who played guitar on the beatles while my guitar gently weeps
While My Guitar Gently Weeps On 6 September, during a ride from Surrey into London, Harrison asked Clapton to play guitar on the track. Clapton, who recognised Harrison's talent as a songwriter,[56] and considered that his abilities had long been held back by Lennon and McCartney,[57] was nevertheless reluctant to participate; he later recalled that his initial response was: "I can't do that. Nobody ever plays on Beatles records."[58] Harrison convinced him, and Clapton's lead guitar part, played on Harrison's Gibson Les Paul electric guitar "Lucy" (a recent gift from Clapton), was overdubbed that evening.[4][59] Recalling the session in his 2007 autobiography, Clapton says that, while Lennon and McCartney were "fairly non-committal", he thought the track "sounded fantastic", adding: "I knew George was happy, because he listened to it over and over in the control room."[60]
While My Guitar Gently Weeps The Beatles recorded "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" several times during the sessions for their self-titled double album, also known as "the White Album".[46] The recording sessions, which began in late May 1968, were characterised by a lack of cooperation among the four band members,[47][48] and by what Lennon's bandmates regarded as the overly intrusive presence of his new romantic partner, Yoko Ono.[49][50] In this atmosphere, Harrison had initially been reluctant to present his new compositions to the group.[51][52] Take 1 on 25 July – the version later issued on Anthology 3 – was a solo performance by Harrison, playing his Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, with an overdubbed harmonium part.[30][37][nb 3]
While My Guitar Gently Weeps On release, the song received praise from several music critics, and it has since been recognised as an example of Harrison's continued maturity as a songwriter beside his Beatles bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Rolling Stone ranked "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" 136th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[5] seventh on the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time",[6] and at number 10 on its list of "The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs".[7][8] Clapton's performance was ranked 42nd in Guitar World's 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos".[9] Harrison and Clapton often performed the song together live, during which they shared the lead guitarist's role over the closing section. Live versions featuring the pair were included on the Concert for Bangladesh album in 1971 and Live in Japan in 1992. Backed by a band that included McCartney and Ringo Starr, Clapton performed the song at the Concert for George in November 2002, a year after Harrison's death.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps On release, the song received praise from several music critics, and it has since been recognised as an example of Harrison's continued maturity as a songwriter beside his Beatles bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Rolling Stone ranked "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" 136th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[5] seventh on the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time",[6] and at number 10 on its list of "The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs".[7][8] Clapton's performance was ranked 42nd in Guitar World's 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos".[9] In 2011 it was voted the sixth best collaboration of all time in a Rolling Stone readers poll.[10] Harrison and Clapton often performed the song together live, during which they shared the lead guitarist's role over the closing section. Live versions featuring the pair were included on the Concert for Bangladesh album in 1971 and Live in Japan in 1992. Backed by a band that included McCartney and Ringo Starr, Clapton performed the song at the Concert for George in November 2002, a year after Harrison's death.