Beware of ABKCO!

About Beware of ABKCO!

Beware of ABKCO! is a bootleg album of songs performed by English rock musician George Harrison in May 1970. It contains songs that were under consideration for Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass, his first release as a solo artist following the break-up of the Beatles. The performances were taped in a single session at Abbey Road Studios in London, for the benefit of Harrison's co-producer, Phil Spector. Seven of the fifteen songs were subsequently recorded formally for inclusion on All Things Must Pass, as was "Everybody, Nobody" after Harrison reworked it as "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)". The bootleg provides the only available record of five songs that Harrison never revisited during his career. Among these is a 1968 collaboration with Bob Dylan titled "Nowhere to Go". Harrison sings and performs on acoustic and electric guitar throughout, with an unnamed bass player on "Wah-Wah" providing the only extra accompaniment. The album title derives from Harrison's performance of "Beware of Darkness", where he altered a line to mention Allen Klein's management company ABKCO. Three recordings from the collection were later issued on official releases. These were "Beware of Darkness" and "Let It Down", both of which Harrison included as bonus tracks on the 2001 reissue of All Things Must Pass (with lead guitar and keyboard overdubs added to "Let It Down"); and "Run of the Mill", which appears on the 2012 outtakes and demos compilation Early Takes: Volume 1 more »