I’m hoping most of those reading this have had the opportunity to check out Martin Scorsese’s recent biographical documentary George Harrison: Living In The Material World by now. Back in October it made it’s debut in cinemas across the U.K. and was also released on home video. In the U.S., it made it’s first appearance on HBO, with the promise posted on GeorgeHarrison.com of a home video release in the Spring. The 3 1/2 hour feature is divided into two parts with the first part focusing on George’s “Beatle-years” and the second part mainly focusing on the time after The Beatles, up to George’s death in 2001. However, part two actually begins with a 1968 acoustic demo of George’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Since this demo is only presented as a 45 second edit containing one verse, and not available on any official releases anywhere else, I thought some of you out there might like to hear it in it’s entirety.

This demo of George’s White Album classic is the earliest known recorded account of the song. It was recorded in late May 1968, when The Beatles had recently returned from their time learning about Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in Rishikesh, India. Since the band had written some 35 new songs while on the trip, they were eager to record some demos and make plans for the next album. They had decided to convene at George’s bungalow (named Kinfauns) in Esher Surrey, U.K. to do just that.

A tape of 23 demos from the recordings The Beatles did then has survived (known as the Kinfauns demos) and circulates among Beatles-collectors. The sound quality on the tape is far from superb, but yet good enough to get an idea of how developed many of the songs that ended up on the White Album were at this point. The tape concludes with five George Harrison demos, and only two of the five ended up making the final cut for the forthcoming 2-LP set. Specifically George’s 5 songs were: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Circles”, “Sour Milk Sea”, “Not Guilty” & “Piggies”.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” has George adding to his guitar and vocal track with an organ on the bridges and ending. The lyrics are yet to modified to the version we are accustomed to now. This earliest known demo of the song pre-dates the demo heard on the Beatles Anthology 3 CD set by two months. The electric version we hear on the White Album was recorded during the first week of September 1968 and features Eric Clapton on lead guitar and Paul McCartney on fuzz bass.

George Harrison at his Kinfauns home in Esher, circa 1968

Extra info: Of George’s 5 offerings on the Kinfauns demos, only “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Piggies” ended up on the “White Album”. “Not Guilty” and “Circles” were both recorded later by George on solo albums (George Harrison and Gone Troppo, respectively). “Sour Milk Sea” was covered by Apple artist Jackie Lomax and released as a single in 1968 (with George, Paul, Ringo and Eric Clapton backing Jackie up on the recording – see this post for more info on that). In addition to the 23 demos recorded at Kinfauns, four additional demos from this period were recorded at John Lennon’s home (Kenwood) and appear on the Beatles Anthology 3 CD set. They are “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”, “Mean Mr. Mustard”, “Polythene Pam” and “Glass Onion”.

Links to Amazon.com items in The Beatles catalog related to this post are listed below. Click for further info or, if you like, to purchase the music:

1) The Beatles (White Album) (Remastered) – 2009 2-CD remaster of original 1968 stereo double LP. Contains the stereo master of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (electric version).

2) Beatles Anthology 3 1996 2-CD collection of out-takes and alternate versions of Beatles tracks in their final two years 1968-1969. Includes an acoustic demo from July 1968 of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (not the same demo featured here). Also includes Beatles studio version of “Not Guilty” – a White Album out-take mentioned above.

3) Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison – 2009 remastered collection of George Harrison’s best, including a live version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” from the Concert For Bangla Desh (1971).

4) George Harrison – 2004 remaster of original 1979 LP featuring George Harrison’s solo version of “Not Guilty”.

5) Gone Troppo – 2004 remaster of original 1982 LP. Contains George Harrison’s solo version of “Circles”.

6) Ringo 2012 – Ringo Starr’s new album, pre-order only until Jan. 24, 2012.

7) Find more Beatles-related music on Amazon: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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“The Fool On The Hill” was a Lennon/McCartney original, used in the Magical Mystery Tour film and accompanying LP/EP set. It was actually conceived by Paul McCartney, who stated in an interview that he wrote the song with someone like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in mind. He claims that he looked at the Maharishi as someone that was considered a fool to his detractors. However, the earliest memories of the song occur around the time of the sessions for the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, a few months before The Beatles first met with the Maharishi. Paul had actually played the song for John Lennon on piano during a writing session for the “Pepper” track, “With A Little Help From My Friends.” The Beatles Anthology 2 CD set has the first recorded demo of the song, taped on September 6th, 1967, along with an account of take 4, made on September 25th, by which time the recording of the song in earnest had begun. The basic track for the master was completed by September 27th, and the flutes were added on October 20th as the finishing touch.

On October 30th, 1967, during filming of the Magical Mystery Tour television special, Paul, along with camerman Aubrey Dewar, traveled down to Nice, France, without the other Beatles. The idea was to shoot sequences of him prancing and skipping about in a rocky mountainous area, for use in the “Fool On The Hill” segment of the film. As seen in this video excerpt, the scene is portrayed as a daydream of Paul’s that occurs while he sits on the Magical Mystery Tour bus, waiting for the magic to begin.

The finished film premiered on December 26th (Boxing Day) in the U.K. on BBC1 and has been on several VHS releases throughout the late 1970s and up through the 1990s. The most recent official release of the film was on DVD in 1997, and it is currently out of print. Fortunately, it still can be found if you visit the right stores. (I have added a link below to a 3rd party Amazon vendor who still has copies, if you are interested.)

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Magical Mystery Tour (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1967 LP, including “The Fool On The Hill”.

2) The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour – 1997 DVD of the complete 1967 film, including “The Fool On The Hill”.

3) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. This week’s BROW, like last week’s, features another of the songs composed while The Beatles were in India, over February through April 1968.

John Lennon, the song’s primary composer, explained in a Playboy interview:

‘Bungalow Bill’ was written about a guy in Maharishi’s meditation camp who took a short break to go shoot a few poor tigers, and then came back to commune with God. There used to be a character called Jungle Jim, and I combined him with Buffalo Bill. It’s sort of a teenage social-comment song and a bit of a joke.

The American John was referring to was Richard A. Cooke III (Rik) who was visiting Rishikesh, India, at the same time that The Beatles were there. According to the life account of his mother, Nancy Cooke de Herrera, who was also present, she and Rik, along with a few native guides, set out upon elephants to hunt for a tiger (allegedly presented by their Indian guide as a traditional act). The elephants were attacked by a tiger, and Rik shot it. He was so proud of his quick reaction that he posed for a photograph of himself and the dead tiger immediately afterwards. John’s reaction to Rik was scornful and sarcastic, and he apparently wrote “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill” for the sake of mocking what he saw as Rik’s bravado and disrespectful attitude towards wildlife.

Around the third week in May 1968, after returning from India, The Beatles convened at George Harrison’s home in Esher to record some demos of the songs they had written while they were there. Most of the demos were later made available through John’s own private archive and were called the “Kinfauns demos” (Kinfauns was the name of George’s Bungalow where the recordings were made). The Beatles had accumulated some thirty-five songs. Eighteen of these, including “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill,” would end up on the next Beatles LP release, the double-disc White Album.

The demo heard here, like the other demos, was recorded on George’s four track Ampex tape machine and features The Beatles playing acoustic guitars, along with some banging on furniture, handclaps, etc., for percussion. Accompanying John’s lead vocal, we hear a second vocal track with John speaking to Bungalow Bill and some rudimentary jungle animal noises in the background.

The Beatles, 1968

Extra info: The master for “Bungalow Bill” was recorded late in the White Album sessions on October 8, 1968 in a session that also included John’s “I’m So Tired.” “Bungalow Bill” was finished in three takes with just bass, drums and a pair of acoustic guitars. Session man Chris Thomas added some Mellotron parts (made to sound like a mandolin during the verses and like a trumpet on the chorus). John receives a little help on the lead vocal as Yoko Ono sings the line “Not when he looked so fierce” during the third verse (the only female lead vocal on a Beatles recording). There is an en masse rendition of the chorus in the ending (featuring The Beatles, Yoko Ono and Maureen Cox—Ringo’s wife) that includes a second vocal track by John and whistling, clapping and tambourine. As a finishing touch, a virtuoso Spanish guitar interlude was placed at the intro, played by Australian session man Eric Cook.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) The White Album (Remastered) – 2009 2-CD stereo remaster of original 1968 Beatles double album, featuring The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill.

2) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity of The Week – “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (earliest demo) I’m hoping most of those reading this have had the...
2. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Cry Baby Cry (demo sequence) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. For this...
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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. First off, congratulations to Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell who wed yesterday (John Lennon’s 71st birthday) in London’s Old Marylebone Town Hall.

And since it was John’s birthday yesterday, I have another nod in the chief Beatles’ direction this week. From February to April 1968, John was in Rishikesh, India as a student of Transcendental Meditation (TM) under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The other Beatles were there too, however Ringo and Paul returned to England in March. About 60 other students were present also, including well known musicians Donovan and Michael Love of The Beach Boys.

Between the Maharishi’s lessons on meditation and relaxation, The Beatles spent a lot of their free time composing. Eighteen of the thirty songs on the White Album, and two songs on the 1969 album Abbey Road (“Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam”) were written while in India. Donovan taught John a finger picking guitar style known as Travis-picking or claw-hammer, that he used on White Album tracks “Dear Prudence”, “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” and “Julia”.

Although possibly conceived shortly after the trip to India, John uses the same finger picking style on “Look At Me”. This early demo was recorded from John’s home sometime during the the autumn of 1968, while the White Album sessions were in full force. However, the song ended up being shelved for a couple of years before it was released on 1970′s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. In the song, John addresses self-identity and self purpose and although it was tucked away for a couple of years, it retained the tranquility that many of the songs written in India had (e.g. “Julia” or “Mother Nature’s Son”).

There are a couple of false starts here as John stops and fiddles with his microphone placement, but as the recording gets underway, we realize he already had all of the beautifully serene elements of the finalized version, two years before it was released.

John Lennon in 1968 "Mad Day Out" photo session

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Plastic Ono Band – 2010 CD remaster of original 1970 release featuring “Look At Me”.

2) Acoustic – 2004 CD collection of John Lennon acoustic guitar demos, most of which were recorded at home, included a different demo of “Look At Me” than the one featured here.

3) Anthology – 1998 4-CD box set collection of John Lennon out-takes, demos and alternate takes throughout his post-Beatles period, informative booklet, all packaged in a beautiful blue upright box with some of John’s artwork. Includes same demo version of “Look At Me” as #2 above.

4) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. For this week I have assembled a collection of home demos and fragments of early versions of the White Album John Lennon classic, Cry Baby Cry. Proper recording of the song was not begun until July 16, 1968, but there are some recorded demos that date as early as December 1967, some of which I can share with you now. The sound clip presented here can be broken down into 5 separate demos by time, as follows:

1) 0:00 – 1:40: John at his Kenwwood home’s music room, mainly going over the chord structure of the verses on piano, sometime around December 1967. He is singing here, but it is “off mike” and difficult to make out. Although “…king was in the parlor playing piano for the children of the queen” seems to be discernible, where the role of the king and queen are reversed from the finalized lyrics.

2) 1:41 – 2:22: This is still a piano demo recorded at John’s home, likely from the same session, around December 1967. This begins with a more uptempo section (possibly a middle eight that was later discarded?) that John is vocalizing over before returning to the verses. John is still singing “off mike.”

3) 2:23 – 2:33: This 10-second fragment has John on piano and then supplementing, with Mellotron strings, the melody of the “jai guru deva” section of Across The Universe. A complete recording of this has it going into the chorus of Cry Baby Cry, which means it could have initially been part of the same song. This was likely recorded around December 1967, during the same session as the above two entries.

4) 2:34 – 3:27: A brief fragment on guitar where John is singing Cry Baby Cry with the original “make your mother buy” lyric and trying to work out a chorus, before moving into playing the chord structure. This dates around December 1967 or January 1968.

5) 3:28 – 5:55: During mid-February to mid-April 1968, The Beatles spent time in Rishikesh, India, and studied Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They wrote most of the music that was to appear on the White Album during this time, and John finished working out the lyrics and chord structure of Cry Baby Cry. In late May, 1968, The Beatles reconvened at George Harrison’s home in Esher (his Kinfauns bungalow) and also at John’s Kenwood estate, to go over what songs they had to record. Finally, from these sessions is a complete demo of Cry Baby Cry with finalized lyrics.

The Beatles Anthology 3 CD set gives us the first studio quality recording of Cry Baby Cry (Take 1), which is a beautiful account, featuring John on acoustic guitar and vocal, then from the second verse onward, he’s joined by Paul McCartney on bass and Ringo Starr on drums. This take was recorded live without overdubs on July 16, 1968. Most work on the master was completed that day, except for some overdubs, done two days later. The master also features George Martin on harmonium (it comes in right after John sings “make your mother sigh” the first time). George used the same harmonium he had played on the Rubber Soul track, The Word, and John had played on We Can Work it Out.

John Lennon, White Album insert photo, 1968

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) The White Album (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1968 double album on 2 CDs, featuring the stereo master of Cry Baby Cry.

2) Anthology 3 1996 2-CD set covering out-takes and previously unreleased tracks from the Beatles during 1968-69. Includes a beautiful take 1 version of Cry Baby Cry recorded live without overdubs.

3) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. George Harrison’s live appearances in the aftermath of The Beatles were infrequent to say the least. Aside from a major 1974 tour of the United States and a 1991 tour of Japan with Eric Clapton, George’s live performances onstage were limited to special events or charities such as the Prince’s Trust Rock Gala in 1987 or the Concert For Bangla Desh in 1971. This week’s BROW features a sizzling performance by George from the last full concert in his lifetime.

On April 6, 1992, George held a benefit concert for the Natural Law Party, a transnational party based on the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The venue was the Royal Albert Hall, making this George’s first live performance in London since the famous rooftop concert by The Beatles in January 1969. Joining George on stage for his performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps was the late Gary Moore. Gary was a phenomenal blues and rock guitarist and had worked with greats such as B.B. King and Albert King. He was also a member of the 70′s rock band Thin Lizzy. He had worked with George before, and had even played the lead guitar solo on the Traveling Wilburys recording, She’s My Baby (check that out here if you like). Sadly, Gary passed away due to a heart attack this past February (2011).

Also joining George onstage for this Beatles White Album classic was a drummer, I’m sure you’ve heard of, by the name of Ringo Starr.

With a large focus on George now, perhaps due to the upcoming Martin Scorsese film on his life, I thought this was a good time to share this little piece of history with you. Enjoy…

George Harrison, circa 1992

Additional info: While this recording comes from George’s last full concert, he did make a subsequent appearance at Madison Square Gardens on October 16, 1992 at a tribute concert for Bob Dylan celebrating the 30 year point in Bob’s career. George performed the Dylan classics If Not For You (which you may listen to here) and Absolutely Sweet Marie (available on the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration CD set, linked to below).

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Prince’s Trust Rock Gala [VHS] – VHS (not out on DVD/Blu-Ray!) tape of June 1987 Pince’s Trust Rock Gala with many special musical guests, including George Harrison who performs The Beatles classics While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes The Sun.

2) 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration – 2-CD 1992 Bob Dylan tribute concert footage, starring George Harrison. George performs the Dylan composition Absolutely Sweet Marie.

3) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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This week’s BROW will take us back to 1968, when The Beatles were working on their infamous White Album. The recordings for this double album took place between May 30 and October 17, 1968 and it’s ironic that the song they worked on the longest during those five months of sessions was not even put on the record. George Harrison had introduced Not Guilty to the rest of the band in demo form around the third week of May. Later, when they decided to record it for the album, Beatles Anthology 3 liner notes indicate, it took three days (August 8, 9 & 12) and 101 takes to get the basic track down that they were satisfied enough with for George to add his vocal. The first proper vocal take (102) was mixed for a 1980′s Beatles compilation album called Sessions, but that project was aborted and the track was only officially released when the Beatles Anthology 3 CD set hit the shelves in 1996. The Anthology account of this take is a bit chopped up and is presented here sans all of the edits making it nearly a minute longer.

George had this to say about a couple of the lyrical references in the song:

Not guilty for getting in your way/While you’re trying to steal the day’ — which was me trying to get a space. ‘Not guilty/For looking like a freak/Making friends with every Sikh/For leading you astray/On the road to Mandalay’ — which is the Maharishi and going to the Himalayas and all that was said about that. I like the tune a lot; it would make a great tune for Peggy Lee or someone.

Another line in the song – I won’t upset the Apple cart/I only want what I can get – seems to be an insinuation as to George’s much smaller allotment of compositions per Beatles album (the apple cart, of course, being the new Apple Corps they had only just created). Along this line of thought, it’s interesting to consider that by leaving Not Guilty off the White Album, George ended up with his typical one song per album side.

Before any Beatles version of this song ever saw a proper release, George released his own solo version of the 11 year old song on his 1979 George Harrison album. This version is much mellower and contains acoustic guitar and electric piano while The Beatles’ original version is harsher, driven by distorted electric guitar and harpsichord. Just the edge we need to help get us through this Monday.

George Harrison recording Not Guilty, August 1968

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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In celebration of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album being released for the Beatles Rockband format earlier this week, I thought I’d post a Pepper-era BROW. Your Mother Should Know was not released on the Sgt. Pepper album but recorded immediately afterward on August 22, 1967 for the upcoming Magical Mystery Tour film. This was immediately before the band would travel to Bangor to meet the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for the first time, and just 5 days before manager Brian Epstein was found dead of a drug overdose. This is an early acetate of the song (initially penned by Paul) that has no organ or bass added yet and background vocals that are entirely different from the finalized version. It is believed to be take 8. Upon completion, the music from the film would be released as a double EP in the U.K. the following December 8th and as a complete album in the U.S. a week and half earlier.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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This week BROW takes a look at the first Beatles 45 of 1968. John Lennon wanted it to be his new tune called Across The Universe but was eventually outvoted. Lady Madonna was recorded on February 3, 1968 just before The Beatles went to India to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The brass overdubs were then added on February 6th. There is an entire brass section of four saxophones on the recording with jazzman Ronnie Scott leading. The song was penned by Paul McCartney who mentioned that it was based largely on an old song called Bad Penny Blues; a minor hit for Humphrey Littleton in 1956 that was also produced by George Martin. The master heard on the official version was take 3 of 5 takes. This one is a rough mix from take 4 and has some voice-over added to the original recording in spots, including some laughter at the beginning by Paul. It was the last single by The Beatles in America to appear on the Capitol label. Their next single, Hey Jude, would later in the year appear on their new Apple label. The B-side of the Lady Madonna 45 was George Harrison’s Indian influenced track The Inner Light and this was the first time one of George’s appeared on a Beatles single. While the single topped the charts in the UK, it only reached number 2 on the Record World and Cash Box charts in America and number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. But, I ask, who cares about these charts anyway? Not me.

The American Lady Madonna 45 picture sleeve, 1968

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to BROW. This past Saturday (April 4th) at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed together for the first time since November 2002, when they were guests at the Concert for George event. Saturday’s event raised 3 million dollars for the David Lynch Foundation‘s cause of teaching one million children the technique of Transcendental Meditation (TM). One of the selections Paul performed at the event with Ringo on the drum kit had never been performed on stage before. Cosmically Conscious was written by Paul in 1968 while The Beatles studied TM in India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Many years later, in early 1992 while Paul was recording his Off The Ground CD, he completed a studio recording of this interesting song. However only a short snippet of it appeared on Off The Ground as an unlisted final track. The complete version was released as a b-side on a CD single in April 1993 but that has been out of print since the mid-90′s by which time the first (and only) pressings were bought up. In celebration of TM and the reunion of Paul and Ringo, this is the complete studio version of Cosmically Conscious. The track concludes with a short reprise of another Macca number called Down To the River. For a good description of last Saturday’s show including other performing artists and set lists, visit here.

Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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