My Sweet Lord
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1970 on his triple album All Things Must Pass. It was also released as a single, Harrison's first as a solo artist, and topped charts worldwide; it was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. In America and Britain, the song was the first number-one single by an ex-Beatle. Harrison originally gave the song to his fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record; this version, which Harrison co-produced, appeared on Preston's Encouraging Words album in September 1970.
This article is about the song. For other uses, see My Sweet Lord (disambiguation)."My Sweet Lord"
"Isn't It a Pity" (US)
(double A-side)
"What Is Life" (UK)
23 November 1970 (US)
15 January 1971 (UK)
4:39
George Harrison, Phil Spector
Harrison wrote "My Sweet Lord" in praise of the Hindu god Krishna,[2] while intending the lyrics as a call to abandon religious sectarianism through his blending of the Hebrew word hallelujah with chants of "Hare Krishna" and Vedic prayer.[3] The recording features producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound treatment and heralded the arrival of Harrison's slide guitar technique, which one biographer described as "musically as distinctive a signature as the mark of Zorro".[4] Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker, Bobby Whitlock and members of the group Badfinger are among the other musicians on the recording.
Later in the 1970s, "My Sweet Lord" was at the centre of a heavily publicised copyright infringement suit due to its alleged similarity to the Ronnie Mack song "He's So Fine", a 1963 hit for the New York girl group the Chiffons. In 1976, Harrison was found to have subconsciously plagiarised the song, a verdict that had repercussions throughout the music industry. He said he had instead used "Oh Happy Day" by the Edwin Hawkins Singers as his inspiration for the melody.
Harrison performed "My Sweet Lord" at the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, and it remains the most popular composition from his post-Beatles career. He reworked it as "My Sweet Lord (2000)" for inclusion as a bonus track on the 30th-anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass. Many artists have covered the song, most notably Edwin Starr, Johnny Mathis and Nina Simone. "My Sweet Lord" was ranked 454th on Rolling Stone's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004 and 460th in the 2010 update and number 270 on a similar list published by the NME in 2014. It reached number one in Britain again when re-released in January 2002, two months after Harrison's death.
Background and inspiration[edit]
George Harrison began writing "My Sweet Lord" in December 1969, when he, Billy Preston and Eric Clapton were in Copenhagen, Denmark,[4][5] as guest artists on Delaney & Bonnie's European tour.[6][7] By this time, Harrison had already written the gospel-influenced "Hear Me Lord" and, with Preston, the African-American spiritual "Sing One for the Lord".[8] He had also produced two religious-themed hit singles on the Beatles' Apple record label: Preston's "That's the Way God Planned It" and Radha Krishna Temple (London)'s "Hare Krishna Mantra".[6][9] The latter was a musical adaptation of the 5000-year-old Vaishnava Hindu mantra, performed by members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), colloquially known as "the Hare Krishna movement".[10][11] Harrison now wanted to fuse the messages of the Christian and Gaudiya Vaishnava faiths[12] into what musical biographer Simon Leng terms "gospel incantation with a Vedic chant".[5]
The Copenhagen stopover marked the end of the Delaney & Bonnie tour, with a three-night residency at the Falkoner Theatre on 10–12 December.[13] According to Harrison's 1976 court testimony, "My Sweet Lord" was conceived while the band members were attending a backstage press conference and he had ducked out to an upstairs room at the theatre.[14] Harrison recalled vamping chords on guitar and alternating between sung phrases of "hallelujah" and "Hare Krishna".[15][16] He later took the idea to the others, and the chorus vocals were developed further.[14]
Band leader Delaney Bramlett's later version of events is that the idea originated from Harrison asking him how to go about writing a genuine gospel song,[7] and that Bramlett demonstrated by scat singing the words "Oh my Lord" while wife Bonnie and singer Rita Coolidge added gospel "hallelujah"s in reply.[17] Music journalist John Harris has questioned the accuracy of Bramlett's account; however, comparing it to a fisherman's "It was this big"–type bragging story.[7] Preston recalled that "My Sweet Lord" came about through Harrison asking him about writing gospel songs during the tour. Preston said he played some chords on a backstage piano and the Bramletts began singing "Oh my Lord" and "Hallelujah". According to Preston: "George took it from there and wrote the verses. It was very impromptu. We never thought it would be a hit."[18]
Using as his inspiration the Edwin Hawkins Singers' rendition of an eighteenth-century Christian hymn, "Oh Happy Day",[4][19] Harrison continued working on the theme.[20] He completed the song, with help from Preston, once they had returned to London.[15][16]
"My Sweet Lord"
"Little Girl"
3 December 1970
3:21
George Harrison, Billy Preston
Recording[edit]
Basic track[edit]
Five months after the Olympic session, with the Beatles having broken up in April 1970, "My Sweet Lord" was one of 30 or more tracks that Harrison recorded for his All Things Must Pass triple album.[50] He was initially reluctant to record the song, for fear of committing himself to such an overt religious message.[32][51] In I, Me, Mine, he states: "I was sticking my neck out on the chopping block because now I would have to live up to something, but at the same time I thought 'Nobody's saying it; I wish somebody else was doing it.'"[20]
Release[edit]
Before arriving in New York on 28 October to carry out mastering on All Things Must Pass, Harrison had announced that no single would be issued – so as not to "detract from the impact" of the album.[82] Apple's US executive, Allan Steckler, surprised him by insisting that not only should Harrison abandon thoughts of paring down his new material into a single LP, but there were three sure-fire hit singles: "My Sweet Lord", "Isn't It a Pity" and "What Is Life".[83] Spector said that he had to "fight" Harrison and the latter's manager, Allen Klein, to ensure that "My Sweet Lord" was issued as the single.[79] Film director Howard Worth recalls a preliminary finance meeting for the Raga documentary (for which Harrison would provide emergency funding through Apple Films)[84] that began with the ex-Beatle asking him to listen to a selection of songs and pick his favourite, which was "My Sweet Lord".[85] The song was selected even though Preston's version was already scheduled for release as a single in America the following month.[51]
Harrison was opposed to the release, but relented to Apple's wishes.[86] "My Sweet Lord" was issued as the album's lead single around the world, but not in Britain;[79] the release date was 23 November 1970 in the United States.[87] The mix of the song differed from that found on All Things Must Pass by featuring less echo and a slightly altered backing-vocal track.[39][51] Both sides of the North American picture sleeve consisted of a Barry Feinstein photo of Harrison taken through a window at his recently purchased Friar Park home, with some of the estate's trees reflected in the glass.[80] Released as a double A-side with "Isn't It a Pity", with Apple catalogue number 2995 in America, both sides of the disc featured a full Apple label.[80]
Public demand via constant airplay in Britain led to a belated UK release,[88] on 15 January 1971.[89] There, as Apple R 5884, the single was backed by "What Is Life", a song that Apple soon released elsewhere internationally as the follow-up to "My Sweet Lord".[90]
Contemporary critical reception[edit]
Reviewing the single for Rolling Stone, Jon Landau called the track "sensational".[116] Billboard's reviewer described the record as "a powerhouse two-sided winner", saying that "My Sweet Lord" had the "potent feel and flavor of another 'Oh Happy Day'", with powerful lyrics and an "infectious rhythm".[117] Record World called it "a haunting inspirational hare krishna chant-song to a tune reminiscent of the Chiffons' 'He's So Fine.'"[118] Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone commented that the substituting of Harrison's "Hare Krishna" refrain for the trivial "Doo-lang, doo-lang, doo-lang"s of "He's So Fine" was "a sign of the times"[119] and recognised Harrison as "perhaps the premier studio musician among rock band guitarists".[92][nb 8] In his December 1970 album review for NME, Alan Smith bemoaned the apparent lack of a UK single release for "My Sweet Lord". Smith said the song "seems to owe something" to "He's So Fine",[120][121] and Gerson called it an "obvious re-write".[119]
Led by the single, the album encouraged widespread recognition of Harrison as a solo artist and revised views of the nature of the Beatles' creative leadership.[116] Among these writers,[122] Don Heckman of The New York Times predicted that "My Sweet Lord" / "Isn't It a Pity" would soon top the US charts and credited Harrison with having "generated some of the major changes in the style and substance of the Beatles" through his championing of Indian music and Eastern religion.[123]
In a January 1971 review for NME, Derek Johnson expressed surprise at Apple's delay in releasing the single in the UK, and stated: "In my opinion, this record – finally and irrevocably – establishes George as a talent equivalent to either Lennon or McCartney."[121] David Hughes of Disc and Music Echo said he had run out of superlatives to describe the two sides. He deemed "My Sweet Lord" "the most instant and the most commercial" track on All Things Must Pass, adding that the single release was long overdue and a solution for those put off by the high price of the triple LP. Hughes also wrote: "A great rhythm is set up and then comes that superb steel guitar with which he's so fallen in love ... [The track] does sound like the old Chiffons' song 'He's So Fine', but that's not a knock, just a cocky observation."[124]
At the end of 1971, "My Sweet Lord" topped the Melody Maker reader's polls for both "Single of the Year" and "World's Single of the Year".[125] It was also voted "Single of the Year" in a poll conducted by Radio Luxembourg.[126] In the US publication Record World, the song was voted best single and Harrison was named as "Top Male Vocalist of 1971".[113] In June 1972, Harrison won two Ivor Novello songwriter's awards for "My Sweet Lord".[127]
Copyright infringement suit[edit]
Initial action[edit]
On 10 February 1971, Bright Tunes Music Corporation filed suit against Harrison and associated organisations (including Harrisongs, Apple Records and BMI), alleging copyright infringement of the late Ronnie Mack's song "He's So Fine".[16] In I Me Mine, Harrison admits to having thought "Why didn't I realise?" when others started pointing out the similarity between the two songs.[20] By June that year, country singer Jody Miller had released a cover of "He's So Fine" incorporating Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" slide-guitar riffs,[128] thereby "really putting the screws in" from Harrison's point of view.[129] At this time, Bright Tunes were themselves the subject of litigation, as Mack's mother had sued the company over non-payment of royalties.[130] Allen Klein entered into negotiations with Bright Tunes, offering to buy its entire catalogue, but no settlement could be reached before the company was forced into receivership.[16]
Musicologist Dominic Pedler writes that both songs have a three-syllable title refrain followed by a 5-3-2 descent of the major scale in the tonic key (E major for "My Sweet Lord" and G major for "He's So Fine"); respective tempos are similar: 121 and 145 beats per minute.[131] In the respective B sections ("I really want to see you" and "I dunno how I'm gonna do it"), there is a similar ascent through 5-6-8, but the Chiffons distinctively retain the G tonic for four bars and, on the repeat of the motif, uniquely go to an A-note 9th embellishment over the first syllable of "gonna".[77] Harrison, on the other hand, introduces the more complex harmony of a relative minor (C#m), as well as the fundamental and distinctly original slide-guitar motif.[77]
While the case was on hold, Harrison and his former bandmates Lennon and Starr chose to sever ties with Klein at the end of March 1973 – an acrimonious split that led to further lawsuits for the three ex-Beatles.[132] Bright Tunes and Harrison later resumed their negotiations. His final offer of 40 per cent of "My Sweet Lord"'s US composer's and publisher's royalties, along with a stipulation that he retain copyright for his song, was viewed as a "good one" by Bright's legal representation, yet the offer was rejected.[129] It later transpired that Klein had renewed his efforts to purchase the ailing company, now solely for himself, and to that end was supplying Bright Tunes with insider details regarding "My Sweet Lord"'s sales figures and copyright value.[16][133]
According to journalist Bob Woffinden, writing in 1981, the case would most likely have been settled privately, as so many had been in the past, had Mack still been alive and had "personal ownership of the copyright" been a factor.[134] In the build-up to the case going to court, the Chiffons recorded a version of "My Sweet Lord" in 1975, with the aim of drawing attention to the lawsuit.[128] Author Alan Clayson has described the plagiarism suit as "the most notorious civil action of the decade",[135] saying that the "extremity" of the proceedings were provoked by a combination of the commercial success of Harrison's single and the intervention of "litigation-loving Mr Klein".[130]
Court hearing and ruling[edit]
Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music went to the United States district court on 23 February 1976, to hear evidence on the allegation of plagiarism.[16][133] Harrison attended the proceedings in New York, with a guitar, and each side called musical experts to support its argument.[128] Harrison's counsel contended that he had drawn inspiration from "Oh Happy Day" and that Mack's composition was also derived from that hymn. The judge presiding was Richard Owen, a classical musician and composer of operas in his spare time.[136]
After reconvening in September 1976, the court found that Harrison had subconsciously copied "He's So Fine", since he admitted to having been aware of the Chiffons' recording.[137] Owen said in his conclusion to the proceedings:[138]
Retrospective reviews and legacy[edit]
AllMusic's Richie Unterberger says of the song's international popularity: "'My Sweet Lord' has a quasi-religious feel, but nevertheless has enough conventional pop appeal to reach mainstream listeners who may or may not care to dig into the spiritual lyrical message."[160] Some Christian fundamentalist anti-rock activists have objected that chanting "Hare Krishna" in "My Sweet Lord" was anti-Christian or Satanic, while some born-again Christians adopted the song as an anthem.[161] Simon Leng describes the slide guitar motif as "among the best-known guitar passages in popular music".[162] Ian Inglis highlights the combination of Harrison's "evident lack of artifice" and Spector's "excellent production", such that "My Sweet Lord" can be heard "as a prayer, a love song, an anthem, a contemporary gospel track, or a piece of perfect pop".[21]
According to music historians David Luhrssen and Michael Larson, "My Sweet Lord" "became an early battleground over music as intellectual property" and the ruling against Harrison "opened a floodgate of suits over allegedly similar melodies and chord progressions".[163] In a 2016 Rolling Stone article on landmark music copyright cases, the suit is credited with establishing "a precedent of harsher copyright standards" as well as "introducing the phrase 'subconscious plagiarism' into the popular lexicon".[164][nb 12] Writing in The New York Review of Books in 2013, author and neurologist Oliver Sacks cited the case when stating his preference for the word cryptomnesia over plagiarism, which he said was "suggestive of crime and deceit". Sacks added that Owen had displayed "psychological insight and sympathy" in deeming Harrison's infringement to have been "subconsciously accomplished".[168]
Due to the plagiarism suit, "My Sweet Lord" became stigmatised.[160][169][170] While acknowledging the similarity with "He's So Fine", music critic David Fricke describes Harrison's composition as "the honest child of black American sacred song".[6] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork writes that the court ruling of subconscious plagiarism "could be a good euphemism for 'pop songwriting'" generally, and the episode was "doubly ironic considering Harrison's intrinsic generosity as an artist".[171] In a 2001 review, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that "My Sweet Lord" serves as the entrance to Spector's "cathedral of sound" on All Things Must Pass, adding that although Harrison lost the lawsuit, the song's "towering majesty ... remains undiminished".[172] Mikal Gilmore calls it an "irresistible devotional".[97] In 2009, pop culture critic Roy Trakin commented that if music fans were in doubt as to Harrison's enduring influence, they should "listen to Wilco's latest album for a song called 'You Never Know', which is even closer to 'My Sweet Lord' than that one was to 'He's So Fine', with its slide guitar lines practically an homage to the original."[173] David Simons of Acoustic Guitar magazine says that, further to his contributions to the Beatles' recordings, Harrison "elevated the sound and scope of recorded acoustic guitar" with his debut single.[63]
In their written tributes to Harrison shortly after his death, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards each named "My Sweet Lord" among their personal favourites of all his songs, along with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".[174] In 2010, AOL Radio listeners voted it the best song from Harrison's solo years.[175] According to a chart published by PPL in August 2018, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Apple Records' founding, "My Sweet Lord" had received the most airplay in the 21st century of any song released by the record label,[176] ahead of Lennon's "Imagine" and the Beatles' "Hey Jude".[177]
"My Sweet Lord" was ranked 454th on Rolling Stone's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004[178] and 460th on the magazine's revised list in 2010.[179] It has also appeared in the following critics' best-song lists and books, among others: The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944–2000 by author Bruce Pollock (2005), Dave Thompson's 1000 Songs That Rock Your World (2011; ranked at number 247), Ultimate Classic Rock's "Top 100 Classic Rock Songs" (2013; number 56), the NME's "100 Best Songs of the 1970s" (2012; number 65), and the same magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" (2014; number 270).
Harrison live versions[edit]
Harrison performed "My Sweet Lord" at every one of his relatively few solo concerts,[211] starting with the two Concert for Bangladesh shows at New York's Madison Square Garden on 1 August 1971.[212] The recording released on the subsequent live album was taken from the evening show[213] and begins with Harrison's spoken "Hare Krishna" over his opening acoustic-guitar chords.[214] Among the 24 backing musicians was a "Soul Choir" featuring singers Claudia Linnear, Dolores Hall and Joe Greene,[215] but it was Harrison who sang the end-of-song Guru Stotram prayer in his role as lead vocalist, unlike on the studio recording (where it was sung by the backing chorus).[216] The slide guitar parts were played by Eric Clapton and Jesse Ed Davis.[217]
During his 1974 North American tour, Harrison's only one there as a solo artist, he performed "My Sweet Lord" as the encore at each show.[218][nb 14] In contrast with the subtle shift from "hallelujah"s to Sanskrit chants on his 1970 original,[33] Harrison used the song to engage his audience in kirtan, the practice of "chanting the holy names of the Lord" in Indian religions – from "Om Christ!" and Krishna, to Buddha and Allah[221] – with varying degrees of success.[222][223] Backed by a band that again included Billy Preston, Harrison turned "My Sweet Lord" into an extended gospel-funk piece, closer in its arrangement to Preston's Encouraging Words version and lasting up to ten minutes.[224][nb 15]
Harrison's second and final solo tour took place in Japan in December 1991, with Clapton's band.[226][227] A live version of "My Sweet Lord" recorded at the Tokyo Dome, on 14 December, was released the following year on the Live in Japan album.[228]
Cover versions and tributes[edit]
"My Sweet Lord" attracted many cover versions in the early 1970s and was the most performed song of 1971. Its coinciding with a trend for spirituality in rock music ensured it was frequently performed on religious-themed television shows. The song was also popular among supper club performers following recordings by artists such as Johnny Mathis.[229]
The song was accepted as an authentic work in the gospel tradition;[230] in music journalist Chris Ingham's description, it became a "genuine gospel classic".[231] Many of the Christian cover artists have omitted the mantra lyrics on religious grounds.[183]
In 1972, Nina Simone released an 18-minute gospel reworking of "My Sweet Lord", performed live at Fort Dix before a group of African-American soldiers.[232] It served as an anti-Vietnam War statement and the centrepiece of her album Emergency Ward!,[49] which also included an 11-minute version of Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity".[232] Simone interspersed the song with the David Nelson poem "Today Is a Killer", giving the performance an apocalyptic ending.[232]
By the late 1970s, "My Sweet Lord" was the most covered song written and released by any of the former Beatles since the band's break-up.[233] Edwin Starr and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires were among the other artists who recorded it.[49]
In April 2002, Elton John, Sting, James Taylor, Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar and others performed "My Sweet Lord" to close the Harrison-tribute opening portion of the Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert, held at Carnegie Hall in New York City.[234] At the Concert for George on 29 November 2002, it was performed by Billy Preston.[235]
On July 28, 2023, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley released a single of his cover of “My Sweet Lord”. Marley said that he chose to cover “My Sweet Lord” because he “heard the song and liked it.” Afterwards, Marley learned that his father, Bob Marley, and George Harrison had met in 1975.
According to Mal Evans' diary (except where noted), the following musicians played on Harrison's original version of "My Sweet Lord".[59]