American soul acts happened to be touring in the UK at the time. When the Edwin Hawkins Singers arrived in London in January, they too recorded with Preston, adding gospel vocals to "My Sweet Lord" and "Sing One for the Lord". According to author Simon Leng, the album represents a more sympathetic setting for Preston's music than had been the case on That's the Way God Planned It, and is a more successful blend of soul and rock. In late April 1970, Harrison arrived in New York, where he was said to be working on Preston's album. It is possible that orchestral strings were overdubbed onto "All Things Must Pass" and "Little Girl" at this point, after which Harrison collaborated briefly with Bob Dylan. Mixing was completed on Encouraging Words by May. That same month, with Preston as one of the many backing musicians, Harrison began recording his All Things Must Pass triple album, which included his versions of "My Sweet Lord" and "All Things Must Pass". Release and reception Encouraging Words was released in Britain on September 11, 1970 (with the Apple catalogue number SAPCOR 14) and in America on November 9 (as ST 3370). To tie in with the album's release, "My Sweet Lord" was issued as a single in some European countries. In early December, by which point Harrison's version was dominating the airwaves, the single was released in the US, with "Little Girl" on the B-side. The single peaked at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart of February 27, 1971. In Billboards album review, the writer welcomed Harrison's production and songwriting contributions. The reviewer continued: "Preston's got that church feeling, and gospel backgrounds ring out behind his jazzy, soulful and high revival treatments of the Beatles' 'I Got a Feeling,' 'Right Now' and 'Little Girl.' Preston is a complete musician with a classy concept of gospel-rock." Although it failed to achieve commercial success, Encouraging Words came to be viewed as one of Preston's best albums by his fans, and one of the best non-Beatle Apple releases. In 1974, by which time Preston had had several major chart hits as an A&M Records artist, Harrison was attempting to acquire the rights to Preston's Apple albums and reissue them. In an interview for the NME that year, Preston attributed his lack of success on the Beatles' label largely to the "internal dissension at Apple" and said