It’s been almost fifty years since The Beatles‘ seminal White Album was released, and despite its age, it still manages to make news the world over.
In light of the upcoming anniversary release of White Album Super Deluxe Edition, a previously unheard demo of While My Guitar Gently Weeps has been made public for the first time since it was recorded.
Recorded on July 25th, 1968, While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Acoustic Version, Take 2) features on George on guitar and Paul in harmonium. It is the raw and meditative prelude to one of the band’s biggest singles.
Only a few seconds in, George interrupts the Abbey Road crew: “Maybe you’d have to give him [Paul] his own mic”.
George also sings the original lines he later ended up discarding: “I look from the wings at the play you are staging / As I’m sitting here doing nothing but ageing.”
This demo gives a glimpse into the band’s refinement process. It took another three months of recording to get the final product, the version which we all know and love.
The anniversary edition of The White Album features 27 early acoustic demos and 50 session takes, the vast majority of which have never been heard before. The new versions of the songs were mixed by Giles Martin, son of the ‘fifth’ Beatle George Martin.
According to Martin, a treasure trove of unheard demos was found when doing research for the anniversary album:
“We found this huge Pandora’s Box of material they recorded that we went through and [it became] the foundation of the [remixed] album. We dug through and come up with some really interesting things… There’s 107 takes of ‘Sexy Sadie’.”
You can listen to the acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps below:
The Beatles’ forthcoming Super Deluxe Edition of their self-titled album (more commonly known as The White Album) is available for purchase and download on November 9, 2019.
Via Rolling Stone.
