“Isn’t it a Pity” was an elegy from George Harrison about the Beatles’ break up that appeared on his masterpiece album, “All Things Must Pass.”

This version is Take 27 which appears on the sensational 50th anniversary collection coming next Friday, August 6th. Check amazon for all the different configurations, from a lovely CD box set to more ornate LP versions including one that comes in a terrific looking crate.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the CD box set for a week or more. The remastering and remixing is superb. I’ve been listening to “All Things Must Pass” for five decades and it’s never sounded better– richer, deeper, or more detailed. “What Is Life,” “Let It Roll,” “If Not for You” are among the revelations as the sound literally splits open to reveal new colors.

Executive producers Dhani Harrison and Paul Hicks have outdone themselves honoring George. He was just 27 years old when he emerged from the shadow of Lennon and McCartney with this collection. He couldn’t have known it then, but in a way, thank goodness the Beatles broke up so he could prosper as a songwriter, producer, musician, and singer.

Bruno Mars is having his own throwback summer of soul. His single with Anderson Paak, “Leave the Door Open.” sounded like it came from 1974. Now the new one, “Skate,” picks that up again. WBLS never sounded so good! Hal Jackson is smiling in heaven. “Skate” is so ebullient, you will be dancing in the car, on the beach, at the vax center. Bruno Mars is like an anthropologist. He’s done his Police thing with “Locked in Heaven,” his funk thing with “Uptown Funk,” and now he’s trying on these tie dyed bell bottoms. Dance, kids!

Prince’s posthumous album, “Welcome 2 America,” is out, and it’s got hits on it, the kind you’d like to hear on the radio.

The best of these is “Hot Summer,” which Legacy should have led with instead of the title track, but what can you do? The sequencing of tracks on this album is not good, I think, making it more work than we need.

The title track, based on Thom Bell’s Stylistics classic “People Make the World Go Round,” would have been better in the middle as a centerpiece. It’s not a lead off track. That would have been the blast off in “Check the Record,” a total clarion call for Prince fans. But no one asked me.

There’s a number called “Stand Up and B Strong” that starts off like an ode to Sting’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” then picks up an almost a showtune. The lyrics are disarmingly prescient, a kind of pep talk Prince is giving himself about “taking too many pills.” This is 2010, six years before he would die from exactly that– too many pills.

“If you live in the hills (If you live in the hills)
Listen, take too many pills (Oh, too many pulls)
‘Cause you’ve lost the thrill
Against your own will
Stand up and be strong
Yes sir”

“Stand Up” shows off the album’s strong classic R&B melodies, and is part of a series of songs in the center of this collection that are potential Prince classics. “Hot Summer” and “Check the Record” are included, as is “Same Page, Different Look.”

I don’t know if the songs on “Welcome” were all supposed to be together, and found each other by the archivists. But it’s a very commercial album, there’s no doubt. If Prince had released this album even with this sequence when it first existed he would have had a long overdue hit.

One of the problems with his post-hits era is that he completely succumbed to self-indulgence. It was as if he was determined not to please his audience at all costs. I went to that crazy show in the Hamptons years ago where the tickets were $1500, we were all outside in some field with a caterer. The set list was designed to repel the 99% white preppy audience. He did it on purpose. (Mo and Michael Ostin were there, they’ll remember.) He would never have given them an album as accessible and tuneful as this. No “Raspberry Beret,” or “Pop Star.” Just long, meandering riffs.

But I digress. We’re not getting anything else from Prince, obviously, so we’ll be happy to settle for “Welcome 2 America.” Trust me, start in the middle and then go back go the beginning and to the end, with “One Day We Will All Be Free.” But find “Yes,” before you get there. In the old days it would have kicked off Side 2 with a real punch, not been hidden at the end.