The sessions for George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass began just six weeks after the April 1970 announcement of The Beatles’ break-up. Two days were spent recording thirty demos that were being considered for his new, as yet untitled, album, in Studio Three at EMI Studios, Abbey Road in St. John’s Wood, London. The first day, May 26, saw Harrison record fifteen songs backed by Ringo Starr and his longtime friend, bassist Klaus Voormann, beginning with “All Things Must Pass.” The following day, May 27, George ran through an additional fifteen songs solo for co-producer Phil Spector on his own.
While a remarkable amount of the songs demoed made the triple LP, not everything made the cut and now for the first time ever, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of All Things Must Pass, all 30 demos are being made available, including 26 tracks never before officially released as well as several songs that didn’t make the album like “Cosmic Empire,” “Going Down To Golders Green,” “Dehra Dun,” “Sour Milk Sea,” “Om Hare Om,” Window Window,” “Beautiful Girl,” “Mother Divine,” and “Nowhere To Go.”
Five decades after it was recorded, “Cosmic Empire” debuts today and sees Harrison performing the song on acoustic guitar on the second day of recording. The song is accompanied by a compelling lyric video that brings to life the natural and cosmic worlds George sings about in the song through a series of colorful animated collages. The video, which was produced by the animation house, Yes, Please, is premiering on YouTube and the song is available to stream now everywhere. Check it out below…
