Proto-Prog and Prog-Related Lounge - While My Guitar Gently Weeps vs itself

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While My Guitar Gently Weeps vs itself

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Forum Name: Proto-Prog and Prog-Related Lounge
Forum Description: Discuss bands and albums classified as Proto-Prog and Prog-Related
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=119607
Printed Date: December 02 2024 at 04:39
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Topic: While My Guitar Gently Weeps vs itself

Posted By: jamesbaldwin
Subject: While My Guitar Gently Weeps vs itself
Date Posted: March 06 2019 at 18:34

I love While My Guitar Gently Weeps, song written by George Harrison for the White Album (1968).

In my opinion it's one of the best songs of the Beatles. Great piano solo (McCartney), great rhythm (Ringo and George), great composition (Harrison), great guitar solo (Clapton), great arrangement, great pathos. In this song the Beatles find a superb jam rock dimension (more than 4 and a half minutes, paroxysmal rhythm, dramatic melody, pathos).

But some years ago, I've listened to another version of this masterpiece. Taken from "Love", released in the 2006. George Martin and his son, Giles Martin, they mixed the Beatles music for a Cirque du Soleil show. They didn't use any of the Beatles' unreleased songs, they just mixed some Beatles songs, took away some instruments, overlapped rhythms and singing, sometimes obtaining fantastic results ("Because" only vocals is fantastic). Only in one case they produced a new song: they used a demo of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, vocals and acoustic guitar by George Harrison, already appeared in Anthology n. 3 and George Martin wrote a composition for violins, obtaining a complete acoustic version of this song.

Which of the two versions do you prefer?

ORIGINAL? ACOUSTIC?

For me they are both masterpieces, which stimulate different atmospheres, feelings and emotions, in both cases strong and profound. Having to choose, I choose the original version of the Beatles, that fantastic rockblues. But the melancholic, acoustic, melodic version by Harrison-Martin is very close to the original version as quality.

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Replies:

Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: March 06 2019 at 18:57

The Love soundtrack remix achieve unbelievably good results overall and no, I won't choose a favorite version, I'm just very glad they've done something like that.

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Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: March 06 2019 at 19:56

I recently got the White Album remix by Giles Martin and I heard a heaviness in the rhythm section on this track that I hadn’theard before. Really gives the song some toughness I always felt it lacked hefore.

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Posted By: The Anders
Date Posted: March 07 2019 at 13:02

I prefer the acoustic version, it's very stripped down and melancholic. Not that I don't like the album version, but I am not sure if the arrangement really fits the mood - even with Clapton's solo (I have always found him overrated as a guitarist).

I think I regard "Long Long Long" as Harrison's best song on the White Album.

Here, in the more silly department:

Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: March 07 2019 at 16:38

I'm also a huge lover of "While my Guitar...". The acoustic version is nice and different enough from the original to merit its existence, however for my taste the violins are overdone and the original still beats this by far.

Posted By: micky
Date Posted: March 07 2019 at 17:27

Badge bitchslaps this one... of the two cross colaborations...

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Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: March 07 2019 at 18:29

Vinnie Moore recorded a great instrumental version of "Weeps" for his 1988 album Time Odyssey (still his overall best record, which features Jordan Rudess and is Dream Theater-styled prog-metal before DT showed up).

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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: March 08 2019 at 07:01

I prefer the White Album version, although the keyboard sound really grates on me.

Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 12 2019 at 06:31

Hi,

Both versions are outstanding. The bigger issue is that the original would not fit, as well, a story board like the acoustic version did ... which gave us a sort of ballet, that is very difficult to do on stage with the proper effects, but as seen here on film, it is excellent, and the acoustic version shines quite a bit. It adds a "lonely" feeling, that matches the visuals and the design for the film and cartoon sequences, which were put together extremely well, and more importantly ... very well thought out around the lyrics of the song.

This was the kind of thing that a lot of experimental dance groups and the like tried so hard to develop in the 70's and 80's, only to get laughed off and dumped, because the visualization of it all was so difficult to appreciate and live by ... something that the original song does not skimp at ... it allows the music to carry you, and the only visual needed is the lyrics telling you when the guitar should weep or not. Within a visual medium, this becomes a lot harder, unless one looks at the whole thing as a poetic exercise in being alone and hearing something sad on your guitar! The film, and staging on the acoustic version clarifies this in a way that the original song couldn't ... which left it to our imagination to find that staging.

It's very difficult for me to say ... which is better. I like the visualization way more than the original song ... which, for me, did not have any "visuals" like so many other pieces in that album did, but I think that the Beatles, at that time, were probably obsessed with not being so "meaningful", and "pointed" that folks would stop liking the band. Thus a "personal" tone, makes more sense as the next step, which only helped show how far apart and different they were ... but together, they still could play very well and beautifully so.

Btw, I was looking for the staging names and director, and could not find it ... anyone know? This could easily be one of the guys in 10CC that did so many videos (for The Police) ... a sort of look and feel that is very clear in this particular film.

Both versions are fine ... the main difference is that the 2nd one (the acoustic version), really takes it away from the radio/rockmusic feel, and makes the piece way more interesting ... though we might not like to say that because we love that original so much.

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Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: March 12 2019 at 12:02

Original version on White album.....but as Mick said Badge might be a better collab. ;)

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