George assembled quite a line-up of sidemen over the course of these sessions.
Beatles cronies Ringo Starr and Klaus Voorman were recruited, as was close friend Eric Clapton (although uncredited at the time, much as he was on The Beatles' White Album when he played guitar on George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps.") Phil Spector was tapped to produce (or, in this case, co-produce with George.)
The timing proved right in other instances, too. Harrison had just finished up a brief tour with Delaney and Bonnie, which allowed for new friends Jim Gordon, Carl Radle and Bobby Whitlock to come onboard. (Along with Clapton, they would form Derek and the Dominoes before these sessions were over, launching their own career with the timeless "Layla," coincidentally written by Clapton about George's wife, Patti! Incestuous to say the least!)
Apple's Badfinger also appeared on a few cuts, as did a couple of other artists George had been working with ... Billy Preston and Gary Wright. Also on hand: Alan White on drums, Gary Brooker on keyboards, Pete Drake on Pedal-Steel Guitar, Dave Mason on Guitar, Bobby Keys and Jim Price on Sax and Trumpet respectively, and the ever-present, ever-reliable Mal Evans on Tea, Sympathy and Tambourine. All of these key artists were prominently featured on the bonus jam session tracks that closed the album.
Much has been made about all of the songs that George had stock-piled over the years of being limited to just one or two tracks on each Beatles album ... but this is really true of only a small handful of tunes, some of which dated back to the "Help!" sessions. In addition to both sides of his #1 Hit Single "My Sweet Lord" / "Isn't It A Pity" (which features TWO versions on the LP), Harrison also found time to record two Bob Dylan tunes, one of which he helped to co-write. A year later, George would "bring out a friend of us all, Mr. Bob Dylan" during his Concert For Bangla Desh held at Madison Square Garden ... and over a decade later he would again team with Dylan as 2/5ths of The Traveling Wilburys!
Besides the timeless title tune and the #1 Single, the LP also featured George's next big hit, "What Is Life," the rockers "Wah-Wah," "Awaiting On Your All" and "The Art Of Dying" ... as well as "Beware Of Darkness" (sung as a duet with Leon Russell at The Concert For Bangla Desh), "Behind That Locked Door," "Apple Scruffs" (a tribute to the young hangers-on that waited outside the studio in hopes of a glimpse of a Beatle after a late-night recording session), "I Dig Love" and another religious tome, "Hear Me Lord."
