"Extra Texture" was released on Apple Records in September 1975, with "This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying)" sequenced as the third track, between "The Answer's at the End" and Harrison's Smokey Robinson tribute "Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)". Aside from the well-received lead single, "You", the album offered little in the way of "hook-laden potential hit", author Bruce Spizer writes, leading to "This Guitar" being chosen as the follow-up single. Apple issued the single on 8 December in America, with the Apple catalogue number 1885. For this release, the song was edited down to a running time of 3:49, by fading out early during the closing solo. The B-side was the "Dark Horse" track "Māya Love", a choice that underlined the paucity of radio-friendly selections on "Extra Texture", according to Spizer. The single's UK release (as Apple R 6012) was delayed until 6 February 1976.