“Isn't It A Pity” by George Harrison

George Harrison wrote "Isn't It a Pity" in 1966, saw the Beatles pass on it, and held on to it until All Things Must Pass in 1970, where it finally got room to breathe: it appears there twice, the main event a slow, seven-minute ballad often heard as the emotional centre of the whole album. Paired with "My Sweet Lord" on a double A-side, it was the side Canada preferred, all the way to number one.

Harrison and Phil Spector built it into a mighty swell: Billy Preston, Gary Wright and Tony Ashton on keys, Badfinger on acoustic guitars, Klaus Voormann on bass, Ringo Starr on drums and John Barham's orchestral and choral arrangements rising under Harrison's slide guitar. It plays like a sigh over the Beatles' sour finish, and the long fade even nods to the closing refrain of "Hey Jude".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.