George Harrison and Eric Clapton shared a legendary and tumultuous friendship that shaped not only their respective lives and careers but the shifting face of rock music itself in the early 1970s.
In All Things Must Pass Away: Harrison, Clapton, and Other Assorted Love Songs (Chicago Review Press, July 20, 2021), renowned Beatles expert Ken Womack and music historian Jason Kruppa explore Harrison and Clapton’s musical and personal collaboration, friendship, and rivalry.
Close attention is devoted to the climax of Harrison and Clapton’s shared musicianship—the November 1970 releases of All Things Must Pass, Harrison’s powerful emancipatory statement in the wake of the Beatles, and Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Clapton’s impassioned reimagining of his art via Derek and the Dominos—two records that advanced rock ’n’ roll from a windswept 1960s idealism into the wild and expansive new reality of the 1970s.
Authors Womack and Kruppa interrogate these two iconic albums, from inspirations to studio sessions to legacies, and unearth new perspectives on Harrison and Clapton. Drawing on a mountain of archival material and featuring new research and new interviews with key participants, including drummer Alan White and bassist/Beatle confidant Klaus Voormann, All Things Must Pass Away sweeps aside the myths in favor of a richly detailed exploration of these two remarkable albums and the men who made them.
All Things Must Pass Away will provide readers with a powerful overview of Harrison and Clapton’s relationship—especially in terms of the ways in which their revolutionary musicianship and songwriting would eclipse rock music and redefine the genre.
