He adds: 'I had some of my friends from the Radha Krishna Temple staying: 'Watch out for Māya'. In his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says he wrote 'Beware of Darkness' at this time.

In spring 1970, Harrison invited some of the movement's members to stay at Friar Park, his recently purchased estate in Oxfordshire, to help him restore the large house and overgrown gardens, and to give his new home an intensely spiritual atmosphere. He told the devotees that his 1969 Beatles composition ' Something' was a love song to the Hindu deity Krishna rather than to his wife, Pattie Boyd. Since meeting the Radha Krishna devotees in December 1968, Harrison had produced their devotional music for Apple Records, including the 1969 single ' Hare Krishna Mantra', and assisted in securing a property in central London as their temple. The song's lyrics reflect the influence of the Radha Krishna Temple, whose philosophy holds that spiritual concerns override all material things. When playing it to Phil Spector, his co-producer, in May 1970, he introduced it as 'the last one I wrote, the other day'. 'Beware of Darkness' was one of the more recent songs included on All Things Must Pass, George Harrison's first post- Beatles solo album, and his first to consist of songs. The song has also been recorded by Leon Russell, Marianne Faithfull, Spock's Beard, Concrete Blonde, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, and Sheryl Crow. Eric Clapton performed it in tribute to Harrison at the Concert for George in 2002. Harrison performed 'Beware of Darkness' with Leon Russell at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971.

Several critics recognise the song as one of the best tracks on All Things Must Pass. The lyrics warn against allowing illusion to get in the way of one's true purpose in life, an admonition that, like the content of ' My Sweet Lord', reflects the influence of Harrison's association with the Radha Krishna Temple. It is the opening track on the second disc of the album. In 2002, it was additionally covered by Eric Clapton as part of his contributions to the Concert for George tribute.'Beware of Darkness' is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Russell's version was available on his concurrent Leon Russell and the Shelter People release, while Marianne Faithfull, Concrete Blonde, and Spock's Beard are among those to have also reworked the tune. It would resurface on the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh benefit soundtrack album with Leon Russell trading lead vocals with Harrison. Klein Company - a firm whose owner was the Beatles' recently acquired manager. Interestingly, that title copped its name from an off-the-cuff ad lib that Harrison sings at the conclusion of the demo, and the acronym stands for Allan B.

This intimate and stripped-down reading can be heard on the highly recommended Beware of ABKCO bootleg CD issued in 1998. The song was initially pitched in an acoustic form to producer Phil Spector during the spring of 1970 for possible inclusion on the artist's first post- Beatles outing, the following year's All Things Must Pass. There are some obvious social references such as 'Beware of falling swingers/Dropping all around you' and 'Beware of soft shoe shufflers/Dancing down the sidewalks.' Likewise, the thinly veiled political commentaries warn 'Beware of greedy leaders/They take you where you should not go.' Deeper still is the introspective admonition to 'Beware of the thoughts that linger/Winding up inside your head/While hopelessness surrounds you/In the dead of night.' Tellingly, Harrison tucks the resolution 'It can hit you/It can hurt you/Make you sore and what is more/That is not what you are here for' between the verses. 'Beware of Darkness' is a foreboding ballad lyrically couched in George Harrison's trademark sense of dense, if not cerebrally opaque, imagery.

Beware the darkness album