What do Eric Clapton and Prince have to do with one of George Harrison's most iconic songs off The White Album? Brace yourself: the answer may leave you "weeping."
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00:00Collaborations are a major part of pop music. Artists from different backgrounds come together
00:05to create something new and different. This was the case for the Beatles as well,
00:08as each member brought something different to the table that led to classic albums and timeless
00:12music. However, for the most part, the Beatles remained somewhat closed off from other artists
00:17when it came to collaborating with others on music released under the Beatles banner.
00:21While there were exceptions for people who left their mark on their music, even receiving the
00:24honorary title of the Fifth Beatle — most notably producer George Martin and keyboard
00:29player Billy Preston — outside collaborations were infrequent.
00:34However, for the George Harrison-Penn song,
00:36While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which appeared on the White Album, a doozy of a collaborator
00:40was brought in — Eric Clapton, who was tasked with laying down the track's now-iconic solo.
00:45While the Beatles were seeing unprecedented success, not all was well within their camp.
00:50The stress of being the Beatles had gotten to them, especially while on the road,
00:53and the band had decided to abandon touring in 1966. It paid off, because the albums of this
00:59time — like 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and 1969's Abbey Road — were some of
01:04the most highly revered albums ever made. Still, egos were starting to drive a wedge between the
01:09Fab Four. During the songwriting process for the White Album, Paul McCartney had decided to work
01:14mostly on his own, instead of utilizing his legendary writing partnership with John Lennon.
01:19Meanwhile, George Harrison was growing increasingly frustrated by McCartney
01:22and Lennon's unwillingness to consider any of his songwriting contributions.
01:26It is well known that the Beatles, especially George Harrison,
01:28were heavily influenced by Eastern philosophy. In early 1968, all four band members and their
01:34significant others arrived in Rishikesh, India, to study Transcendental Meditation at the ashram,
01:39run by the movement's leader, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. While they were meant to spend three months
01:43there, they left early after sexual misconduct allegations were leveled against the Maharishi.
01:48Lennon later said that while they still believed in the Transcendental Meditation movement,
01:52the trip to the ashram was a mistake. Still, the trip led them to write nearly 50 songs,
01:57many of which appeared on the White Album. However, George Harrison wrote
02:00While My Guitar Gently Weeps shortly after returning from the trip.
02:04He was visiting his parents and found a copy of the I Ching, or the Book of Changes.
02:08According to Far Out magazine, Harrison said,
02:11"[The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be.
02:14While My Guitar Gently Weeps was a simple study based on that theory. I picked up a book at random,
02:19opened it, saw Gently Weeps, then laid the book down again and started the song."
02:23While Eastern philosophy may have been the impetus for the song,
02:26it also reflected the increasing turmoil within the Beatles.
02:29George Harrison is credited as the only songwriter on While My Guitar Gently Weeps,
02:33but there's no doubt the song received a big assist from the iconic solo played by Eric Clapton.
02:38Harrison told Guitar Player magazine in 1987 that he had tried to work on the song with his bandmates,
02:43but they weren't interested in it. Knowing he had come up with a gem,
02:46Harrison decided to invite Clapton to the studio on a whim when the two were driving into London together.
02:51I love him very much. He's a great guy. Kind of a bit like an elder brother, you know?"
02:55It seems as though Harrison also had an ulterior motive in bringing in Clapton.
02:59Having a guest in the studio would put the other Beatles on their best behavior.
03:03Clapton said that he liked what he had heard that day,
03:05and once he had recorded his part, he knew Harrison did as well.
03:08Both the song and the solo became iconic, and they have been covered many times,
03:12perhaps most notably in 2004, when an all-star band performed the song,
03:16with Prince handling the solo at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to George Harrison.