enters the mix at 0:47 against acoustic guitar, piano and strings. At 1:10 of version one, the rhythm section kicks in.<\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s vocal is beautifully understated and matter-of-fact, as though he is non-judgementally delivering up the words for the listener to interpret as they wish.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a calm, wistful timbre to his voice and a seemingly effortless delivery to his mid-to-high tenor range. \u201cSome things take so long\/But how do I explain\/When not too many people\/Can see we’re all the same?\u201d<\/p>\n

At 1:40, piano makes its presence felt in the mix as Spector soaks the vocals in reverb. Then, at 2:07, high strings rise in a beautiful ascending melody before Harrison\u2019s slide guitar solo comes in at 2:21.<\/p>\n

From 2:38 onwards, the cyclical chord structure continues for the remaining four and a half minutes, complete with brass, timpani, more slide guitar soloing and even a Hey Jude-style \u201cNa-na-na-na\u201d chorus.<\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s slide guitar features Indian raga cadences and both strings and slide guitar complement each other. As Ian Inglis puts it in his 2010 book The Words And Music Of George Harrison, the effect of Harrison\u2019s \u201celaborate patterns\u201d on slide guitar is to \u201ccounterbalance the underlying atmosphere of pessimism with shafts of beauty\u201d.<\/p>\n

Harrison played multiple guitars on the recording, and in line with Phil Spector\u2019s Wall Of Sound aesthetic, three members of the Beatles-affiliated band Badfinger played rhythm guitar.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a technique Spector repeated with the keyboards. Billy Preston told his biographer Mark Bibowsky that he had reservations about Spector’s preference for having several keyboard players playing the same chords in different octaves<\/a>, to strengthen the sound. \u201cBut with George’s stuff it was perfect,\u201d Preston said.<\/p>\n

In direct contrast to his own experience in The Beatles, Harrison was happy to allow the musicians the freedom to express themselves in their playing. According to Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland, Harrison was unassuming and patient throughout the sessions.<\/p>\n

Molland recalled: \u201cHe\u2019d come over to us, bring the guitar over and say, ‘Okay, this is Isn’t It A Pity.\u2019 He’d go through the song with us once or twice, and show us the changes; you know George used all those diminished chords.\u201d<\/p>\n

Version one of the song was recorded on Wednesday 3 June 1970, and was one of 19 takes that Harrison and the musicians laid down. But he was not totally satisfied with the results, and a new arrangement was worked out during this session.<\/p>\n

A further 30 takes were later recorded, at a slightly slower tempo and with organ and piano more prominent in the mix. The final take, 4:48 in length, was the one chosen as the best, and that became version two on All Things Must Pass.<\/p>\n

Isn’t It a Pity (Version Two) (2014 Remaster) – YouTube
\n\"Isn't<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

In his last recorded audio interview<\/a> to coincide with the 30th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass, on 15 February 2001, Harrison said the second version came about by complete chance \u201cweeks later\u201d after one of the backing musicians began playing the song during a session.<\/p>\n

Version two is a noticeably slower, more stripped-down and intimate performance. It also features a much leaner line-up of musicians, including Eric Clapton<\/a> on guitar, Bobby Whitlock on keyboards and Carl Radle on bass, three of the four musicians who would make up Derek and the Dominos and who would later that year record Layla and Assorted Other Love Songs.<\/p>\n

Similar string and guitar parts appear in the solo section, which begins at 2:22 after a strident tom build-up from Ringo. But the solo slide and orchestral cadences are far less grandiose than version one.<\/p>\n

In some ways, this second version is more akin to the raw, natural sound of The Band, who had been a huge inspiration for Harrison.<\/p>\n

This version has a gentle groove and masses of space within the mix. It\u2019s almost a yearning, reflective reprise of version one \u2013 beautiful, moving and mournful \u2013 like hearing a long-lost demo that contains the raw essence of what the writer always intended.<\/p>\n

Version one of Isn\u2019t It A Pity was released as a double A-side with My Sweet Lord, on 23 November in the US. It was a phenomenal success, with both sides reaching No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, starting on 26 December 1970.<\/p>\n

The single and the album stunned the music industry, elevating Harrison above Lennon and McCartney in the period immediately following The Beatles\u2019 break-up.<\/p>\n

The strength of Isn\u2019t It A Pity was reflected by the calibre of the artists that subsequently covered it.<\/p>\n

In 1972, Nina Simone released an 11-minute version, a powerful, deeply spiritual performance, which has been described as more profound and soul-stirring than the original.<\/p>\n

Graham Nash, Jonathan Wilson, Annie Lennox, Cowboy Junkies and Galaxie 500 have all covered the song.<\/p>\n

But one of the most affecting performances of Isn\u2019t It A Pity took place at the Concert For George in 2002, staged in the year after Harrison’s death, when Eric Clapton and Billy Preston performed along with a large band that included Harrison\u2019s son Dhani and Jeff Lynne of ELO.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a deeply stirring and soulful performance, with a stunning vocal and organ solo from Preston in particular that made it the high point of the whole event.<\/p>\n

George Harrison – Concert for George: Isn’t It A Pity – Happy Birthday George! – YouTube
\n\"George<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

A decade earlier, in December 1991, George Harrison undertook his final tour, playing 12 concerts with his friend Eric Clapton and his band in Japan. Keyboard player Chuck Leavell recalled the impact that Isn\u2019t It A Pity would have on the audience each night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lyrics are just a great comment, anyway,\u201d Leavell told writer Elliot J Huntley, \u201cbut in performance the song had a wonderful way of building throughout its course, culminating in the crescendo at the end. At this point I always looked out at the audience to see their faces and could see how visibly moved they were by that song in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

On its release, Isn\u2019t It A Pity was widely acclaimed by critics. In an astute review the NME\u2019s Alan Smith noted that the song “catches the mood of aching tolerance of pain, which Harrison can do so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t It A Pity, concluded Smith, \u201cwill stand out from the album with the passing of the years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was always a challenge for George Harrison to assert himself as a songwriter within The Beatles \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-344510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}