George Harrison‘s “My Sweet Lord” has quite the pedigree. George worked with a superstar producer and another rock star to record the track. While “My Sweet Lord” was famous in the United States, its success in the United Kingdom is jaw-dropping.
Peter Frampton revealed why he helped George Harrison record ‘My Sweet Lord’
During a 2022 interview with Loudersound, Peter Frampton revealed he became friends with George after meeting the “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) singer at Trident Studios. “George called a few weeks later and said: ‘Pete, I’m doing my own album with Phil Spector. Would you come and play some acoustic? Phil wants, like, nineteen of everything,’” Frampton recalled. The album in question was George’s magnum opus, All Things Must Pass.
Frampton recalled his contributions to All Things Must Pass. “I was there for a week,” he remembered. “We did ‘If Not For You,’ ‘Behind That Locked Door,’ ‘My Sweet Lord,’ and a few others. Two weeks later, George calls me and says: ‘Phil wants more acoustics.’”
Peter Frampton had a ‘surreal’ moment while he was working with George Harrison
Frampton said working on the album created an indelible memory. “So that time, it was just me and George sitting on two stools in front of the glass at Abbey Road [Studios], and there’s Phil Spector,” he recalled. “It was very surreal. It’s one of those moments that I will never, ever forget.
“Phil loved the way it sounded, so we started adding it to a bunch of tracks,” he added. “In the end, I don’t know how many songs I played on in total. But if you hear an acoustic guitar, I’m probably on it.”
How ‘My Sweet Lord’ performed on the charts and impacted the quiet Beatles’ image
“My Sweet Lord” was a massive hit in the United States. The track topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. The tune’s parent album, All Things Must Pass, was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for seven of its 41 weeks there.
According to The Official Charts Company, “My Sweet Lord” was a much bigger hit in the United Kingdom. There, the tune was No. 1 for six weeks, staying on the chart for 31 weeks altogether. These figures combine the time the song charted in the 1970s and the time the song charted in the 2000s following George’s death. All Things Must Pass was massive as well, topping the U.K. chart for eight of its 32 weeks on the chart.
The importance of “My Sweet Lord” extends beyond its time on the charts. While George had composed classic Beatles songs like “Taxman,” “Within You Without You,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “My Sweet Lord” proved he could make big hits without his former band. The tune’s spiritual theme also became the template for much of his later output.
“My Sweet Lord” is one of the best rock tunes ever and Frampton’s contribution to it deserves more recognition.
