Paul McCartney Said George Harrison Had an ‘Affectionate’ Description For ‘All Things Must Pass’

While The Beatles didn’t split until 1970, George Harrison already had ideas for his triple album, All Things Must Pass. He knew he wanted to go forward with his solo career, and Paul McCartney said he had an “affectionate” description for the album that sounded crude but could be considered an accurate metaphor. 

George Harrison released ‘All Things Must Pass’ in 1970

While John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the first to announce their departures from The Beatles, George Harrison was the first Beatle to embark on their solo career. He had released two albums before the band split up: Wonderwall Music and Electric Sound. 

All Thing Must Pass was his third studio album and was a triple album consisting of 23 songs, including unreleased tracks that he wrote when he was with The Beatles, such as “Wah-Wah.” The album includes “My Sweet Lord,” his single that hit No. 1 on the charts, making him the first Beatle to reach that accomplishment alone. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for seven consecutive weeks. 

Paul McCartney shared the ‘affectionate’ way George Harrison referred to his triple album

In an interview with Mojo, Paul McCartney reflected on George Harrison’s role with the band. He acknowledged that he and Lennon did take a majority of songwriting duties, and “it didn’t leave as much room for George as perhaps he would’ve liked.” He had many rejected or unused songs just sitting there, waiting to be utilized for All Things Must Pass. McCartney recalled that Harrison would refer to his future album as “diarrhea” since so much stuff was being stored up. 

“I remember him talking about All Things Must Pass as diarrhea. That was his own affectionate way of describing that he’d had a lot of stuff stored up, and it had to come out. I mean, I don’t think I’d describe it like that. But I know what he meant. He now was writing furiously – great things – like ‘Isn’t It A Pity’. Some of them made it with us. ‘Within You Without You’ is, like, completely landmark, I would say, in Western recording. ‘Norwegian Wood’ – the sitar on that. They were definitely huge influences in Western music. ‘Inner Light’ is a beautiful song.”

Harrison wasn’t wrong with his metaphor

While calling All Things Must Pass “diarrhea” is somewhat crude, George Harrison wasn’t wrong in his analysis. Harrison was often in the background of The Beatles as Lennon and McCartney took center stage. However, that didn’t mean Harrison wasn’t writing new music that didn’t get showcased with the band. 

He only wrote a few Beatles songs, but many of them were hits or became memorable songs in the band’s discography. Songs such as “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” proved he was capable of writing gold. All Things Must Pass is filled with unreleased songs he was hanging on to, and it gave him a chance to unleash them finally. In a way, it’s similar to the bodily function that the guitarist described it.