All Those Years Ago

"All Those Years Ago"
UK picture sleeve
Single by George Harrison
from the album Somewhere in England
B-side	"Writing's on the Wall"
Released	11 May 1981 (US) 15 May 1981 (UK)[1]
Recorded	FPSHOT, 19–25 November 1980, early 1981 (new lead vocal and backing vocals)
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:42
Label	Dark Horse
Songwriter(s)	George Harrison
Producer(s)	George Harrison, Ray Cooper
George Harrison singles chronology
"Faster" (1979) "All Those Years Ago" (1981) "Teardrops" (1981)
Somewhere in England track listing
10 tracks Side one "Blood from a Clone" "Unconsciousness Rules" "Life Itself" "All Those Years Ago" "Baltimore Oriole" Side two "Teardrops" "That Which I Have Lost" "Writing's on the Wall" "Hong Kong Blues" "Save the World"

"All Those Years Ago" is a song by the English rock musician George Harrison, released in May 1981 as a single from his ninth studio album Somewhere in England. Having previously recorded the music for the song, Harrison tailored the lyrics to serve as a personal tribute to his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon, following the latter's murder in 1980. Ringo Starr is featured on drums, and Paul McCartney (along with his Wings bandmates Linda McCartney and Denny Laine) overdubbed backing vocals onto the basic track. The single spent three weeks at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, behind "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, and it peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It also topped Canada's RPM singles chart and spent one week at number 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary listings.^[2]

"All Those Years Ago" was the first recording on which Harrison, McCartney and Starr all appeared since the Beatles' "I Me Mine" (1970), and their last recording together until "Free as a Bird" (1995). Other musicians performing on the track include Al Kooper and Ray Cooper. The song has appeared on the Harrison compilations Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 and Let It Roll, and a live version recorded in 1991 with Eric Clapton was included on Harrison's Live in Japan double album. In 2010, AOL Radio listeners voted "All Those Years Ago" in sixth place on a list of the "10 Best George Harrison Songs".^[3] The track has been featured in the books 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die,^{[citation needed]} and 10,001 You Must Download^{[citation needed]} by Robert Dimery, and Bruce Pollock's The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944–2000.^{[citation needed]}