Comments on: While My Guitar Gently Weeps

By: Mr. Kite

Mr. Kite — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 21:20:18 +0000

So this was one of the few Harrison songs that Lennon bothered to show up for?

By: David Pannell

David Pannell — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 23:57:13 +0000

I agree with Showman. Giles Martin was guessing, but surely he got this wrong. The bass is overdubbed, so why would it be John doing it? John only ever played bass when it had to be done live to fill the gap while Paul played another instrument. On Pepper, Paul often overdubbed bass after the main take so it would have been natural for him to do it here. Also from the sound, the main bass recording is obviously a Rickenbacker bass, and I’ve never heard that anyone in the band had a right-handed Rickenbacker bass.

By: Showman

Showman — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:02:18 +0000

That’s nonsense. It’s Paul playing the bass on WMGGW. It’s also Paul playing bass on the released version of Helter Skelter. He can be heard in between outtakes giving instructions ti his bandmates while accompanying himself on bass!, not guitar. John plays bass on the slow version.

By: Range

Range — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 19:57:19 +0000

I don’t think so: it seems to me that there are two guitars (not a bass and a guitar, as I erroneously wrote), and they are doing two different notes at some point (one plays a B, the other a C#).
And, at the end of the first bridge, there’s a 6-string guitar slide up.

You can hear them here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUJExQxjdyg

(The different notes are at 0:15 and 0:33, while the slide up is at 0:50).

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 16:06:03 +0000

The overdub on the bridges was actually a 12-string guitar, but I believe those two bass sections were played with the notes, pretty much an overdub.

By: Antal

Antal — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 23:05:09 +0000

“Another Guitar overdub, which doubles the main Bass part, two octaves higher, only during the bridges.”

Actually, that’s a 12 string guitar overdub.

By: Avi Black

Avi Black — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 08:42:00 +0000

No doubt you’ve heard the newly-released remix of the White Album by Giles, with the full track. Shivers, man, shivers!

By: Paolo

Paolo — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 05:31:05 +0000

According to Giles Martin, who mixed the brand new 2018 deluxe version of the White Album, the bass in the verse is played by John Lennon, and it sounds like it. It was a six string Fender VI. The same instrument plyed by John on Helter Skelter.

By: Paolo

Paolo — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 19:23:50 +0000

According to Giles Martin, who mixed the brand new 2018 deluxe version of the album, the bass part was played by John Lennon. And it sounds like it.

By: Fvc

Fvc — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 07:36:57 +0000

On My Guitar Gently Weeps there are 2 bass sections – i believe Paul played a Fender Jazz and also his Rickenbacker

By: Range

Range — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 20:36:33 +0000

Actually, the basic take was:

George Harrison: Acoustic Guitar and Lead Vocals;
Paul McCartney: Piano; Maybe some backing vocals too;
Ringo Starr: Drums;
John Lennon: Organ (he plays only during the bridges, and stops after “how to unfold your love”, “they bought and sold you”, etc., when the chord is E);
Eric Clapton: Lead Guitar.

Just listen to take 27 (it was recently broadcasted by a radio station): these are the basic instruments.

Then, they did a number of overdubs:
– Castanets;
– Tambourine;
– Another lead vocals (Harrison) and backing vocals (McCartney);
– Organ (which did not erase Lennon’s original organ part, but actually goes along with it, creating a sort of strange vibrato effect when they are on top of each other); It goes on, for some moments, during the first verse, then it continues during the bridges (also after the “how to unfold your love”, “they bought and sold you”, … parts), during the clapton solo, during the last verse and also in the outro. It masks a small mistake Lennon did just before the line “I don’t know how you were inverted”.
– The main Bass part (McCartney);
– Another Bass part, which doubles the main Bass part, a octave higher, only during the bridges;
– Another Guitar overdub, which doubles the main Bass part, two octaves higher, only during the bridges.

I don’t really know who overdubbed these last two instruments. McCartney and Harrison, maybe?

By: Maciej Hen

Maciej Hen — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 07:14:27 +0000

Frankly, I’m not sure whether the remastered version of Sgt. Pepper from 2017 sounds better indeed than the older one, from 2009. And the original record mono mix from 1967 is still beyond compares to me.

By: Justin Reed

Justin Reed — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 22:00:32 +0000

That’s Clapton’s guitar, bro

By: Marcia Gervase

Marcia Gervase — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 04:33:10 +0000

Gently Weeps has been my favorite Beatles tune since it was first released, and to find out tonight after reading its genesis was due to my beautiful George’s reading…and loving…the I Ching: Book of Changes is more than amazing… I have used the I Ching for the last 50 years in my spiritual studies as a guide for proper action. There ARE NO COINCIDENCES. Thank you, George Harrison, for letting the Light shine forth in your music. What a gift you gave us!

By: Peter Olafson

Peter Olafson — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 17:59:31 +0000

What is the instrument that links the intro to the first verse? I’ve always assumed cello or violin, but see that neither is credited here. Thanks!

By: Alexandru Papoiu

Alexandru Papoiu — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 18:49:41 +0000

I just want to observe that the best version I heard of this great composition (the best on The White Album by far) is to be found on the “soundtrack” of the documentary dedicated to George Harrison, made by Martin Scorsese (Living in the material world), where unfortunately… only two fragments can be heard: the opening part of about 1 minute, with the great intro of the piano and groovy-heavy, slightly distorted Fender bass (both played by Paul), a great, syncopated rhythm section with a freshly returned Ringo on drums – a truly a genial way to open the song, and the (amazing) end part, where Clapton excels with some very colorful/chromatic solo twists. It sounds so great because it was obviously carefully remastered, and could have only been done so only from original tapes and single tracks. Which makes one wonder if Giles Martin was involved in remastering the Beatles songs, as he did recently for the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper, for this film. The drums and the bass line sound so clear and powerful – dominant, the piano repeating notes, all the guitars, and especially Clapton’s leading solo are so well separated and have such a nicer definition – while the latter guitar solo sounds less distorted. It was almost strident, dirty and noisy in ALL the previous versions, but now it sound more clear and pleasant (not too screechy…). Most importantly, one of the most truly annoying features of the original (full version) of the song was the high-pitched, sustained, intruding and disturbing one-note whistling sound, which was coming form some sort of an “organ” (it was mixed as too loud and noisy in all previous versions, including the remasters done in 2009 or the Apple 24-bit FLAC version from the USB stick), a whistle that covered and doubled gratuitously the vocals in the mid section … “I don’t know how…”, towering ominously over a cluttered mix, in which tracks lacked separation, instruments interfered with each other, George’ vocals were thin and covered by the instruments etc. However, these 2 fragments used in the Scorsese documentary have amazingly fixed all these shortcomings of the original and previous (re)masters and mixes (either mono or stereo). The bass and drums have more clarity and oomph, the vocals are spacious and sound full, Clapton guitar distortion has been scaled back, and God bless the soul who did this, the whistling high-pitched sound was very much reduced, scaled down to an almost windy, soft whisper which does not cover and does not interfere with the song’s main chorus anymore. Oh, and did I mention that this has been remastered in multi-channel surround format (DTS HD-Master Audio etc.) for the Blu-Ray version? It sounds absolutely gorgeous, spacious, the whole song breathes, the vocals are beautiful and the entire production works so well, having the instrumental tracks so nicely separated and distinct now. You can also hear the famous moans toward the end, in much better definition, perhaps mixed-in at a slightly higher level, and new/extra notes/inflections are heard even in the moaning… I always thought these moans sounded like John’s (voice), reminiscent of his signature artistic contributions and adding a fine touch to an outstanding finale. Of course, it is such a pity that you cannot enjoy the full song in this splendid new condition, only 2 bits taken out of it. Clearly the full version must exist somewhere, but it has not been released as such. We need to have the full remastered song released, as it was done for the Scorsese documentary, in full Blu-Ray +/- surround format, we need to start a petition or something!… to have the surviving Beatles indulge us with the best sonic versions of this song. A very deft, masterful hand was involved in this touch-up – he has to be assigned to remaster the entire White Album and Abbey Road, if not also to go back and redo Revolver, Rubber Soul, Help, all their great singles etc. Ringo clearly wants it, as he declared recently, that he thinks they should remaster The White Album and Abbey Road, as they did with Sgt. Pepper for the 50th Anniversary. The music sounds so much better, and hence, if the newer technology can make these improvements starting from the original tapes, there is no rational explanation for not doing them.

By: victor

victor — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:08:33 +0000

there is no electric rhythm

By: victor

victor — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:08:10 +0000

they’re not vocal. It’s a guitar and pretty cool he could make that sound. Sounds like someone playing a saw

By: victor

victor — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:06:47 +0000

Thanks for that Joe. That’s where I read about it and it’s pretty clear

By: victor

victor — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:04:38 +0000

that might be him but his guitar is more noticable at the end