Isn't It a Pity

Harrison wrote "Isn't It a Pity" in 1966. Geoff Emerick says he offered it for Sgt. Pepper and Mark Lewisohn that it first came up in the Revolver sessions, and Beatles Bible says Lennon reportedly vetoed it; he hoped to record it for the White Album and played it for the band again on January 26, 1969 in the Get Back sessions. In 1970 he made a demo on May 26 with Klaus Voormann on bass and Ringo Starr on drums, a full-band take on May 29, 19 takes on June 2, the last becoming Version One, and 30 takes at a slightly slower tempo on June 3, which became Version Two; Wikipedia says Version Two came about by chance weeks later when a backing musician began playing the song. Overdubs followed in August and September, and engineers included Phil McDonald, John Leckie and Ken Scott.

Version One, 7:10, has Harrison on vocals, acoustic and slide guitar, Moog and backing vocals, Tony Ashton and Billy Preston on piano, Gary Wright on electric piano, Bobby Whitlock on harmonium, Pete Ham, Tom Evans and Joey Molland on acoustic guitar, Voormann on bass, Starr on drums, Mike Gibbins on tambourine and John Barham on orchestral and choral arrangements; Version Two, 4:45, has Eric Clapton on electric guitar, Ashton on piano, Whitlock on organ and Carl Radle on bass. It is in G, two semitones below the Get Back version, and its closing fade echoes "Hey Jude". Harrison said we take each other for granted and forget to give back, and called it just an observation of how society and he were or are; critics link it to the Beatles' break-up.

Version One closes side one of the album and Version Two is on side four. The single, a double A-side with "My Sweet Lord", came out on November 23, 1970 (US Apple 2995) and both sides were number one on the Hot 100 for four weeks from December 26, 1970, and number one in Canada for five weeks. Billboard called it a powerhouse two-sided winner, and Harrison named it one of his three favorite tracks on the album in a 2001 interview. Tom Petty called it a masterpiece, and Chris Martin said Coldplay's "The Scientist" came from trying to play it on piano. A live version from the 1991 Japan tour with Clapton is on Live in Japan (6:33), and Billy Preston sang it at the Concert for George on November 29, 2002.

Covers include Matt Monro (1971), Nina Simone (1972, an 11-minute version on Emergency Ward!), Galaxie 500 (1989, on On Fire), Cowboy Junkies, Jonathan Wilson and Graham Nash (2011), Annie Lennox with Dhani Harrison (2017) and Peter Frampton (2021). Which version our upload is has not been established.