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"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatle George Harrison from his triple album All Things Must Pass. Session musicians on the track included Eric Clapton. The song is primarily about God, and features repetitions of the avatars of Lord Vishnu, the preserving god in Hinduism.
When it was released as a single in 1971, "My Sweet Lord" - which Harrison wrote in December 1969 - topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was the first single by an ex-Beatle to reach number one. It reached number one again in the UK in 2002 following Harrison's death from cancer.
The song was previously released on Harrison's debut album, All Things Must Pass, which also went to number one.
The song was originally written for Billy Preston, who had a minor hit with it in early 1970, in his album Encouraging Words.
The drumming was performed by Alan White of Yes.
When All Things Must Pass was re-issued for its thirtieth anniversary in 2000, Harrison recorded a new version of the song as a bonus track, sharing vocals with Sam Brown.
After Harrison's death, at the tribute Concert for George, the song was performed by Billy Preston.
Plagiarism controversy
Following the song's release, musical similarities between "My Sweet Lord" and The Chiffons' hit "He's So Fine" led to a lengthy legal battle over the rights to the composition. Billboard magazine, in an article dated 6 March, 1971, stated that Harrison's royalty payments from the recording had been halted worldwide. Harrison stated that he was inspired to write "My Sweet Lord" after hearing the Edwin Hawkins Singers' "Oh Happy Day".
In the U.S. federal court decision in the case, known as Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music, Harrison was found to have unintentionally plagiarized the earlier song. He was ordered to surrender the majority of royalties from "My Sweet Lord" and partial royalties from All Things Must Pass. Shortly thereafter, Harrison wrote and recorded a song about the court case named "This Song", which includes "This song, there's nothing 'Bright' about it."
External links
George Harrison songs | 1970 singles | 2002 singles | Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles | Apple Records singles | UK number one singles
"My Sweet Lord"