WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS AND ITS INCREDIBLE RECORDING PROCESS.

The Beatles entered EMI Studios on May 30th, 1968, to start recording what became the “White Album” but it wasn't until July 25th that George got the opportunity to start working on one of his songs. “I always had to do about ten of Paul and John's songs before they'd give me a break,” George has been quoted to say. After his patiently cooperating through many of his cohort’s songs, including the extensive working and reworking of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” George decided to premiere “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” as the first of five songs he wanted to contribute to the album. (One of these, “Not Guilty,” while being fully recorded, was dropped at the last minute.)

The group entered EMI Studio Two on July 25th, 1968 sometime after 7 pm to work on the song. George recorded a beautiful acoustic version of the song on this day, just himself on acoustic guitar and vocals with an overdubbed organ near the end, this version documented as 'take one.' At the end of this single take, you can hear George call up to the control room “Let's hear that back!”

While most writers consider it’s just another demo of the song, the professionalism displayed could easily indicate that this beautiful version may have been considered the 'keeper. Not unlike Paul's acoustic solo performance of “Blackbird” that was already in the can at this time, as well as John's song “Julia” which also ended up on the album in a similar acoustic state. This ended up not being the case with George's song. However, hidden from the general public until 1996 on the “Anthology 3” compilation album.

Hindsight's opinion is that the song would have worked perfectly on the “White Album” in this state, but even then, many thought this was the case. Technical engineer Brian Gibson recalls: “The song changed considerably by the time they had finished with it. They completed the song on eight-track tape (at a later date), and this gave them the immediate temptation to add more and more overdub instrumentations. I personally think it was best left uncluttered.”

However, George must have thought it needed a band arrangement on this day, so The Beatles rehearsed several takes of the song, all of which were committed to tape and taken away by George for him to listen to at home to help him decide what to do. This extended the session to 3:15 am the following morning.

Interestingly, George had to extend even more patience before The Beatles would devote more time to “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The next song on the agenda was Paul's “Hey Jude,” which they continued to work on until the second week of August. George then decided to postpone work on “Gently Weeps,” opting to introduce another of his compositions, the ill-fated “Not Guilty,” on August 7th.

A full three weeks after the group first worked on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” they turned their focus on it again on August 16th, 1964. They entered EMI Studio Two sometime after 7 pm to record a full band version of the song, George deciding in the past three weeks that the acoustic version he previously recorded wasn't what he intended for the song after all. From this point on, that beautiful acoustic rendition was considered yet another demo recording of the song.

The group recorded fourteen 'takes' of the rhythm track which featured George on guitar, Paul on bass, John on organ and Ringo on drums. 'Take 14' was deemed the best and, since it filled up the four-track tape, required a remix to open up more tracks for future overdubs. This now became 'take 15; the tape now slowed down to 42 ½ cycles per second to extend the song from 3:53 to 4:53.

A note of interest is, while the recording sheet indicated the usual George Martin as producer of this session, one of the tape boxes revealed: “The Beatles; Produced by The Beatles.” Technical engineer Brian Gibson remembers: “The 'White Album' was a time when George Martin was starting to relinquish control over the group. There were a number of occasions – holidays, and when he had other recording commitments – when he wasn't available for sessions, and they would just get on and produce it themselves. He certainly wasn't around for quite a considerable period of time, although they'd always fall back on him for scoring and arranging things.” In any event, the studio finally cleared out by 5 am the following morning.

Another two-and-a-half weeks passed before they focused attention on the song again, September 3rd, 1968 being that day. Since the group had recently recorded John's song “Dear Prudence” at London's Trident Studios on eight-track recording equipment, something they didn't think EMI possessed, they wished they could record at their familiar EMI Studios with those same accommodations. But, low and behold, they found out that EMI did have an eight-track machine, although it wasn't ready for use yet. This 3M model was held up in Francis Thompson's office being inspected and readied for eventual installation.

Technical engineer Dave Harries remembers: “The studios were never allowed to use any equipment until Francis had said that it was up to standard, which was great, fine, but when you've got four innovative lads from Liverpool who want to make better recordings, and they've got a smell of the machine, matters can take a different course. They must have been getting on to (engineer) Ken Scott about it because Ken called me and suggested we get the machine out of Francis's office and take it along to number two...I very nearly got the sack over that.”

Engineer Mike Sheady gives testimony for putting the new eight-track machine to use before it was really ready. “Unless the tape operator remembered to mute the output from the machine when you spooled back and wanted to hear the tape traveling past the heads, it would send the spooling noise straight into the Beatles' (headphones), almost blasting their heads off. They got very uptight about that, understandably, because it can be very disconcerting.”

This session in EMI Studio Two got underway at the usual 7 pm, or thereabouts, the first line of business required they transfer the previous recording of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” from the four-track machine to the newly installed eight-track machine, which meant that there were now six open tracks for overdubbing. With Ringo still absent from the group (see “Back In The U.S.S.R.” for the details), George Harrison was the only Beatle working on the song on this day, him possibly being the only member of the group present on this day. In fact, George Martin wasn't even there, the producers' chair being empty for the day.

Onto 'track five' of the newly made eight-track tape, George attempted a very concise guitar overdub, as explained by Brian Gibson. “George particularly wanted to get the sound of a crying guitar, but he didn't want to use a wah-wah (tone) pedal, so he was experimenting with a backwards guitar solo. This meant a lot of time-consuming shuttling back and forth from the studio to the control room. We spent a long night trying to get it to work but, in the end, the whole thing was scrapped.” George, remembering the backward guitar effect that worked so well on their 1966 song “I'm Only Sleeping,” thought this would work well to spruce up “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” After a tape copy of the rhythm track for the song “Revolution” was created for use in their promo film scheduled to shoot the following day, the session ended at 3:30 am.

Their next recording session, the first with the returning Ringo, was in EMI Studio Two on September 5th, 1968. To welcome Ringo back into the fold, his drum kit, as well as the studio itself, was decked out with flowers. At 7 pm or so, the group worked at adding yet more overdubs to “Gently Weeps.” George added two separate lead vocals and a new lead guitar track, while Ringo added maracas and a new drum track, this taking up only six of the eight tracks on the tape.

Because the Beatles now had eight tracks at their disposal, instead of four, the tendency was to keep adding more overdubs than what was needed, thereby overproducing the song until it sounded somewhat muddy. Technical engineer Brian Gibson describes an occurrence with a particular Beatles song, which could easily have been this one: “There was one song, I can't remember the title, in which they'd added so many instruments that you just couldn't hear the drums anymore. So they overdubbed Ringo playing a chair, a red plastic Abbey Road chair, slapping the drumsticks on the cushion and making a thwack to emphasize the snare beat, because they'd buried it.”

In any event, the song at this point is described by Mark Lewisohn in his book “The Beatles Recording Sessions” as “quite different from the released version, with less prominent Harrison vocals and the backwards guitar and organ parts to the fore.” George had listened to a playback of the song at this point and didn't like what he heard, deciding to scrap the whole thing and start fresh. I'm sure that most Beatles fans would love to hear this version one day since it has never surfaced on any bootlegs or official releases.

In an understandably frustrated mood, George took the group through 28 more takes of the song in his attempt to start from scratch, announcing the first attempt as “Take one!” when in fact this would actually amount to 'take 17.' So out of takes 17 through 44 of this newly recorded rhythm track, 'take 25' deemed as best, this consisting of George on acoustic guitar and guide vocal, John on electric guitar, Paul on piano and Ringo on drums. Since they were now working with eight tracks, each Beatles' performance was contained on a separate track, leaving four more for overdubs for a later session. By 3:45 am the following morning, this recording session, which was once again producer-less, was finally complete.

An interesting footnote concerning this days' activities is 'take 40,' which broke into an impromptu jam session that included Paul singing parts of both “Lady Madonna” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The Beatles had compiled a tape entitled “Beatles Chat” which preserved bits and pieces they thought worthy to keep for posterity, this take of the song appears included therein.

In the book “Beatles Anthology,” George Harrison describes the mood of these sessions as well as events that led to the following recording session. “We tried to record it, 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 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 wouldn't like it.' I said, 'Look, it's my song, and I'd like you to play on it.'”

Eric Clapton, who was currently working with his band Cream, was in fact, giving George a lift to EMI Studios in London on September 6th, 1968 from Surrey, where they both lived. They had known each other since the days when Eric played with The Yardbirds and had shared in the bill with The Beatles during their series of Christmas shows in late 1964 and early 1965. George and Eric entered EMI Studio Two on this day sometime after 7 pm to assist the group in adding overdubs to George's song.

George Martin was on vacation so was not there to verify the atmosphere of this session, but George Harrison described the atmosphere nicely. “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...It's interesting to see how nicely people behave when you bring a guest in because they don't really want everybody to know that they're so bitchy...Paul got on the piano and played a nice intro, and they all took it more seriously...Also, it left me free to just play the rhythm and do the vocal...It was a similar situation when Billy Preston came later to play on 'Let It Be,' and everybody was arguing. Just bringing a stranger in amongst us made everybody cool out."

In this quote, George explains a more personal reason why he wanted Eric Clapton to play on this song:  "I admired him as a guitar player, and I had no confidence in myself as a guitar player, having spent so many years with Paul McCartney.  He ruined me as a guitar player.  I rated Eric as a guitar player, and he treated me like a human...I had been through this sitar thing.  I had played sitar for three years, and I had 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 and play for the record.  But I had really lost a lot of interest in the guitar.”

Technical engineer Brian Gibson described Clapton's work in the studio on this day.  "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."

Most listeners assumed it was George playing guitar on the track.  George related, "Some people wrote letters to me, saying, 'You have got a really good blues feel in the way that you play that guitar.'  We did not publicize Eric's playing really, but we also did not try and conceal it.  Eric is a good friend of mine, and I really dig him as a guitarist and as a guy...We used to hang out such a lot 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."

George then describes the concerns of Eric after his lead guitar work was recorded. “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 (Artificial Double Tracking) to wobble it up a bit.” This wobbling effect wasn't done until the mixing stage, which was on October 14th, 1968, at Eric's request. On this current day, however, in addition to Paul's piano introduction, other overdubs included George playing a few high-pitched organ notes, Ringo adding both a stick tapping beat and a tambourine, Paul playing a fuzz bass, and George taping his lead vocal, with Paul chiming in on some nice harmonies. Someone, most likely Paul, also overdubbed a lead guitar track mimicking the bass line during the bridges of the song.  This completed the song which became the released version as we know it, the session ending at 2 am the following morning.

On October 7th, 1968, both a stereo and mono mix of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” were created in the control room of EMI Studio Two by the engineering team of George Martin, Ken Scott, and Mike Sheady. Neither of these mixes, however, made it to the released album since most felt they could be enhanced.

October 14th, 1968, was the day chosen to improve these mixes, created by George Martin, Ken Scott and John Smith in the control room of EMI Studio Two. This is where, upon Eric Clapton's request, ADT was applied to his lead guitar work to make it more 'Beatley,' this done by a quite interesting method. Producer Chris Thomas explains: “I was given the grand job of waggling the oscillator on the 'Gently Weeps' mixes. Apparently, Eric insisted to George (Harrison) that he didn't want the guitar solo so typically Clapton...So we did this flanging thing, really wobbling the oscillator in the mix. I did that for hours. What a boring job!”

There are some subtle differences between the mono and stereo mixes of the song. The mono mix is a few seconds longer than the stereo and has Clapton's guitar remaining at a higher volume after his solo break. Also, George's calling out of “yeah, yeah, yeah...” during the song's final moments are only heard in the stereo mix.

Sometime between 2004 and 2006, George Martin and son Giles Martin used the master tapes of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” for two separate tracks on the splendid compilation album “Love.” First, Eric Clapton's guitar work is heard within the mash-up track “Lady Madonna.” Second, George Martin created a lovely orchestral score to accompany George Harrison's beautiful acoustic rendition of the song he recorded as “take one” back on July 25th, 1968.

After the break-up, George Harrison recorded and released three live versions of the song, the first recorded on August 1st, 1971 at the afternoon performance of “The Concert For Bangladesh,” which began at 2:30 pm. This performance featured three musicians that played on the original version, namely George, Eric Clapton and Ringo. The second recorded and released version of the song was on June 5th, 1987, at the Prince's Trust Rock Gala in London, featuring George, Eric, Ringo, Elton John, Jeff Lynne and a host of other celebrity musicians, this version found released in Britain on the album “The Prince's Trust Concert 1987.” The third recorded and released version of the song was performed in December of 1991 during George's short-lived Japanese tour and featured on his album “Live In Japan.” This version featured George and Eric as well.

Interestingly, as a tribute to George after his untimely death, a live version of the song was recorded on November 29th, 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall in London during what was called “The Concert For George,” this being released as an album shortly thereafter. The musicians involved on this version include three from the original recording: Paul McCartney on piano, Ringo on drums and Eric Clapton on lead guitar and vocals, not to mention Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison, Jim Keltner and Billy Preston.

The song's structure is somewhat standard fare, it being 'verse/ bridge/ verse/ verse (solo)/ bridge/ verse' (or abaaba) with an introduction and conclusion thrown in, both of which consist of the same chord pattern heard in the verses.

The introduction is eight measures in length, which is equivalent to half the length of each verse. This introduction consists of George on acoustic rhythm guitar, Ringo playing a scaled down drum pattern that alternates two kick drum beats with one hi-hat flare per measure, Paul playing a single bass note per measure for the first seven measures (adding a little bit more in the eighth measure) and, strikingly, Paul playing a lead piano part without any chords, a single key at a time. The eighth measure adds Eric Clapton's first lead guitar fill as a nice segue into the first verse that follows.

This first verse, which is sixteen measures long, continues with the same instrumentation for the first eight measures, but with some added elements. These include George's double-tracked lead vocals and Eric improvising an electric rhythm guitar pattern throughout, ending with a nice guitar fill in the seventh and eighth measure. Paul plays a full-chord piano part as performed during the rhythm track, although this is quite low in the mix. Ringo chimes in on the eighth measure with his first drum fill in anticipation of his full drum beat pattern as heard in the rest of the verse.

The second half of the first verse changes things up a bit, Ringo adding a stick tapping pattern on top of his drumbeat from the rhythm track and Paul adding some nice backing harmonies in the ninth through twelfth measures. Paul plays dual notes on his bass guitar during the thirteenth through sixteenth measures with Eric adding another tasty guitar lick in the final two measures to go along with Ringo's drum fill.

The first sixteen-measure bridge arrives next, which consists of George on double-tracked lead vocals, acoustic guitar strumming, and high-pitched organ playing. Paul plays an intricate bass part which he double-tracks with a lead guitar playing the exact same part while his piano is still heard quietly in the background. Ringo plays his steady drum beat and adds nice drum fills in the eighth and sixteenth measures. Eric meanders around with a nice electric rhythm guitar part while accenting the lyric-less spaces with guitar fills. And John can also be faintly heard on electric guitar in the bridge, the first time he's detected in the song.

The second verse is next which is quite similar to the instrumentation of the second half of the first verse, meaning it includes Paul's harmony vocals and Ringo's stick tapping pattern. Paul's bass has now evolved into bass chord-like playing which adds a nice full dirty sound to the song. Eric's final guitar lick of this verse is actually the beginning of his landmark guitar solo for the solo verse that follows. Other than Eric's lead guitar, the full instrumentation of this sixteen-measure verse includes acoustic guitar and organ by George, bass, and piano by Paul, and drums and stick tapping by Ringo, along with Ringo's tambourine which arrives quietly in the tenth measure and increases in volume as the measures progress.

The second bridge is then heard and sounds similar to the first instrumentally with the addition of Ringo's tambourine hits which, in the first half, accent the fourth beat of most measures and, in the second half, accent the second beat in most measures. Did he get mixed up? Maybe if George Martin was there that day, this would have been set right.

The final verse is then heard which is mostly similar to the second verse but, since George leaves a gap in the vocals in the tenth through twelfth measures, Ringo's tambourine appears to fill in this gap. Paul then harmonizes with George on the final vocal line of the song, which is “Still my guitar gently wee-eee-eeeps,” the tambourine blazing back as the final word is ringing out.

This wanders directly into the song's fading conclusion which is approximately the length of two verses, or 32 measures. While Eric is flailing away with his appropriately melodic closing guitar solo, the rest of the instrumentation is firing on all cylinders to great effect, George double-tracked vocalizing “awes” and “yeah”s as the song slowly diminishes in volume. Ringo's tambourine keeps disappearing and reappearing throughout these measures as if his arm is getting tired, but this just adds to the highly infectious spontaneous atmosphere of the recording. Also of note is George's organ thumb-roll in the eighth measure of this conclusion, adding to the general camaraderie felt in the studio on this day.

Although it is true that the recorded rhythm track occurred before Eric showed up to do his guitar part, the finished song does show that the rest of the group did stop being “bitchy” in his presence, putting in some very spirited overdubs to enliven the track in order for it to meet its potential. It appears that George finally got what he wanted, with Paul, Ringo, Eric and himself giving their all to present the song as they did. Possibly because of intimidation of Eric being present, or because of his usual disinterest in George's compositions, John's contribution is unfortunately minimal on the song and is barely detectable. What are you gonna do if Eric can top it?

Stop by my blog next week and discover the intricate details showcased upon HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.