Written by: Harrison
Recorded: 25 February 1969
Producer: George Harrison
Engineer: Ken Scott
Released: 28 October 1996
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar
Available on:
Anthology 3
Although best known as the title track of his 1970 solo triple album, George Harrison taped a solo demo of All Things Must Pass in early 1969.
The recording took place on 25 February 1969, Harrison's 26th birthday. During the session he also taped demos of Old Brown Shoe and Something, all of which were released on Anthology 3 in 1996.
Harrison wanted all three to become Beatles songs, although Old Brown Shoe and Something went on to be recorded by the group. All Things Must Pass had also previously been put forward frequently during the Get Back sessions in January 1969; that it wasn't recorded properly by The Beatles suggests that either the other members didn't like the song, or that Harrison decided that they didn't deserve it.
All Things Must Pass was the simplest of the 25 February demo recordings. Harrison recorded two takes, then added extra guitar onto the second.
The lyrics were based on a translation of part of chapter 23 of the Tao Te Ching. A translation was included in Timothy Leary's 1966 book Psychedelic Prayers After The Tao Te Ching, under the heading All Things Pass:
All things pass
A sunrise does not last all morning
All things pass
A cloudburst does not last all day
Another Harrison song, Isn't It A Pity, was demoed by Harrison on 26 January 1969 with the working title George's Demo. The Beatles never recorded the song - it also emerged as a highlight on the All Things Must Pass album - although Ian MacDonald and Mark Lewisohn have suggested that Harrison also put forward the song during the Revolver sessions.
What a shame this song didn't make a Beatles album. The same could be said for George's Not Guilty as well.
This is one of the songs, that i wished that we're either recorded and put on Get Back or Abbey Road.
But, it came in a solo album.
Damn it, why The Beatles never recorded it.
Only that somebody want do a version trying to imitate the vocals of John, Paul and drumming or backing vocal of Ringo too.
But that's just a dream.
The Beatles did record this, but it was during the early rehearsals for GET BACK -- i.e., the Twickenham sessions, after which they relocated to Apple to lay down a proper album. So the tapes I've heard are of mediocre fidelity, and the band's haphazard attempts to conjure George's paean to eternal cycles is marred by fumbling attempts to develop coherent parts on organ and bass by John & Paul, respectively, who fall flat as they repeatedly botch the anticipatory timing on the chorus and miss the bridge altogether -- no offense to any of them; they were going through a tough time, as was much of the world that winter.
A version of this song exists with George, Paul & John's chorus vocals and Ringo's explosive drum fills artificially grafted onto George's signature solo version, creating an "Imagine"d version that features an augmented Beatles ensemble.
The bit about the Leary prayer book is news to me, and I find it of particular interest given that George had previously harvested a kernel of inspiration for his song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from reading the I Ching, and that a couple years earlier John had derived "Tomorrow Never Knows" from the introduction to Leary's interpretation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead called "The Psychedelic Experience".
"Only that somebody want do a version trying to imitate the vocals of John, Paul and drumming or backing vocal of Ringo too."
The 2002 version at the Concert for George had Paul on lead vocals and acoustic guitar and Ringo on drums. That's the closest we're going to get.