When George Harrison came to making his solo debut, he wasn’t messing around. Now free from the bandmates who underestimated him, he had one chance to grab the spotlight and show what he could do. So, to make All Things Must Pass, he called in the big guns as a team of the best musicians alive came in to help him, from lyric support from Bob Dylan to a secret Eric Clapton feature.
The end of 1970 was not only a strange time for Harrison professionally but personally, too. As his band was breaking up and he was reckoning with the breakdown of his long-term friendships with the rest of the Fab Four, he retreated to Friar Park, a mansion in Henley, with his then-wife, Pattie Boyd. After the divorce papers were signed to mark the end of the Beatles, he instantly got to work on his debut solo album, with the music world all coming together to help him.
As well as his wife’s encouragement, Harrison was bolstered by the support and motivation of Bob Dylan, as his idol-turned-friend spurred him on and helped him out with lyrics on ‘I’d Have You Anytime’. Phil Spector offered to produce the album after they’d worked together on The Beatles’ final album. Even his ex-bandmate Ringo Starr provided support, playing drums on a few tracks.
Another person providing a helping hand was Eric Clapton, a musician that Harrison, at the time, would’ve considered his best friend. The duo had been collaborating for a while, and their friendship naturally intermingled with music as the two guitarists shared inspiration and ideas, leading to moments like Clapton playing guitar on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. On this solo album, Clapton was always there for encouragement, guitar support, or even backing vocals as he can be heard wailing in the background of ‘What Is Life?”
Keyboardist Bobby Whitlock cleared up the mystery of who the “O’Hara-Smith” singers that are credited with backing vocals are. ”That’s Eric Clapton and me. If you listen, you can hear Eric and me wailing away,” he said, confirming Clapton’s support of the song.
But with hindsight, it becomes an awkward moment. “Tell me, what is my life without your love? Tell me, who am I without you, by my side?” Harrison sings in another deeply devotional love song written for Boyd. But behind his band, his best friend had fallen in love with his wife and was sending her secret love letters, trying to steal her affection. “What I wish to ask you is if you still love your husband, or if you have another lover? All these questions are very impertinent I know but if there is still a feeling in your heart for me,” Clapton wrote to Boyd, the same year he sang this song with Harrison.
The same months that Harrison released his debut, Clapton released Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, blowing the cover on his love for Boyd with an album of love songs dedicated to her. A few years after that, Boyd left Harrison for his best friend, who he affectionately called his “husband-in-law”.
