Recording "Old Brown Shoe", "All Things Must Pass", "Something"

On the day of his 26th birthday, George Harrison went to Abbey Road Studios to record demos of three of his recent compositions, “Old Brown Shoe“, “All Things Must Pass” and “Something“. Those three demos were released on “Anthology 3” in 1996.

Mark Lewisohn mentioned Ken Scott as being the engineer for this session ; but Ken Scott in his autobiography explained that he was not in charge: maintenance engineer Brian Gibson tracked this session with George.

“Old Brown Shoe” had been rehearsed by The Beatles during the “Get Back” sessions on January 27, January 28 and January 29, 1969. On this day, George recorded a basic track with vocal and piano. He then added an electric rhythm guitar overdub throughout the song. An electric guitar solo was then added during the instrumental verse.

Of the three demos created by George Harrison on 25 February 1969 this is the most elaborate: after a live vocal along with a piano track he then overdubbed electric guitar and, rolling the tape from the top for a third time, further guitar passages for the bridge and coda.

From the “Anthology 3” liner notes

The second demo of the day was “All Things Must Pass“, a song George would release on his first solo album and eponym album in 1970. Like “Old Brown Shoe“, this song was rehearsed during the “Get Back” sessions, first brought to consideration on January 3, 1969.

For this demo, George recorded a basic track with vocals and guitar. A guitar overdub was then added, and his vocals were double-tracked.

During the Beatles’ January 1969 Get Back sessions George Harrison frequently suggested this new composition as a contender, but it wasn’t until he took time out to record a solo demo of the song a month later that it was first put on to multi-track tape. It was then another year and a half before George taped the definitive studio recording, the song going on to grace – and give the title to – his first post-Beatles work, a triple-album issued at the end of 1970.

This charming demo – guitar and vocal, with a second guitar passage overdubbed – is one of three that the artist recorded on the occasion of his 26th birthday. The other two (Old Brown Shoe and Something) appear later in this collection.

From the “Anthology 3” liner notes

“Something” had also been rehearsed during the “Get Back” sessions on January 28 and January 29. For this third demo of the day, George recorded a basic track with vocal and guitar.

The final solo demo recorded by George Harrison on his 26th birthday resulted in the first commitment to tape of the beautiful Something, destined for the album Abbey Road (recording spanned April to August 1969), George’s first A-side composition for the Beatles when it was issued as a single that October, and hundreds of cover versions. The demo is simplicity itself: a live-in-one-take electric guitar/vocal performance that, in addition to definitive lyric, also embraced a counter-melody verse later dropped. Shortly after taping this demo George participated in a session during which Joe Cocker became the first artist – ahead of the Beatles, even – to record this major new composition; his version did not come out until November 1969, however, by which time Abbey Road and the Something single had been issued.

From the “Anthology 3” liner notes

George then overdubbed some piano parts. The basic track with overdubs was released on “Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)” in 2019.

Session activities

1. Old Brown Shoe

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 1

2. Old Brown Shoe

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 2 (with overdubs)

   AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3

3. All Things Must Pass

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 1

4. All Things Must Pass

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 2 (with overdubs)

   AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3

5. Something

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Take 1

   AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3

6. Something

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Piano overdubs onto take 1

   AlbumOfficially released on Abbey Road (50th anniversary boxset)

Staff

Musicians on "Something"

Musicians on "Old Brown Shoe"

Musicians on "All Things Must Pass"

Production staff

Going further

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions • Mark Lewisohn

The definitive guide for every Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1970.

We owe a lot to Mark Lewisohn for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - the number of takes for each song, who contributed what, a description of the context and how each session went, various photographies... And an introductory interview with Paul McCartney!

Buy on Amazon

The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 5: Let It Be through Abbey Road (1969 - 1970)

The fifth and final book of this critically acclaimed series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 5: Let It Be through Abbey Road (1969 - 1970)" follows The Beatles as they "get back to where they once belonged...". Not once, but twice. With "Let It Be", they attempted to recapture the spontaneity of their early years and recordings, while "Abbey Road" was a different kind of return - to the complexity, finish and polish that they had applied to their work beginning with "Revolver" and through to "The Beatles".

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Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles

Acclaimed Beatles historian Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account yet of the writing, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road. In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound, and included "Come Together," "Something," and "Here Comes the Sun," which all emerged as classics.

Buy on Amazon