In spring 1968, George Harrison found himself eager to play the guitar. This may not sound like a particularly illuminating observation about the lead guitarist of the world’s biggest rock group, but the recording sessions for what became known as The Beatles’ White Album marked the first time in a while that he had approached his instrument with anything more than grudging professional obligation. For the past three years he had been fixated on mastering the sitar, but now he was finding joy in his six-string again.
Despite having just returned from their transcendental meditation course in Rishikesh, arranged by Harrison, the group were no calmer or more kindred with one another when they convened to record new material at Abbey Road. There was a patent lack of collaborative spirit during these sessions; tellingly, McCartney had spent days trying to perfect another example of what John Lennon called his “granny songs”, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, but had received Harrison’s demo for “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with tepid interest.
Originally “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was conceived of as a folksy ballad featuring just an acoustic guitar and a harmonium. After several frustrating takes, Harrison realised that he was after a bolder, more textured sound. The result was one of The Beatles’ best compositions — a perfectly balanced mixture of elegiac vocals and electrified solos; of West Coast dream-rock and eastern philosophy.
Prior to writing the track, Harrison had immersed himself in the teachings of the I-Ching, which posits that there is meaning inherent in ostensibly random events. Putting this idea into practice, he contrived to write a song based around two words plucked arbitrarily from a nearby book: “gently weeps”. But perhaps there was nothing incidental about the choice of this emotive phrase; Harrison was, after all, in a fragile state, alienated from his own band.
Things had become so fraught that Harrison asked his close friend Eric Clapton to help out. Not only would his presence cajole the other three into pulling their weight, but he was, handily, one of the best guitarists in the business; his uncredited playing on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” became one of the greatest moments of individual virtuosity on any Beatles track.
Following the band’s split, the song frequently lived on as a Harrison-Clapton collaboration. Their rendition at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 — where they played dovetailing solos at the end — was especially notable. That the song had, in part, become Clapton’s was evident when he took the lead in a performance at the memorial Concert for George in 2002, while sharing the stage with McCartney and Ringo Starr. Clapton’s expression was inscrutable, but his grief came through eloquently in a plaintive solo.
Two years later at Harrison’s posthumous induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, another all-star ensemble (led by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne) got together to cover “While My Guitar” in a performance best remembered for Prince’s blistering three-minute solo. It’s a mesmerising exhibition of dexterity, but one that perhaps, given the context, takes flamboyance to the point of irreverence. That said, it clearly received the approval of Harrison’s son, Dhani, who can be seen looking on, awestruck.
Elsewhere,Peter Frampton offered a faithful, if protracted, rendition on his album Now, which took the song’s title a little too literally by featuring numerous wailing guitar flourishes. Likewise, guitarist Jeff Healey recorded another version that over-embellishes, but doesn’t deviate much from, the original.
Carlos Santana’s 2010 covertransmutes Harrison’s melody into his signature Latin-rock sound, and boasts a soulful performance by R&B singer India Arie, as well as backing by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Another genre-crossing iteration came courtesy of Regina Spektor, who covered the track for the soundtrack of the animated film Kubo and the Two Strings. Accompanied by traditional Japanese instruments, hers is an innovative, mellifluous effort.
Oasis fans with discerning ears will have noticed that the bridge of the band’s 1995 hit “She’s Electric” is a near carbon-copy of the refrain from “While My Guitar”. The Mancunians acknowledged their indebtedness to Lennon and McCartney in their album notes, neglecting, however, to mention the song’s actual writer.
For most, the song is unmistakably Harrison’s personal triumph; “Only a guitar player could write that,” Mick Jagger noted. Luckily, Harrison remembered that was what he was when he wrote the song: “While My Sitar Gently Weeps” probably wouldn’t have been quite such a hit.
What are your memories of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’? Which is the finest version? Let us know in the comments section below.
‘The Life of a Song Volume 2: The fascinating stories behind 50 more of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by Brewer’s.
Music credits: UMC (Universal Music Catalogue); EMI Catalogue; Omnivore Recordings; RCA Records Label; Arista; Warner Bros; Big Brother
Picture credit: Getty Images