Recording "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
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- Album Songs recorded during this session officially appear on the The Beatles (Mono) LP.
- Studio:
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
Songs recorded
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4.
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12.
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14.
15.
Written by George Harrison
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 14 into take 15
Staff
Musicians on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
Production staff
About
George Harrison and Paul McCartney had tried recording George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on July 25, 1968, in an acoustic version close to the demo played at Kinfauns, in late May.
On this day, from 7 pm to 5 am, The Beatles returned to it as a band. Fourteen instrumental-only takes were recorded with George Harrison on acoustic guitar, Paul McCartney on bass, John Lennon on organ, and Ringo Starr on drums. At some point, George declared:
I like the way it suddenly changes into a song
George Harrison
Take 14 was considered to be the best. A reduction mix (named take 15) was done to open up more tracks for overdubs. In the process, the tape was slowed down to lengthen the song from 3:53 to 4:53.
Shortly after leaving the studio, George Harrison flew to Greece for a short holiday, returning to London on August 21. The Monday, August 19 session was cancelled. August 20 and August 21 went without him, and overdubs onto take 15 would be only worked on, on September 3.
One intriguing detail is that one of the tape boxes of this session was marked “The Beatles; Produced by The Beatles“.
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.
Brian Gibson, technical engineer – From “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” by Mark Lewisohn
Last updated on September 5, 2021