The George Harrison White Album Song By Song Appreciation Thread

I know Dr Pepper hosted a White Album song by song thread, but it was several years ago and there are lot of new members here since then so I thought it might be fun to create a new thread focusing solely on the White Album songs by George.

Besides the four songs released on the White Album , I will also include "Not Guilty", George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" demo, and his songs recorded at Kinfauns ,including "Circles" and "Sour Milk Sea".

Hopefully, by including "appreciation thread" in the title it will discourage people from dropping in to inform us how terrible this or that song is.

First up is the White Album version of:

WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS

Composition and recording
Inspiration for the song came to Harrison when reading the I Ching, which, as Harrison put it, "seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to everything else... opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental."[11] Taking this idea of relativism to his parents’ home in northern England, Harrison committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a random book. Those words were “gently weeps”, and he immediately began writing the song. As he said:
"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 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."[12]
The initial incarnation was not final, as Harrison said: "Some of the words to the song were changed before I finally recorded it.” A demo recorded at George's home in Esher includes an unused verse:
I look at the trouble and see that it's raging,
While my guitar gently weeps.
As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.
As well as an unused line in the very beginning:
The problems you sow, are the troubles you're reaping,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.
This line was eventually omitted in favour of the one appearing on The Beatles.
An early acoustic guitar and organ demo of the song featured a slightly different third verse:
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.
This version was released on the 1996 compilation Anthology 3 and was used as the basis of the 2006 Love remix, with a string arrangement by George Martin.[13][14]
The band recorded the song several times. Take 1 on 25 July 1968 involved Harrison on his Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar and an overdubbed harmonium.[15] Sessions on 16 August and 3 and 5 September included a version with a backward (or "backmasked") guitar solo[1] (as Harrison had done for "I'm Only Sleeping" on Revolver[16]), but Harrison was not satisfied.[1] On 6 September 1968, during a ride from Surrey into London, Harrison asked friend Eric Clapton to contribute lead guitar to the song. Clapton was reluctant; he said, "Nobody ever plays on the Beatles' records"; but Harrison convinced him and Clapton's guitar parts, using Harrison's Gibson Les Paul electric guitar "Lucy" (a recent gift from Clapton), were recorded that evening.[4] Harrison later said that in addition to his contribution, Clapton's presence had another effect on the band: "It made them all try a bit harder; they were all on their best behaviour."[4] Clapton wanted a more "Beatley" sound, so the sound was run through an ADT circuit with "varispeed", with engineer Chris Thomas manually 'waggling' the oscillator: "apparently Eric said that he didn't want it to sound like him. So I was just sitting there wobbling the thing, they wanted it really extreme, so that's what I did."
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was one of three songs on The Beatles that Paul McCartney experimented with the Fender Jazz Bass (the others being "Glass Onion" and "Yer Blues") instead of his Hofner and Rickenbacker basses.[17] According to Walter Everett's book The Beatles as Musicians, John Lennon's electric guitar is only audible in the coda with the tremolo switched on.

 

My favorite white album song

 

A real nice sounding track and Clapton's contributions are real tasteful. Paul's chiming piano part is very distinctive and memorable. Didn't realize how little John contributed, though I guess it makes sense that with Eric on lead George would handle the rhythm. I'd be interested to hear the version with George doing a backwards guitar solo. Is that up on youtube by any chance?

Never that crazy about the lyrics to this track, which is why I prefer the more fully produced version to the acoustic version that shows the spotlight more on the words.

 

A brilliant song. Easily the equal of anything else on the album in terms of composition, production, and performance. Clapton's guitar is the icing on the cake.

 

Always thought "Savoy Truffle" was one of the best songs there. Fantasic blend of odd and catchy. Just listen to the brass - is it off or on? Seriously!

 

Besides Eric Clapton's sterling guitar work, I think what really pulls me into the song is the amazing rhythm work under Eric's lead guitar parts, especially in the chorus. Paul's sweeping bass part and the guitar part during the chorus really gives the song unusual character IMO. Nothing in the song sounds much like standard 4/4 rock playing.

Add the creepy organ wobbling throughout the song and the "crying vocals" towards the end of the song and it's still a pretty unusual
sounding track.

Big props to Paul for coming up with the syncopated piano opening. It's really hard to picture the song without that intro at this point.

I would love to hear the previously recorded band version with George's backwards guitar fills. Even if it's inferior to the officially released version it would be great to hear this alternate version.

 

Very cool. It's very interesting to read about the instrument switching. The bass has always been the standout instrument to me on this piece. And of course George had matured as a writer. Thankyou.

 

one of my top 5 beatles songs... the other ones are changeable but while my guitar is always included... clapton's guitar and paul's bass are really outstanding on this...

 

The horns on Savoy Truffle are fantastic. They kind of remind me of the arrangements on ATMP.

 

I welcome your participation but I'm going to try to go song by song, so if you can post your thoughts on "Savoy Truffle" when we get to it it would be great, otherwise it will be hard to keep track of, bouncing around between different songs.

 

While My Guitar Gently Weeps was stunningly wonderful in its day, and... It still is!

 

The piano is the stand out instrument on this song to me, in fact anything Paul and Eric contribute are what makes this version come alive

 

Well, seeing that George opened a random book and the first two words he saw were "gently weeps" I think we are lucky.
While my guitar gently weeps is pretty beautiful imagery IMO. What if the first two words he came across were "has heartburn" or something?
While My Guitar Has Heartburn isn't quite as poetic .

I agree that sometimes George's lyrics could get a bit unwieldy, but I give him a pass on this song. I'm glad he left out the lines originally played around with and eventually dropped though.

P.S. No, the backwards guitar version has never leaked as far as I know.

 

A few days before the White Album was released WLS or WCFL in Chicago previewed around a half a dozen of the album's tracks.
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was one of the tracks previewed. I was going nutty enough waiting for the album to get released.
After I heard this song I was about ready to pass out with excitement. Good times.

 

I'm actually partial to the Kinfauns version; just George solo and really special in its unassuming simplicity.

 

Although the album version rocks, I always thought it sonically sounded like crap and I much prefer the solo acoustic demo by George. I think it's WAY more impactful as a mourning acoustic ballad than a piece of attempted rock bombast.

 

Not only piano part,but his bass playing is awesome.

 

It's been mentioned before in other threads, but Paul certainly was a most valuable player in many of George's songs,but
John...not so much. John is nonexistent in many of George's songs.

 

Not even back ground vocals?

 

Not many actually. I'd have to look at it song by song but it's pretty late.

I'm not saying he didn't do ANYTHING in George's songs ( he played the lap steel-esque part in "For You Blue, etc,) but Paul has a heavy presence in George's songs, John not so much. He seemed disinterested, as if only the songs he and Paul came up with deserved his attention.

 

Up until "Revolver," who would have thought that the Beatles had THREE genius songwriters. Yes, I used the word GENIUS, and he cemented it on the "White Album" and especially on "Abbey Road." "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is an all-time classic, and the other three are all enjoyable. Let's not forget about the awesome "Not Guilty" from the sessions as well, as well as the "White Album" guitar sound that was so distinctive. George was fantastic!

 

That is strange, because after they broke up john and george hung out and did songs together.

 

Well, George played on some of John's solo songs, but you didn't see John playing on any of George's solo songs.

But let's get back now to While My Guitar Gently Weeps before the thread makes a left turn into a thread about George and John's relationship.

 

As an aside, what's the word again on which axe Paul probably plays his crunching bass part on on this one?

Rickenbacker? Fender Jazz? Hofner?...

 

On the Rock Band mix of "...Gently Weeps" John's guitar that mirrors the bass is much louder.