Watch the all-star new video for George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’
Big names from the worlds of music, movies, TV and comedy unite to pay homage to the Beatle
By Joe Goggins
Stars from across the entertainment world have joined forces to pay tribute to George Harrison in the first-ever video for ‘My Sweet Lord’.
The new clip for the track, taken from the Beatle’s 1970 album ‘All Things Must Pass’, stars Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer as metaphysical special agents despatched by their boss (Mark Hamill) to search for that which can’t be seen. Along the way, they encounter more than 40 big names from across music, movies, TV, and comedy. You can watch the clip below.
Written and directed by Lance Bangs, the video uses the new 2020 mix of ‘My Sweet Lord’, which featured on last year’s 50th anniversary re-release of ‘All Things Must Pass’. As their investigation unfolds, Armisen and Bayer run into Harrison’s family (his wife Olivia and son Dhani make appearances) and his former bandmates (passing Jeff Lynne on the street, and receiving an impromptu drum lesson from Ringo Starr).
Among others making appearances are Jon Hamm, Reggie Watts, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Patton Oswalt, Taika Waititi, Rosanna Arquette and the comedy duos Tim & Eric and Garfunkel & Oates. Harrison himself appears in archive footage.
In a press release, Bangs said: “Making this was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. 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.”
Of the clip’s light-hearted nature and impressive array of comedians, Bangs added: “George threaded a sense of humour 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.”
Last month saw the 20th anniversary of Harrison’s death from lung cancer. He was 58. Both of his surviving Beatles bandmates paid tribute on social media, with Paul McCartney sharing an image of the pair in the studio on Twitter, with the message: “Hard to believe that we lost George 20 years ago. I miss my friend so much. Love Paul.”
Starr, meanwhile, uploaded a photo of himself and Harrison smoking cigars to his Instagram page. “Peace and love to you George I miss you man. Peace and love Ringo,” read the caption.
Earlier this month, Peter Jackson’s acclaimed three-part documentary on The Beatles, ‘Get Back’, was released on Disney+. The film mined hundreds of hours of unseen footage to shed new light on the troubled sessions for the 1970 record ‘Let It Be’. In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, Giles Martin – son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin – discussed ‘Get Back’, as well as his new mix of ‘Let It Be’.