George's masterpiece was born as an acoustic song to be included in the White Album. It undergoes many changes until Harrison decides to involve his friend Eric Clapton on lead guitar. The rest is history…
Ispirato dalla lettura dell'I Ching, disse lo stesso Harrison: «In Oriente ogni cosa è relativa a ogni altra cosa, mentre in Occidente è solo una coincidenza». Mentre era in visita dai genitori, con questa idea di relativismo, comincia a scrivere una canzone partendo dalle prime parole viste in un libro aperto a caso. Il fato sceglie “Gently Weeps”. Da lì George elabora un testo che riprende in larga parte i contenuti ed il tono di Within You Without You, con ancora una volta la separazione tra illuminati e non (cfr. «Are you one of them» e «I don't know how you were diverted»).
Nata come un brano acustico da inserire nel White Album (bellissima la versione nella Anthology 3), la canzone subisce numerosi cambiamenti nel corso delle successive registrazioni. Viene sempre presa con poco interesse dagli altri tre membri del gruppo. Alla fine Harrison decide di coinvolgere l'amico Eric Clapton alla chitarra solista nel brano. La cosa da un po' di sollievo alla band in un momento di tensione. Un esempio di come a volte i Beatles diano il massimo di loro quando in presenza di “ospiti”. While My Guitar Gently Weeps rappresenta il più grande successo di Harrison come compositore fino a questo momento. Una tappa di avvicinamento al suo momento magico con i Beatles, un anno dopo con Abbey Road.
In questo video abbiamo cercato di aggiungere tutte le scene di ogni fase di registrazione della nostra cover in “presa diretta” e senza playback.
Special thanks to Andrea Ercoli for piano.
Recorded and mixed by Massimo Gerini.
Video by Brizio Romagnoli.
I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it need sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know why
Nobody told you
How to unfold you love
I don't know how
Someone controlled you
They bought and sold you
I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how
You were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how
You were inverted
No one alerted you
I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at you all
Still my guitar gently weeps
While My Guitar Gently Weeps is a song by The Beatles written by George Harrison from 1968 double album The Beatles also known as the White Album released on 22nd November.
One of Harrison's best compositions. It was initially intended as an acoustic song (you can hear the beautiful demo version inside Anthology 3). Many changes were made during the studio sessions, until Harrison decided to involve his friend Eric Clapton on lead guitar, also enhancing the creativity of the rest of the band.
In this song Paul McCartney played a 1966 left-handed Fender Jazz Bass. One of the three bass guitars that Fender gave to the Beatles in 1968 along with another 1966 Jazz Bass and a 1961 Fender VI (the only six-string bass by Fender). Those 3 basses were often used during the White Album, Abbey Road and Get Back sessions, and they were also played by John and George, when Paul was on piano.
