Voormann, a close friend of Harrison's since 1960, found the atmosphere at the sessions unpleasant; he later cited the heavy drug use typical of the LA music scene, and the ex-Beatle's "frame of mind when he was doing this album". Keltner, who described his own friendship with Harrison as "like brothers", has similarly spoken of Los Angeles as an unsuitable environment for Harrison during this period, while commenting that Arias "came into the picture at just the right time, a crazy, dark time". With Voormann choosing to absent himself, Harrison played some of the album's bass parts himself,