What would ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ have sounded like with George Harrison on lead guitar?
Asking music lovers to pick their favourite song by The Beatles is like asking astronomers to choose their favourite star in the sky. It’s a borderline impossible question, given their sheer number and quality, containing a shine that won’t dwindle for millions of years. That being said, when people start discussing the Beatles songs they love, one track that will always end up in the conversation is George Harrison’s masterpiece ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’.
There are likely many George Harrison masterpieces that we have missed out on because of the strict guidelines that The Beatles were faced with when it came to writing songs. The band made a name for themselves because of the excellent songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which means any songs that stood outside of that iconic sound weren’t picked up.
Harrison was a fantastic songwriter, constantly penning various ideas but having them rejected by the band because they didn’t fit the overarching tone they were going for. It was no doubt frustrating for Harrison, but luckily, one of his greatest musical offerings, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, made it onto The Beatles’ White Album.
The serene number has stood the test of time. The lyrics seem to ponder existence, seeing Harrison talk about how playing the guitar is almost a meditative process. It’s catchy, beautiful, and laced with some excellent guitar solos that personify the song’s name. The guitar wails with delicate solos, equal parts shy and emphatic, cutting up the track throughout.
Despite being The Beatles’ lead guitarist, it isn’t Harrison who plays these solos; it is Eric Clapton. Harrison was frustrated by his bandmates’ reaction to the song, as they didn’t seem willing to engage with it, so he got Clapton in the studio after showing him the track and getting a much better reaction.
“I worked on that song with John, Paul, and Ringo one day, and they were not interested in it at all. And I knew inside of me that it was a nice song,” said Harrison. “The next day I was with Eric, and I was going into the session, and I said, ‘We’re going to do this song. Come on and play on it’. He said, ‘Oh, no. I can’t do that. Nobody ever plays on the Beatles records’. I said, ‘Look, it’s my song, and I want you to play on it’.”
Harrison asked Clapton to take on lead guitar duties, which allowed him to focus on the rhythm and vocals of the track. “So Eric came in, and the other guys were as good as gold because he was there,” he said, “Also, it left me free to just play the rhythm and do the vocal. So Eric played that, and I thought it was really good.”
It makes sense for Harrison to ask Clapton to record the guitar solos, given how adaptable a musician he was. Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band once commented on how Clapton changed guitar music for the entire world with his ability to blend different genres and merge into different styles. As such, despite the Beatles clearly established sound, he could slide into the solo perfectly well.
“Eric Clapton is the most important and influential guitar player that has ever lived, is still living or ever will live,” said Van Zandt, “Do yourself a favour, and don’t debate on this.”
He added that Clapton “Introduced the essence of black electric blues: the power and vocabulary of Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and the three kings—BB, Albert and Freddie—to create an attack that defined the fundamentals of rock and roll lead guitar.”
The solos are a huge part of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, and it’s likely the track might not work quite as well if Clapton wasn’t playing on it. If Harrison had taken on lead guitar duties instead, the sound could have been slightly lower in quality, given that he was also focusing on lead vocals and the rhythm of the song. If the rest of the band didn’t seem to be putting much effort in, Harrison could have been stretched too thin.
Even if he played in top form, his and Clapton’s guitar styles are very different, so the song wouldn’t have come out the same. When Harrison played guitar, he put melody at the forefront of everything he did. This was perfect for many Beatles songs, especially when writing different runs and licks that could be used. However, it doesn’t always work well for elongated solos, as variety is necessary to keep a listener engaged.
The guitar solos would have likely been shorter and snappier. Granted, they will have been laced with a unique melody, but Harrison probably wouldn’t have drawn them out as long as Clapton did. While having a snappy solo can work well for many songs, a more extended solo seems almost like a mandatory requirement for a track emphasising playing guitar.
Harrison and Clapton were a perfect partnership on this track. Both were necessary to give the song the unique feeling that has resonated with listeners for decades.
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