Fifty years ago today November 23rd, 1970 --George Harrison released "My Sweet Lord."
"My Sweet Lord" was the first solo number-one single by a member of The Beatles, and it was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1972. It lost to Carole King's "It's Too Late."
It was the first track off his triple-LP All Things Must Pass, which followed four days later on November 27th.
Harrison's goal in writing "My Sweet Lord" was to come up with an upbeat, catchy tune like theEdwin Hawkins Singers' 1967 version of the 18th century hymn, "Oh Happy Day," but he ended up engaged in a copyright lawsuit over similarities to another song.
The case lasted more than 20 years, but the Harrison estate still retains the rights to "My Sweet Lord" and "He's So Fine."
Harrison recorded "My Sweet Lord" at Abbey Road Studios in London. Among the musicians who played on it wereEric Clapton,Gary Wright,Billy Preston, an un-credited Peter Frampton, Ringo Starr, bassist Klaus Voorman, Badfinger, and Derek and the Dominos drummer Jim Gordon.