THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

737-George Harrison-My Sweet Lord.

1971-Number 1 single. When it was re-released in 2002 it was Number 1 again.

Best Bit-At 2.39. George Harrison was the first of the Beatles to have a solo Number 1 single……Ringo is still waiting for his.

George Harrison MBE (see also best songs 726) was born on February 25th, 1943, in Liverpool, England, he died from lung cancer that had spread to his brain, on November 29th, 2001, at the age of 58. Prior to starting his solo career in 1970, George Harrison had been a member of the ‘Skiffle,’ and ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ group ‘The Quarrymen,’ who by 1960, with differing members, would become the ‘Beatles,’ (see also best songs 599-319-238-218-157-141-80-51-10 and 5) he was also notably, a founding member of the British/American ‘supergroup,’ the ‘Traveling Wilburys’ in 1988. Although the majority of the Beatles songs were written by John Lennon (1940-1980) and Paul McCartney, George Harrison did contribute many significant songs to the Beatles Albums from 1965 onwards, including ‘Taxman,’ (1966) ‘Within You Without You,’ (1967) ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ (1968) ‘Here Comes the Sun,’ (1969) and ‘Something,’ (1969.) George Harrison is probably best remembered for leading the ‘Beatles’ in to ‘Folk/Rock,’ and then towards ‘Indian classical’ music, through his use of Indian instruments, such as the sitar. It can be argued that Harrison broadened the scope of popular music, through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation.

As a solo artist George Harrison released 12 studio Albums between 1968-2002, and 29 singles (including the re-issue of My Sweet Lord) between 1970-2003, there are also four official compilations, plus four box sets, and two live Albums available. In the UK, 10 of his singles have reached the top 40, with ‘My Sweet Lord’ making the Number 1 spot on two separate occasions, having been re-issued in November 2001, after Harrison’s death, and reaching the top spot in January 2002, with all proceeds going to Harrison’s ‘Material World Charitable Foundation,’ for dispersal to selected charities, apart from in the United States, where proceeds went to the ‘Self Realisation Fellowship.’ In America on the Billboard Hot 100, George Harrison has had 13 top 40 solo hits, with ‘My Sweet Lord,’ (1970) and ‘Got My Mind Set on You’ (1987) both reaching Number 1.

‘My Sweet Lord’ was the first of two singles released from George Harrison’s third studio Album, the triple Album, ‘All Things Must Pass,’ from November 1970. In America, where ‘My Sweet Lord’ was released in November 1970, nearly two months prior to it’s UK release, it was issued a double ‘A’ sided single with ‘Isn’t It a Pity,’ while in the UK,’What Is Life’ was released as the ‘B’ side. ‘My Sweet Lord’ was written by George Harrison, with the songs production credited to Harrison, and Phil Spector (1939-2021) (see also best songs 820-782-262-192-127-91 and 20.) George Harrison wrote ‘My Sweet Lord’ in praise of the Hindu God ‘Krishna,’ while at the same time intending the lyrics to serve as a call to abandon religious sectarianism through his deliberate blending of the Hebrew word ‘Hallelujah,’ with chants of ‘Hare Krishna, and ‘Vedic’ prayer. ‘My Sweet Lord’ which went on to become the best selling single of 1971, made George Harrison the first ex Beatles member to have a Number 1 single. Some famous names played on the track, including, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, and Pete Ham, (1947-1975) on acoustic guitars, Klaus Voormann, on bass, and Ringo Starr played the drums. Prior to ‘My Sweet Lord’ being released on ‘All Things Must Pass,’ it had first been recorded by the long term Beatles collaborator Billy Preston, (1946-2006) for his 1970, fifth studio Album ‘Encouraging Words.’

‘My Sweet Lord’ was the subject of a very long drawn out court case involving ‘Bright Tunes,’ who owned the rights to the song ‘He’s So Fine,’ which was written by Ronnie Mack (1940-1963.) That song had been a Billboard Number 1 in 1963 for the American girl group ‘The Chiffons. ‘Bright Tunes’ claimed that Harrison had deliberately plagiarised Mack’s song, which Harrison denied. The initial action was filed on February 10th, 1971, and in September 1976 the court found that Harrison had subconsciously copied ‘He’s So Fine,’ but not deliberately. Harrison had to pay $587,000, with the majority going to Mack’s immediate family. Incidentally the ‘Holland Dozier Holland’ song ‘Jimmy Mac’ was inspired by the death of Ronnie Mack. Commenting about the court case in 1977, George Harrison said,’Look, I’d be willing, every time I write a song, if somebody will have a computer, and I can just play any new song in to it, and the computer will say, ‘Sorry,’ or ‘OK.’ The last thing I want to do is keep spending my life in court.’

‘Mm, my Lord, I really want to see you, really want to be with you. Really want to see you, Lord, but it takes so long, my Lord, my sweet Lord.’