Behind That Locked Door
Harrison wrote the song in August 1969 as a message of encouragement to Bob Dylan, who was making a highly publicised comeback to the concert stage, accompanied by the Band, with a headlining performance at the Isle of Wight Festival.
Co-produced by Phil Spector, the recording features a prominent contribution from Nashville pedal steel virtuoso Pete Drake, and twin keyboard parts from Gary Wright and Billy Preston in the tradition of the Band, whose sound influenced Harrison's arrangement.
[7] In a repeat of his UK concerts from 1966, leading figures in the English music scene began to gather on the island to show their support for Dylan,[8][9] the singer widely considered "the minstrel to a generation".
"[21] As a further impediment to Dylan's planned comeback, audiences in 1969 expected to hear the rock music associated with his and the Hawks' 1965–66 tours,[22] a style that he had abandoned with his recent country album, Nashville Skyline.
"[25] The arrival of Harrison's fellow Beatles John Lennon and Ringo Starr, on Saturday, 30 August, added to the heightened speculation that one or more members of the band might make a guest appearance with Dylan the following evening.
[31] Mukunda Goswami, one of the six pioneer devotees who founded the Hare Krishna movement's London temple and who played on the recording,[32][33] has identified this exposure as reflective of how the ancient Maha Mantra "penetrated British society" as a result of the Harrison-produced single.
[41] Author Ian Inglis notes the Isle of Wight performance as having been a "hugely important and anxious occasion" for Dylan and views Harrison's opening verse as a "personal plea" for him to "pull out of his depression, to face the world again, and to look to the future".
[54] Having recently told Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner that he would return to touring that autumn, Dylan abandoned the idea and also cancelled the proposed live album from his Isle of Wight performance.
[65] Four years later, while Harrison was dejected following what author Elliot Huntley terms the "tsunami of bile that the Dark Horse album had unleashed",[66] he spent considerable time with Dylan in Los Angeles.
[38] Working at Abbey Road Studios in London with co-producer Phil Spector,[79] Harrison recorded "Behind That Locked Door" during the first batch of sessions for All Things Must Pass, between late May and early June 1970.
[81] Drake's pedal steel features strongly on the recording,[82] providing a commentary to Harrison's vocal in the verses, as well as a mid-song solo,[83] supported by Hammond organ from Billy Preston, and Gary Wright on piano.
[78] The arrangement for "Behind That Locked Door" reflected the enduring influence of the Band's sound on Harrison[48] – through the use of two keyboard players, acoustic guitars, and a restrained backing from the rhythm section, comprising Klaus Voormann on bass and, in Huntley's description, Alan White's "shuffle beat" drums.
[88] Ian Inglis writes of its position in the track order: "In the middle of an album whose songs sweep across the grand themes of history, religion, love, sex, and death, ['Behind That Locked Door'] is a surprising and touching gesture of simple friendship from one man to another.
[48][51][78] Writing in Goldmine magazine in 2002, Dave Thompson remarked: "indeed, this tribute to Dylan's famous reticence sounds so close to a lost Zim original that His Bobness' own 'Baby, Stop Crying' (from 1978's Street Legal) is all but reduced to tributary status itself in comparison.
[51] Simon Leng also acknowledges Harrison's success in "temper[ing] Phil Spector's taste for the extreme" and describes "Behind That Locked Door" as one of its composer's "more attractive" songs, with a fine lead vocal.
[96] Elliot Huntley writes that the track provides a showcase for Harrison's "melodic flair", as well as a reason to wonder why the ex-Beatle did not record more songs in the country-music genre, since "certainly he seems perfectly at home in these comfortable surroundings".
[99] He admires the interplay between pedal steel and organ, and comments that with his 1970 triple album, Harrison was effectively escaping "that locked door" himself, since: "He was the Dave Grohl of his day, rising from the ashes of a group in which he was a secondary member to dominate the charts with statements he could never have made from within his former band.
[102] Commenting on the track's sequencing before Starr's "Beaucoups of Blues", Jamie Parmenter of Renowned for Sound writes that "George's sweet harmonies and insightful lyrics sit pleasantly against Ringo's upbeat tempo song of love and retribution, and actually create a sense of togetherness when heard next to each other.
"[101] In November 2011, an early take of "Behind That Locked Door", featuring Harrison's vocal backed by just two acoustic guitars and Drake's pedal steel, was included in the British deluxe-edition CD/DVD release of Martin Scorsese's Living in the Material World documentary.
[117] Sam Ubl of Pitchfork commented on Summer Hymns' progression towards country rock and described "Behind That Locked Door" as an "ideal song" for the band, adding that their interpretation is "warmly rife with gilt pedal steel and [Zachary] Gresham's understated yet moving vocals".
