You (George Harrison Song) - Background and Recording

Background and Recording

The Motown-inspired "You" was one of a number of songs that were tried out during the lengthy recording sessions for George Harrison's first post-Beatles solo work – 1970's multi-platinum triple album All Things Must Pass – but were never considered for release. Instead, it was recorded properly at London's Abbey Road Studios on 2–3 February 1971 during sessions for Ronnie Spector's proposed comeback album, produced by Harrison together with her then husband, Phil Spector. Out of all the songs attempted during the brief sessions, "You" was the most suited to Ronnie's style – indeed, Harrison had deliberately set out to write a "Ronettes sort of song". The choice of backing musicians was also a natural fit: Leon Russell and Jim Gordon had both been members of the legendary Wrecking Crew, a pool of LA-based musicians contributing to Phil Spector's classic 1960s recordings, while Carl Radle had until recently supplied the rhythm section with Gordon for Delaney & Bonnie's highly rated soul revue band.

Despite these qualities, Phil Spector opted not to release the song. With the solo-album plan abruptly abandoned, another Harrison original, "Try Some, Buy Some", was selected for release as a one-off Ronnie Spector single.

Four years later, while completing his final album for Apple Records in Los Angeles, Harrison revisited "You" and recorded his own lead vocal onto the backing track (as he'd done earlier with "Try Some, Buy Some", for Living in the Material World). On 31 May, further overdubs were carried out, comprising a second drum part, by Jim Keltner; tenor sax solos from Jim Horn; and layers of ambient keyboards coutersey of David Foster. The result was more mid-'70s radio-friendly, although it lacked the punch of the 1971 mix, where Derek & The Dominos drummer Gordon was much more to the fore. (Perhaps because of the amount of subsequent work done on the recording, Spector would not be credited as co-producer this time.)

The main lyrics – "I ... love ... you" and "You ... love ... me" – make "You" one of Harrison's simplest compositions. A deviation occurs only with the repeated bridges:

And when I'm holding you, what a feeling
Seems so good to be true
That I'm telling you all that I must be dreaming.

Harrison himself liked the song and in September '75 would tell BBC DJ Paul Gambaccini that it was "such a good backing track" originally, but he'd completely forgotten about its existence until coming across the tape years later. Although, like her former husband, her name would not appear on the album credits, Ronnie Spector's distinctive voice can be heard intermittently from the 2-minute mark onwards – with her trademark "woh-woh-woh"s clearly audible during the final 30 seconds or so. The pre-overdubs, 1971 backing track can be found on the bootleg CD The Harri-Spector Show, along with an alternate take.