The Mystery Bass of While My Guitar Gently Weeps
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Published 2021-11-01
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Special thanks to the following individuals for sharing insights and materials for this episode:
Dave Rybaczewski www.beatlesebooks.com/
Mark Lewisohn www.marklewisohn.net/
www.beatlesbible.com/
Eli Rosen
@DLD2Music
@adambound7284
Check out my other videos:
Why Is This Beatles Song So Messy? • Why Is This Beatles Song So Messy?
The Hidden F-Bomb in 'Hey Jude'
• The Beatles' Hidden F-Bomb in Hey Jude
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All Comments (21)
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Happy November! I hope you enjoy this new pre-holidays episode about one of my favorite George Harrisongs. Who do YOU think is playing bass here? Let me know in the comments!
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Lennon and McCartney are almost universally considered the greatest songwriters of all time and yet George consistently did a “hold my beer” on them.
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I really love how Eric Clapton was uncredited but everyone who has heard the song knows it’s him
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The excitement of hearing these songs for the first time along with everyone else in the world is almost indescribable. When the White Album was released WINS on Long Island play the whole album without any interruption. We were glued to the receiver. That was a great time to be young.
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George most definitely never got enough credit. He deserved MUCH MUCH More credit!!!
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Beatles feel burnt out: still produce two albums a year of the most revolutionary music ever.
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My younger brother ADORED this song! from when it first came out. He was a lead guitarist his whole life, he told me this was a masterpiece. He's gone now, I listen to this song and think of him. I will now listen more carefully to the bass.
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From a Harrison interview in Guitar magazine, November, 1987 (as quoted in Beatlesongs by William J. Dowlding, Fireside Books 1989): "When we laid that track down, I sang it with the acoustic guitar, with Paul on piano, and Eric and Ringo - That's how we laid the track down. Later, Paul overdubbed the bass on it."
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I heard George in a Guitar Player interview on this song, describe how Paul came in after it was finished and overdubbed all the bass lines. I remember because I have always loved this bass line. Its so distorted. It makes the song.
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I remember hearing an interview of John Lennon by Kenny Everett, where John was going on about playing a 6 string bass and, as he's describing the intricacies, hums the bass line of "While My Guitar......." Enough info for me to believe he was doing the 6 string. The 4 string accompanying him goes off on a tangent that's too melodic to be anybody other than Paul McCartney.
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I think the idea that John played the simpler 6-string bass pattern and Paul contributed some of the more complex runs is totally viable.
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The version I heard is when George tried to introduce it to the band they were ambivalent, lacking enthusiasm to rehearse it. So, QUIET George took it to his friend Eric C. Once they worked it out, George brought Eric to the studio, which flabbergasted the others (at that time EC was already famous) at which point they became fully engaged
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I've been trying to learn guitar on and off for 50 years. I'm terrible. The fact that any of the 4 of them could pick up any of the instruments around them and bang out genius level music is... is..... I lack the vocabulary but combine; amazing, sick, stunning, awesome, incredible,,,
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Bass player here. Paul is essentially my favorite player, and this certainly sounds like it could be him. But the idea that, by this time, John wouldn't be able to execute this line on a 4 string bass if he wanted to, is kinda silly to me.
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That aggressive picking style that almost sounds like the player is angrily attacking the instrument is 100% Lennon. It's the way he played guitar, so it would make sense that he would play bass the same way. None of the other Beatles played so angrily.
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I really don't care, but it's great fun listening to you describe recording sessions and details during a wonderfully fantastic time in my life, the mid 60s (I was 20 at the time) . Thanks for the stories .
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Rest in love and light George 💟🙏🏼 You were a beautiful human being a beautiful soul! Thank you for your gift of music❤️
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Sounds like a Fender VI and once that’s established, the fact that the one they used was right handed would suggest it wasn’t Paul. And as the keeper of the Abbey Road archives, Giles Martin probably has greater insight than pretty much anyone.
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Ringo said John came to his house to get him back in the Beatles. Ringo said "I feel like an outsider and it's just the 3 of you" and he said John said "What? I thought it was you 3."
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I have always loved this song from the first moment I heard it on the radio in high school and watched it performed by Eric Clapton on the big screen in The Concert for Bangladesh. But I am glad that you rightly mentioned that the history of this song will now always include Prince's performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. The look on Dhani Harrison's face as Prince takes the song from one level of perfection to a level two steps beyond says everything.
