Thursday, July 25, 1968
Recording "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
For The Beatles
Last updated on September 5, 2021
Thursday, July 25, 1968
For The Beatles
Last updated on September 5, 2021
"The Beatles" (aka the White Album) sessions
May 30 - Oct 18, 1968 • Songs recorded during this session appear on The Beatles (Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Session Jul 23, 1968 • Recording and mixing "Everybody's Got Something To Hide...", mixing "Good Night"
Session Jul 24, 1968 • Recording "Sexy Sadie"
Session Jul 25, 1968 • Recording "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
Article Jul 28, 1968 • The "Mad Day Out" photo session
Some of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "The Beatles (Mono)" LP.
On this day, between 7 pm and 3:15 am, The Beatles started working on George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps“. They rehearsed several takes of it, and George Harrison took the tapes home.
They also recorded a formal take (numbered take 1) performed by Harrison, on vocals and acoustic guitar. A harmonium played by Paul McCartney was then overdubbed on the final bridge and verse. This take was released on Anthology 3 in 1996. It was reused on the Love album in 2006, where it was augmented with a new orchestral backing written by George Martin.
Having withheld his own new composition since the White Album sessions started eight weeks earlier, George Harrison waited no longer and recorded this eloquent demo of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the first of five songs he contributed to the growing collection. The song would undergo two re-makes between this date and 6 September, when the master was completed, and become significantly heavier in the process – the final version featuring a lead guitar track played by guest Eric Clapton. The first studio recording could scarcely be more different, George singing live to his own acoustic guitar accompaniment (augmented by an organ part played by Paul), and incorporating an additional verse omitted from later version.
From Anthology 3 liner notes
During the research for “The Beatles” 2018 reissue, an unannounced take was rediscovered.
The original tape box and studio documentation mention only one take being recorded on 25 July. What a thrilling surprise to find during the meticulous research for this project that there was a second unannounced take on the tape. It is intended to be just a run-through for Paul to familiarise himself with playing the chords on organ, but it is a gem of a discovery.
From “The Beatles” Super Deluxe edition book (2018)
The Beatles would continue working on the song three weeks later, on August 16, 1968.
Written by George Harrison
Recording • Take 1
AlbumOfficially released on Anthology 3
Written by George Harrison
Recording • Unannounced take (take 2)
AlbumOfficially released on The Beatles (50th anniversary boxset)
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions • Mark Lewisohn
The definitive guide for every Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1970.
We owe a lot to Mark Lewisohn for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - the number of takes for each song, who contributed what, a description of the context and how each session went, various photographies... And an introductory interview with Paul McCartney!
The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)
The fourth book of this critically acclaimed series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969)" captures The Beatles as they take the lessons of Sgt. Pepper forward with an ambitious double-album that is equally innovative and progressive. From the first take to the final remix, discover the making of the greatest recordings of all time. Through extensive, fully-documented research, these books fill an important gap left by all other Beatles books published to date and provide a unique view into the recordings of the world's most successful pop music act.
If we modestly consider the Paul McCartney Project to be the premier online resource for all things Paul McCartney, it is undeniable that The Beatles Bible stands as the definitive online site dedicated to the Beatles. While there is some overlap in content between the two sites, they differ significantly in their approach.
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