While My Guitar Gently Weeps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" | ||
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| Song by The Beatles | ||
| from the album The Beatles | ||
| Released | 22 November 1968 | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 25 July 1968 |
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| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 4:44 | |
| Label | Apple Records | |
| Writer(s) | George Harrison | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| The Beatles track listing | ||
| The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (6 of disc 1) |
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (7 of disc 1) |
Happiness Is a Warm Gun (8 of disc 1) |
| Music sample | ||
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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (file info) |
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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a rock song by The Beatles from the double album The Beatles (also known as The White Album).
It was written by George Harrison, who originally performed it with a solo acoustic guitar and an organ; a demo version, longer than the officially released version, can be heard on the Anthology 3 album and in reworked form on the Love album. Eric Clapton played lead guitar on the album version of the song with a Gibson Les Paul guitar. On The Concert for Bangladesh, he performed it on a Gibson Byrdland guitar, and later acknowledged that a solid-body guitar would have been more appropriate.[1]
The song has been covered by various groups and artists, such as Clapton, Jeff Healey (in 1990, on his Hell to Pay album), Peter Frampton, Marc Ribot and Spineshank, among others. Joe Jackson and Todd Rundgren (2005) collaborated on a cover version featuring the classical string quartet Ethel (video); this was performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
In 2004 George Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was played in tribute by fellow inductee Prince, along with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Dhani Harrison (video).
The song was ranked #135 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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[edit] Composition and recording
According to Harrison, inspiration for the song came from reading the I Ching, which, as he put it, "seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to everything else, as opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental."
Taking this idea of relativism to his parents' home in the North of England, Harrison committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a random book. Those first words were "gently weeps", and he immediately began the song. The initial incarnation was not final; Harrison later said: "Some of the words to the song were changed before I finally recorded it."
The composition was met with little to no interest by the other Beatles. Let down but undaunted, Harrison invited his friend Eric Clapton to join him during a day's recording session. Despite Clapton's doubts ("Nobody ever plays on The Beatles' records"), Harrison convinced him otherwise. The inclusion of Clapton allowed for two things: a moment's relief from the inner turmoil the band was experiencing and a chance for Harrison to free himself of lead guitar, playing only rhythm and vocal.
Some have questioned whether the famous solo in "Gently Weeps" is actually played by Clapton; it has been rumoured that the solo was re-recorded and that Clapton's solo was not the one that was pressed. However, Harrison has said of the solo:
"So Eric played that, and I thought it was really good. Then we listened to it back, and he said, "Ah, there's a problem though; it's not Beatley enough." So we put it through the ADT [automatic double-track] to wobble it up a bit."
A popular belief and "clue" to the infamous Paul is Dead urban legend is that towards the end of the song, during the Clapton solo, Harrison cries out a moan something like "Paul, oh Paul, oh Paul."
On 14 July 1992, Harrison and Clapton performed a live version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in Japan. This live version also has background vocals. During the song, the background singers unmistakably sing "Touch my bum" during key parts of the song.[citation needed]
An acoustic version can be found on the 1996 album Anthology 3, and again on the 2006 Cirque du Soleil album Love. This demo version features only Harrison, and includes an additional final verse. The version found on the album Love adds a new string accompaniment by George Martin.
[edit] Concert for George
On 29 November 2002 Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne and Eric Clapton performed "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at the Concert for George in memory of Harrison, who passed away a year earlier after a long battle with cancer.
[edit] Cover versions
- Vinnie Moore, on his album Time Odyssey, made an instrumental version of it, playing the voice melody with his guitar.
- Blue Taxi, on the album Ridin' Shotgun.
- Peter Frampton, on the album Now.
- Russ Freeman, on the album (I got no kick against) Modern jazz.
- The Jeff Healey Band, on the album Hell To Pay.
- Kenny Lattimore, on the album From the Soul of a Man.
- Phish, in concert at The Lemonwheel (Loring AFB - Limestone, Maine) on August 16, 1998 to finish the third set, as well as on the albums Live Phish Volume 8, Live Phish Volume 13.
- Yaruch Bann, on the album Msspcd.
- Kenny Rankin, on the album The Kenny Rankin Album.
- The Rippingtons, on the album Brave New World (Rippingtons album).
- Dave Specter, on the album Is What It Is.
- Spineshank, on the album Strictly Diesel.
- Joe Louis Walker, on the album The blues White album.
- Floyd from The Muppets, on the album The Muppet Show Music Album.
- Jake Shimabukuro, on the album Gently Weeps.
- Toto, on the album Through The Looking Glass.
- Powderfinger, live.
- Eric Roche, on the album Spin.
- Yellow Matter Custard, live.
- Damon and Naomi, on the album The Earth is Blue.
- Mägo de Oz, live.
[edit] References
- ^ The Concert for Bangladesh Revisited with George Harrison and Friends, DVD, 2005.
Rick Wakeman, on the album Tribute To Beatles 1998.
