Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

"Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)"
Cover of the original Hansen Publishing sheet music for the song
Song by George Harrison
from the album All Things Must Pass
Released27 November 1970
GenreFolk rock
Length3:48
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)George Harrison
Producer(s)George Harrison, Phil Spector

"Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song as a tribute to Frank Crisp, a nineteenth-century lawyer and the original owner of Friar Park – the Victorian Gothic residence in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, that Harrison purchased in early 1970. Commentators have likened the song to a cinematic journey through the grand house and the grounds of the estate.

Pete Drake, Billy Preston, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann and Alan White played on the recording. It was co-produced by Phil Spector, whose heavy use of reverb adds to the ethereal quality of the song. AllMusic critic Scott Janovitz describes "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" as offering "a glimpse of the true George Harrison – at once mystical, humorous, solitary, playful, and serious".

Crisp's eccentric homilies, which the former Beatle discovered inscribed inside the house and around the property, inspired subsequent compositions of Harrison's, including "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" and "The Answer's at the End". Together with the Friar Park-shot album cover for All Things Must Pass, "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp" established an association between Harrison and his Henley estate that has continued since his death in November 2001. The song gained further notability in 2009 when it provided the title for Harrison's posthumous compilation Let It Roll. My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James and Dhani Harrison are among the singers who have recorded the song.