On July 25 1968, George Harrison would finally record a new composition for the upcoming LP already in progress. This tune was entitled "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" which was inspired by words "gently weeps" randomly chosen from a book passage in George's home.From EMI Studio 2, George sat in the studio with his acoustic and recorded a variety of takes (the number of takes remains unknown as George took away the reels from this evening's sessions) but left take 1 behind and this take has been used for various reasons and has appeared on various bootlegs as well.
The instrumentation for the song consists of George Harrison on acoustic/vocal and a harmonium either played by Paul McCartney or overdubbed by Harrison himself. The harmonium enters the song half way through.
Mixes of this version include the Abbey Road Presentation show which was a showcase in 1983 which used a mono mix of the song with the harmonium mixed down low and the ending intact as it was recorded. You can hear this version on such bootlegs as "The Beatles At Abbey Road" as well as "Another Sessions...Plus". One year later, it was decided by EMI to officially release this version on their upcoming proposed "Sessions" LP by including it as a track. Geoff Emerick mixed the song in the stereo and the harmonium is more pronounced on this version. Also, the ending was extended by creating a loop of the final guitar lick a few times which brought the song over three minutes in length. The "Sessions" LP was scrapped and this version finally appeared on the commercial Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 3" format/project with the same loop for the ending of the tune.
Finally , it should be noted that George Martin overdubbed an orchestral backing for the song which would eventually be released on the Apple CD/LP soundtrack to "Love" released in 2006.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYDCp39W62w
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