Recording "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

On this day, The Beatles resumed work on George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The session, which began at 7 pm, saw the addition of overdubs to Take 16, which had been made two days prior. George recorded his double-tracked lead vocals and a new lead guitar part, while Ringo Starr contributed maracas and a new drum track.

Upon reviewing the playback of their progress, George was dissatisfied with the result and chose to discard the recordings and begin anew.

During this session, The Beatles recorded 28 takes of a new rhythm track, numbered from take 17 to 44. Throughout these takes, George provided a guide vocal and played the acoustic guitar, while Paul McCartney switched between piano and organ, Ringo Starr was on drums, and John Lennon handled the lead guitar duties. This continued until the arrival of guest star Eric Clapton, who then took over the lead guitar role.

Take 25 was considered to be the best and received on September 6.

It’d been a few years since I’d seen them and they had changed. This particular song was a strong view and it was coming very much from where George had found himself as a result of becoming involved with mysticism. Seeing John and George and Paul sing together when they were doing harmonies and things… It was fantastic.

Eric Clapton – From Martin Scorsese’s 2011 George Harrison documentary “Living In The Material World“

One day, early in September, George drove me over to Abbey Road Studios where he was recording. When I arrived there, he told me that they were going to record one of his songs and asked me to play guitar on it. I was quite taken aback by this, considering it a funny thing to ask, since he was the Beatles guitar player, and had always done great work on their records up until then. I was also quite flattered, thinking that not many people get asked to play on a Beatles record. I hadn’t even brought my guitar with me, so I had to borrow his.

My reading of the situation was that Paul and John were known to have been quite disparaging about both George’s and Ringo’s contributions to the group. He would put songs forward on every project only to find them pushed into the background. I think that George felt our friendship would give him some support, and that having me there to play might stabilise the situation, and maybe even draw some respect. I was a little nervous because John and Paul were pretty fast on their feet, and I was an outsider, but it went well. The song was called ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. We did just one take, and I thought it sounded fantastic; John and Paul were fairly non-committal, but I knew George was happy because he listened to it over and over in the control room, and after adding some effects and doing a rough mix, the other guys played some of the other songs they had already recorded. It felt like I had been brought into their inner sanctum.

Eric Clapton – From “Clapton: The Autobiography” by Eric Clapton, 2008

We tried to record [“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”], but Paul and John 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.

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 wouldn’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.

George Harrison – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000

The next day I brought Eric Clapton with me. He was really nervous. I was saying, ‘Just come and play on the session, then I can sing and play acoustic guitar.’ Because what happened when Eric was there on that day, and later on when Billy Preston… I pulled in Billy Preston on Let It Be… it helped, because the others would have to control themselves a bit more. John and Paul mainly because they had to, you know, act more handsomely. Eric was nervous saying, ‘No, what will they say?’ And I was saying, ‘Fuck ’em, that’s my song.’ You know, he was the first non-Beatle person who’d ever played on anything.

It must have been terrifying…

And it was a good date. Paul would always help along when you’d done his ten songs– then when he got ’round to doing one of my songs, he would help. It was silly. It was very selfish, actually. Sometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my god, ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ was so fruity. After a while we did a good job on it, but when Paul got an idea or an arrangement in his head… But Paul’s really writing for a 14-year-old audience now anyhow. I missed his last tour, unfortunately.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was such a personal song, I’d always wondered why Eric was there.

Well, I’d been through this sitar thing. I’d played sitar for three years. And I’d just listened to classical Indian music and practiced sitar– except for when we played dates, studio dates– and then I’d get the guitar out and just play, you know, learn a part for the record. But I’d really lost alot of interest in the guitar. I remember I came from California and I shot this piece of film for the film on Ravi Shankar’s life called ‘Raga’ and I was carrying a sitar. And we stopped in New York and checked in a hotel, and Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton were both at the same hotel. And that was the last time I really played the sitar like that. We used to hang out such alot at that period, and Eric gave me a fantastic Les Paul guitar, which is the one he plays on that date. So it worked out well. I liked the idea of other musicians contributing.

George Harrison – Interview for Crawdaddy Magazine, February 1977

It was [Ravi Shankar] who helped me to get back into being a pop singer and also my association with Eric [Clapton]. He really helped me because he was such a – I mean I admired him as a guitar player. I had no confidence in myself as a guitar player, having spent so many years with Paul McCartney. ‘Cause he ruined me as a guitar player.

In what way?

He uh…well I don’t know. I think it’s easier just to read what – ‘cause he also seems to have done the same thing to Henry McCullough because I remember reading something that Henry said that he left Wings, and he just left it because he said, “I don’t know if I’m good or I’m bad, I can play this or I can’t play anything,” so somebody like Eric, who I rated as a guitar player, that he treated me like a human, and he gave me a guitar which was the best guitar I’ve ever had, and which – you know, I went from there. I just decided, “OK I’m gonna become a pop singer and guitar player again.”

George Harrison – Interviewed by Alan Freeman, October 1974

We’d had guest instrumentalists before – Brian Jones had played some crazy stuff on sax (for ‘You Know My Name (Look Up T(he Number)’), and we’d used a flute and other instruments — but we’d never actually had someone other than George (or occasionally John or me) playing the guitar.

Eric showed up and he was very nice, very accommodating and humble and a good player. He got wound up and we all did it. It was good fun actually. His style fitted very well with the song and I think George was keen to have him play it – which was nice of George because he could have played it himself and then it would have been him on the big hit.

Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000

It was very generous to give Eric this moment when he could have had it for himself… George was very like that. He was very open.

Paul McCartney – From “McCartney 3,2,1” documentary series

Eric behaved just like any session musician; very quiet, just got on and played. That was it…there were no theatrics involved. I remember Eric telling George that Cream’s approach to recording would be to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, spending very little time in the studio itself, whereas The Beatles’ approach seemed to be to record, record, record, and then eventually get the right one. The sessions were their rehearsals.

Brian Gibson – Technical engineer – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn, 1988

It should be noted that Paul McCartney, during a break, seized the opportunity to play “Let It Be” for the first time in the recording studio:

On a tape box for the final session to record “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, there is a note of a performance of another song. Not knowing what it was, the second engineer, John Smith, wrote “Ad Lib”. It was, in fact, an early try-out of “Let It Be”. In this embryonic version, Paul sings “Brother Malcolm comes to me” – not “Mothey Mary”, as, of course, the world is familiar with from the official recording of the song in January 1969.

From “The Beatles” Super Deluxe edition book (2018)

During this session, there was no producer present because George Martin was away on holiday. The following Monday, his assistant Chris Thomas would return from his holiday to discover that he was to produce the Beatles for all the sessions in September.

Session activities

1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • SI onto take 16

2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 17

3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 18

4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 19

5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 20

6. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 21

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 22

8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 23

9. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

   Written by George Harrison

   Recording • Re-remake - Take 24

10. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 25

11. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 26

12. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 27

    AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)

13. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 28

14. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 29

15. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 30

16. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 31

17. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 32

18. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 33

19. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 34

20. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 35

21. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 36

22. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 37

23. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 38

24. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 39

25. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 40

26. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 41

27. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 42

28. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 43

29. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Written by George Harrison

    Recording • Re-remake - Take 44

30. Let It Be

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Early version

    AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)

Staff

Musicians on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

Production staff

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