george harrison played guitar on the beatles while my guitar gently weeps on an early attempt issued on anthology 3.
george harrison played guitar on the beatles while my guitar gently weeps on an early attempt issued on anthology 3.
who played guitar on the beatles while my guitar gently weeps on an early attempt issued on anthology 3?
george harrison
writing for "the observer" in 2004, pete paphides described "while my guitar gently weeps" as "george harrison's startling coming of age as a songwriter" and one of the few tracks that "pick themselves" when listeners attempt to edit the double album down to a single disc. in his book "revolution in the head", ian macdonald was less impressed with the track, saying that it "exudes a browbeating self-importance which quickly becomes tiresome". despite his reluctance to record "while my guitar gently weeps", mccartney identified it as one of his favourite selections on the 1995–96 "anthology" outtakes series, and he grouped the song with "something" and "here comes the sun" as candidates for harrison's "greatest track". starr paired it with "something" as "two of the finest love songs ever written", adding: "they're really on a par with what john and paul or anyone else of that time wrote." in their written tributes to harrison following his death in november 2001, mick jagger and keith richards each expressed their admiration for the song. jagger said: "it's lovely, plaintive. only a guitar player could write that ..."
while my guitar gently weeps
a demo that harrison recorded at his home in esher includes an unused verse: "i look at the trouble and hate that is raging / while my guitar gently weeps / as i'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing …" this version also includes the line "the problems you sow are the troubles you're reaping", which he similarly discarded. an early acoustic guitar and harmonium performance of the song features 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 …" 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.
while my guitar gently weeps