Origin of Song: Bittersweet Tales of “Isn’t It a Pity”

[Hari's Chick]

http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/07/22/origin-of-song-bittersweet-tales-of-isn-t-it-a-pity/

This is an interesting article. Isn't It a Pity dated from 1966. In 1969, John rejected the song... just cannot even imagine why?

It is a great song. She mentions how it is often covered and mentions Elliot Smith. He does the song great justice, it's true.

This is a beautiful, beautiful take...

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[JudithKristen]

As much as I love George, there were a few songs of his that I was really crazy about, BUT... Isn't it a Pity, I felt was just beautiful.

"How we break each others hearts... and cause each other pain..."

He was a young man with an old soul.

[Lucy]

Very interesting article. Thanks HC!

[DizzymissLizzy909]

I love George's voice on this demo... I think George was greatly underrated while he was with the Beatles, I'm surprised John did not see the potential in this song. As much as I love the work he did with the Beatles, I'm glad George had the opportunity in the 70's to really shine through with his own music.

[JudithKristen]

John must've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that morning when he didn't see the potential here.

It's just beautiful.

[JudithKristen]

Did he record this at home?
The words alone are beautiful...
Well, "the beauty that surrounds us" in that song is still available for us to hear.
(((Bless your Sweet, George )))

[edubeltran]

Eric Clapton has always labelled " Isn't it a pity " as his favourite George song. He still sings it in his concerts . In the Live in Japan Tour, George stated that it was written for Pattie, but if it dates from 1966 that does not make too much sense.
I believe it is probably George's finest song, and it makes me crazy that it never gets the recognition it deserves. It is by no means a less good song than Yesterday or Let it Be, yet it never gets the recognition it deserves.

[edubeltran]

Just joined the Facebook " isn't it a pity " group

[Hari's Chick]

Did he record this at home?
The words alone are beautiful...
Well, "the beauty that surrounds us" in that song is still available for us to hear.
(((Bless your Sweet, George )))

I'm not sure about the specifics of the final recording. I believe FPSHOT has Simon Leng's book "While My Guitar Gently Weeps: the Music of George Harrison." I would hope maybe it would have a little interesting info in there, more about the song maybe?

The words are just beautiful and amazing.... and sung so tenderly and from the heart.

[Hari's Chick]

Eric Clapton has always labelled " Isn't it a pity " as his favourite George song. He still sings it in his concerts . In the Live in Japan Tour, George stated that it was written for Pattie, but if it dates from 1966 that does not make too much sense.
I believe it is probably George's finest song, and it makes me crazy that it never gets the recognition it deserves. It is by no means a less good song than Yesterday or Let it Be, yet it never gets the recognition it deserves.

Is it your favorite song, edubeltran?

I listened to EC's versions from his 2008 tour on YouTube and they are so nice.

[edubeltran]

Actually, hari's Chick, my fave song has to be Here comes the sun because it's the first Beatle song I remember hearing, but Isn't it a pity comes a close second.

Other Beatles and George songs may move up and down the favourites list as time goes by but these two are certainly unamovable.

BTW, Elliott Smith ( a great Beatles and partcularly George fan) did a great job covering it. He's also covered " Give me love ( give me peace on Earth), Blackbird, for no one, I me mine, My sweet lord, Something, Jealous guy, I'm only sleeping, I'll be back, Yer Blues, Revolution, and most poignantly, Long long long, which was the last song he sang before committing suicide

[Hari's Chick]

Aww, Here Comes the Sun is my favorite also! :smile1:

I can see why Isn't It a Pity would be your second. It just really is so so special. Do you prefer version one or two? (maybe I should begin a poll to see if one is a favorite here) Do they evoke different feelings for you?

I love Elliot Smith. Thanks for the list. I haven't heard all those covers, but many. Mostly I listen to what has been uploaded to Youtube, but I subscribed to a music service so now I have more ability to discover things new to me (finally!). I heard Elliots Long, Long, Long and just loved it. I think I cried. But I had no idea it was his last song. :( He was such a talent...

[edubeltran]

Version One, definitely. I see as more genuine and consistent, and version two is more like an incompleted outtake to me. I am pretty sure for other people will be the other way round. However, I'll gladly listen whichever of the two is available at the moment

[beatlebangs1964]

"Here Comes the Sun" has always been on of my favorite songs and is deeply inscribed upon many a heart.

[FPSHOT]

I have done some research on this 1966 remark as if the origin of the song dates from 1966.

And I have some doubts about it and I remember hearing the bootlegs where George introduced some songs to John and Paul which later came on All Things Must Pass.

I do not remember George saying this one was 3 years old, but if the source says so I am happy to take that for truth.

However, I have some reasons for believing it dates from 1969 which is just my personal observation and am not saying it is a fact yet here is my analysis

- in I Me Mine, George says ; it is about whenever a relationship hits a down point - instead of whatever other people do - like breaking eachother's jaws - I wrote a song. It was a chance to realise that if I felt somebody had let me down, then there is a good chance I was letting someone else down. We all tend to braek each other's hearts, taking and not giving back.

This does not sound like George in 1966? Did he have something bad in his relationship? Pattie and George were doing well, George and The Beatles were at their maybe best period doing Revolver where George was just getting into Eastern Philosophy and discovering India, growing into spirituality and feeling so blissed.

He wrote songs like Love To You and a song like I Want To Tell You which is maybe a little sad but far away from what he writes in Isn't It A Pity.

Yet, it's hard to describe George, in 1965 he did Think For Yourself which is a sort of 'salt up :devious:' 'get off of my cloud kind of song of which in I Me Mine he says it probably like Taxman was towards the government and then he returns with the sweet If I Needed Someone. Not a man who would write Isn't It A Pity at that time?

- The I Me Mine book

When you look at the song descriptions, you will see that George ranked the songs as if 'when written' so you see "See Yourself" about Paul and drugs and denial of taking drugs in 1967 in between the pages for It's All Too Much and Within You, Without You and Not Guilty in between Old Brown Shoe and Sour Milk Sea which makes sense as to the time since the latter he wrote in India.

Isn't It A Pity is in between I'd Have You Anytime - 1969 and Woman Don't You Cry For Me, first writings end 1968 but as it is George probably continued later.

Simon Leng does not mention anything about time and dates.

Well this is as far as my short analysis goes.

George did have his mysteries, add this one to it. John Barham did such amazing work on the song for the All Things Must Pass album and the bootleg recordings of it also during the Beatles period and also what he played for Phil Spector before the actual sessions began therefore are so different. It is a gift for us to have these different versions of so many of George's songs and especially this beauty which was made to have people think about hurting someone.

[hibgal]

I buy your explanation, FP. Seems logical to me. I've also checked some books, not that I've got everything, and I can't find George mentioning of an exact date of when he began writing Isn't It A Pity. So now I would like to know where the 1966 date comes from!

[FPSHOT]

To add to what I wrote

the song really seems more to be about the after-India period where he said often that it was so hard to get back in the band again and would be more related to Wah Wah about the band's differences than to I Want To Tell You from the 1965/6 time about a girl what they were writing about then.

[edubeltran]

I agree with you FP, I do not believe George was mature enough as a songwriter in 1966 to write such a masterpiece, nor see why he would be talking about breaking hearts, when he had just married Pattie that very same year. The 1968-1969 theory makes much sense, for all the reasons you stated

[hibgal]

Here's an excerpt from the previously mentioned The Music of George Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Simon Leng:

"The use of the G diminished chord emphasises the inventive melody and Harrison's unique use of notes beyond the key signature. This harks back to the minute divisions of Indian music, while John Braham's evocative, suspended orchestration recalls the shifting realities of Wonderwall. More than any song except "Wonderwall To Be Here", this magnificent piece captures the depth of the musical understanding between George Harrison and John Barham. The fruits of those pre-recording meetings at Friar Park include a rising string statement that merges seamlessly into the first notes of Harrison's falling guitar solo, producing an exquisit musical synthesis. This rising and falling statment is almost akin to one of the key elements of form that comprise an Indian raga, which must be comprised of at least five swaras (tones) in both ascending (aroha) and decending (avaroha) scales."

It seems logical that George would've written a piece musically closely atuned to Indian music after his experience of it and not several years earlier, doesn't it?

[Hari's Chick]

A lot of great points!

I think you're right FP, about the sequencing of the songs. It would seem if George placed it between I'd Have You Anytime and Woman Don't You Cry for Me, then it seems like it would be a later song.

There is a lot of convincing argumentation for the song being written later. I want to play a bit with some opposite ideas, just to keep the ideas going. Not saying these are correct, but just for sport....

First, about the Indian music, don't forget Love You To was written in 1966. Well, released in 1966, so maybe even prior to that a bit. That has those Indian influences, too. And George had used the sitar in late '65 on Noweigian Wood, too. So if Isn't It a Pity dated had these types of scales, it may fit well in the '66 time line.

While it is true that George and Pattie should have been doing well, and that the love songs from '66 should reflect a happier George, I think some lyrics from his other songs around that time also sort of point out George was a realist in love. He was less inclined to get dreamy than Paul, lyrically. In I Want to Tell You, George says "the games begin to drag me down.." and speaks of being unkind. Even Love You To is awefully romantically dry. I mean, as a woman, if you had those lyrics written especially for you, it would not bring on romantic tears of gratitude! :laugh5: Not that they are not great- they are- but very laced with realism.

George also loved Revolver. So it would make sense that he was likely fond of the work he was producing around that time period, even maybe work in beginning stages.

I personally see it as more of a romantic reflection, and then can be thought of in a broader way... rather than having to do with the band and differences. The reason it that it has more gentle and reflective, thoughtful, sort of lyrics which I don't see in the other 'band commentary' songs like Not Guilty or How Do You Sleep. When reflecting about his mates in the band, the whole song and approach is more casual and the tiniest bit defiant. Not big defiance, but like "I'm not guilty... do do do..." [and I don't care if you think I am]. Isn't It a Pity seems closer to the heart. That is my feeling of it, anyway, right or wrong.

I was able to find the source (yay!) ...or A source on the '66 time line....

from "Get Back: the unauthorized chronical of the Beatles Let It Be Disaster" By Doug Sulpy, Ray Schweighardt....

They have basically written out the dialogues from the bootlegs. This is from January 29, 1969...

"George and Ringo are the first Beatles to arrive.... George provides some background to his song Isn't It a Pity. He jokes and quotes the spoken introduction to Tiny Tim's recording of Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire in which Tiny introduces the number as 'originally recorded way back in the 50's.' He then recalls John's off handed rejection of Isn't It a Pity three years earlier, but his pleasant demeanor cannot hide the residual bitterness he feels over the incident."

It says George mentions wanting to give the song to Frank Sinatra but decided not to because Frank "would record almost anything."

The mystery continues... :smile1:

[beatlebangs1964]

Excellent points, HC. In George's book, he discusses this song and says that the breakdown in his first marriage prompted him to write this piece.

Revolver, aka the Gem of 1966 is one of my favorite collections. George had 3 songs on Revolver and the Beatles had fully entered the Experimental Phase (which commenced in late 1965, as evidenced on Rubber Soul, another gem).

A very deep and interesting song and history behind the song, reflective of the man who created it.

[FPSHOT]

Excellent points, HC. In George's book, he discusses this song and says that the breakdown in his first marriage prompted him to write this piece.

which book is that? Nor in 1966 or 1969 did George have a marriage problem?

[beatlebangs1964]

In I Me Mine, George discusses this briefly when reflecting on this song.

In 1966, George, to the world at large appeared to be happily married. The statement was made in his book, which postdates the 1960s.

[hibgal]

I was able to find the source (yay!) ...or A source on the '66 time line....

from "Get Back: the unauthorized chronical of the Beatles Let It Be Disaster" By Doug Sulpy, Ray Schweighardt....

They have basically written out the dialogues from the bootlegs. This is from January 29, 1969...

"George and Ringo are the first Beatles to arrive.... George provides some background to his song Isn't It a Pity. He jokes and quotes the spoken introduction to Tiny Tim's recording of Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire in which Tiny introduces the number as 'originally recorded way back in the 50's.' He then recalls John's off handed rejection of Isn't It a Pity three years earlier, but his pleasant demeanor cannot hide the residual bitterness he feels over the incident."Interesting! So now the question is - Did George mean the three years literally or did it simply mean some time ago? With George one never quite know.

[FPSHOT]

Excellent points, HC. In George's book, he discusses this song and says that the breakdown in his first marriage prompted him to write this piece.

you must have a special edition because in the two editions I have that is not in it.

[Hari's Chick]

Interesting! So now the question is - Did George mean the three years literally or did it simply mean some time ago? With George one never quite know.

That's just what crossed my mind, too. Was George being literal or representational? Hmmm...

[beatlebangs1964]

In his book, I Me Mine George talks about this song. That was the source I was referencing.

[Hari's Chick]

Remember, regarding Pattie and George in 1966... that in summer of 1965 George had his first sitar lesson fro Ravi. When he spoke about it, he said he'd have left everything behind "even Pattie" and would have happily gone to Calcutta to pursue a spiritual path there in India. So, even in '65, that was how George was framing things up. I'm sure they loved one another, but a remark like that said to Pattie :) ... may easily end up in a song like Isn't It A Pity being written somewhere in 1966.

[beatlebangs1964]

Add to it that I think George's interest in Pattie was based largely on physical attraction. George was a breath away from 21; barely out of puberty and he saw a beautiful woman and was drawn to her. He had a lot of growing up to do and he had to learn what it is he really wanted. The remark in question was no doubt hurtful to Pattie. Again, they were barely out of puberty when they married.

By the time he met and later married Olivia, he had gone through some intense changes, including a lot of maturation. Olivia was plainly a good match and they balanced each other well on all levels.

[Hari's Chick]

Olivia was plainly a good match and they balanced each other well on all levels.

I think you're right, BB. :smile1: Olivia was already on that spiritual path, introducing George to Sai Baba and all that.

[John Cee]

This is one of George's masterpieces -- perhaps his finest song ever. I first heard "Isn't It a Pity" as the B-Side to the "My Sweet Lord" single.. and from the moment I heard those opening chords, I was hooked, and felt it was better than the A-Side.

I'm with you folks -- I can't understand how John could have turned a deaf ear to this song, unless it was out of jealousy that he now had another writer in the band to compete against. By his own admission, John was very competitive, as was Paul. It's also fair to say that, from SGT PEPPER on, John Lennon seemed to have very little or no involvement in any of George's Beatle tunes, other than his slide guitar bit on "For You Blue".

In any case, I'm glad George waited to record it with Phil Spector on ALL THINGS MUST PASS, where it received the lavish attention it deserved (though I could have done without Version 2 later on that album).

As for its inspiration, I've heard George say in a couple of interviews that his rocky relationship with Pattie was the basis for the song, though you never know if he said this in retrospect or actually felt it at the time. (This was usually in response to the question "Did Pattie inspire 'Something'?" which George always reply "No" to.)

[beatlebangs1964]

I think jealousy may have been part of the picture. I have long thought George was the more talented and more versatile musician. John even admitted that he was blown away by George's guitar prowess when they met in 1957.

George, as we know was a phenomenal artist and his lyrics were very intense. I mean intense. Over the years, Olivia would say that George felt he was lacking in vocabulary. I have to disagree. George was brilliant at expressing himself and his lyrics are nothing short of extraordinary. When you listen to him speak, you had to recognize the man's intelligence.