Written by: Harrison
Recorded: 25 July; 16 August; 3, 5, 6 September 1968
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Ken Scott
Released: 22 November 1968 (UK), 25 November 1968 (US)
George Harrison: vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, Hammond organ
John Lennon: rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, bass guitar, piano, organ
Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine, castanets
Eric Clapton: lead guitar
Available on:
The Beatles (White Album)
Anthology 3
Love
George Harrison's most celebrated song on The Beatles' White Album, While My Guitar Gently Weeps was inspired by the I Ching, and featured his friend Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
Harrison began writing the music for the song in India, although the lyrics were mostly completed upon his return to England.
I wrote While My Guitar Gently Weeps at my mother's house in Warrington. I was thinking about the Chinese I Ching, the Book of Changes... The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there's no such thing as coincidence – every little item that's going down has a purpose.While My Guitar Gently Weeps was a simple study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book – as it would be a relative to that moment, at that time. I picked up a book at random, opened it, saw 'gently weeps', then laid the book down again and started the song.
Anthology
A demo version of the song was recorded by The Beatles at Harrison's bungalow in Esher, Surrey, in May 1968. It featured several lines which were later left out.
I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Problems you sow are the troubles you're reaping
Still my guitar gently weepsI look at the trouble and hate that is raging
While my guitar gently weeps
As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing
Still my guitar gently weeps
A solo version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps was recorded at Abbey Road on 25 July 1968, featuring just Harrison on acoustic guitar, with a subtle organ part appearing towards the end. These early versions deploy the fingerpicking guitar style taught to The Beatles by Donovan in Rishikesh.
Recorded in a single take, the June version was later included on Anthology 3, and, with a new orchestral arrangement written by George Martin, on the Love album.
It also included a verse that was dropped from later recordings:
I look from the wings at the play you are staging
While my guitar gently weeps
As I'm sitting here doing nothing but ageing
Still my guitar gently weeps
Harrison later complained that Lennon and McCartney didn't give the song the attention he felt it deserved. The presence of Eric Clapton on lead guitar, at Harrison's request, made the rest of the group take the song more seriously.
We tried to record it, but John and Paul were so used to just cranking out their tunes that it was very difficult at times to get serious and record one of mine. It wasn't happening. They weren't taking it seriously and I don't think they were even all playing on it, and so I went home that night thinking, 'Well, that's a shame,' because I knew the song was pretty good.The next day I was driving into London with Eric Clapton, and I said, 'What are you doing today? Why don't you come to the studio and play on this song for me?' He said, 'Oh, no – I can't do that. Nobody's ever played on a Beatles record and the others woulnd't like it.' I said, 'Look, it's my song and I'd like you to play on it.'
So he came in. I said, 'Eric's going to play on this one,' and it was good because that then made everyone act better. Paul got on the piano and played a nice intro and they all took it more seriously.
Anthology
In the studio
Following the 25 July solo demo, The Beatles returned to While My Guitar Gently Weeps on 16 August. They recorded 14 takes with Harrison on guitar, Lennon on organ, McCartney on bass and Starr on drums.
The song was left alone until 3 September, when a series of overdubs were added – the first on Abbey Road's new eight-track recording equipment. Harrison worked alone, spending the entire eight-hour session trying to record a backwards guitar solo.
On 5 September Harrison recorded two lead vocal parts, and maracas, drums and lead guitar were also added. However, upon hearing a playback of the recording so far, Harrison decided to scrap it and begin afresh.
The remake was started that same day. The Beatles recorded 28 takes; the basic track had Harrison on acoustic guitar and guide vocals, Lennon on guitar, McCartney playing piano and organ, Starr on drums, and Eric Clapton on lead guitar. Clapton played on each of the takes in this session, playing live with The Beatles in the studio.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps was completed on the following day, 6 September, with the addition of a distorted bass part, played by McCartney, some organ by Harrison, and percussion by Starr. Finally, Harrison taped his lead vocals, with backing harmonies from McCartney.
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.
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!
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.
No doubt you’ve heard the newly-released remix of the White Album by Giles, with the full track. Shivers, man, shivers!
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!
That’s Clapton’s guitar, bro
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?
“Another Guitar overdub, which doubles the main Bass part, two octaves higher, only during the bridges.”
Actually, that’s a 12 string guitar overdub.
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).
On My Guitar Gently Weeps there are 2 bass sections – i believe Paul played a Fender Jazz and also his Rickenbacker
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So this was one of the few Harrison songs that Lennon bothered to show up for?