Dhani Harrison has produced the first ever video for his dad George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’.
When ‘My Sweet Lord’ was first released in 1971, the video clip per song wasn’t really a thing yet (although The Beatles did make what was considered one the first ever music videos for ‘Something’).
George told me in 1993, “I just wrote it, and then somebody put together a video. And what they did was they went out and got some footage of me and Pattie, Paul and Linda, Ringo and Maureen, it was at that time, and John and Yoko and they just made up a little video to go with it.
So in many way, the new ‘My Sweet Lord’ video has something in common with ‘Something’. George just wrote ‘My Sweet Lord’ and then 50 years later somebody put together a video. And that video has a lot of Starrs. Well a lot of stars and one Starr … Ringo.
Look for George’s wife Olivia Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Weird Al, Jon Hamm, Mark Hamill, Patton Oswalt and a starring role as Fred Armisen as a man in black.
The video is clever. Most won’t see past the celebrity cast. It portrays life after death, George existing in another dimension “on the other side of the screen” while life goes on in the other.
Watch the My Sweet Lord video
“My Sweet Lord”
Written & Directed By
Lance Bangs
Executive Produced By
Dhani Harrison
David Zonshine
Featuring In Order of Appearance:
Mark Hamill
Fred Armisen
Vanessa Bayer
Moshe Kasher
Natasha Leggero
Jeff Lynne
Reggie Watts
Darren Criss
Patton Oswalt
“Weird Al” Yankovic
David Gborie
Sam Richardson
Atsuko Okatsuka
Rosanna Arquette
Brandon Wardell
Ringo Starr
Joe Walsh
Jon Hamm
Brett Metter
Anders Holm
Dhani Harrison
Rupert Friend
Angus Sampson
Taika Waititi
Eric Wareheim
Tim Heidecker
Kate Micucci
Riki Lindhome
Alyssa Stonoha
Mitra Jouhari
Sandy Honig
Olivia Harrison
Aimee Mullins
Courtney Pauroso
Natalie Palamides
Shepard Fairey
Claudia O’Doherty
Tom Scharpling
Paul Scheer
Sarah Baker
The video was directed by Lance Bangs who has made videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Neutral Milk Hotel, Green Day, Arcade Fire, The Shins, The Thermals, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, R.E.M., Mike Watt, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Kanye West, Odd Future, and Pavement. “Making this was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life,” says director Lance Bangs. “The approach was to represent the song visually while these agents and inspectors kept missing the metaphysical wonder around them. Images are choreographed to the sounds of vocal melodies, guitar strums, drum patterns, chord changes. George threaded a sense of humor through all of his videos, so we kept that spirit and filled the cast with friends and admirers of his music, many coming from the current comedy landscape. I tracked down vintage prime lenses from some of the films George’s HandMade Films had produced, and I hope that viewers can feel a sense of wonder and searching while they watch it, and that the song continues to add to all of our lives.”
George Harrison ‘All Things Must Pass’ was reissues in 2021.
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