Zen priest and sometime Punk rocker Brad Warner points out that it was today in 1970 that George Harrison released My Sweet Lord. It instantly shot to number one on the charts, the first by a post Beatles’ band member.
Later there was a lawsuit for copyright infringement in his use of the melody. Harrison claimed it was loosely based on the hymn O Happy Day, but the copyright holders for Ronnie Mack’s He’s So Fine, prevailed in their claim.
The song continues to be one of George Harrison’s most popular. The Wikipedia article on the song notes “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. The recording features producer Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound treatment and heralded the arrival of Harrison’s much-admired slide guitar technique, which one biographer described as being ‘musically as distinctive a signature as the mark of Zorro.’ Preston, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and the group Badfinger are among the other musicians appearing on the recording.”
Me, I’ve always loved this mashup of the world’s faiths into something totally authentic, every time I hear it calling my heart back into that perennial mystery of longing and love that is the great work of all religions.
Thank you, George!
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