I love the guitar crying from 3:40. Amazing performance. It's The Beatles and Eric Clapton. I take it for granted because I listened to the song so many times. But then I stop and, wow, The Beatles and Eric Clapton, how cool is that?
Fer Abra Yeah that's true. Reading your comment made me stop and think about it too. The Beatles + Eric Clapton + 1968 + The 'White Album' = That is so cool!
Having listened to this 500 times in my lifetime, THIS IS AMAZING !! Stunning, really. Thank You for getting this and putting it on RUclips. Appreciate it. I owe you TEN BUCKS.
Brent Carter Eric Clapton has always been a session guitarist, he is known as the world's best session guitarist, look up what he has done you will be surprised at the volume of work he has created and some of the songs he has played on will astound you, I'm a big clapton fan man his own work would be enough for most, but he just doesn't stop working.
+brutalbrital I think its just moreee accurate to say that this shows why he is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time not jjust session guitarist
I can just play this again and again and again and again.......This isolation bit makes it easier to try and duplicate it....to some degree! Thanks for posting.
Qué idea brillante!! Gracias por subirlo. Y este solo genial de EC (a quien vi varias veces en Buenos Aires) no fue nunca jamás, Never, oficialmente reconocido/acreditado.
This guitar chorus is what made me want to become a musician...It's so profound... There's a voice to that chorus that talks about loneliness without uttering words...It is the most inspired solo that was ever designed by a human being...
@pica1dilly you can here the leslie open up at 3:04 that tremolo sound is a leslie (probably a 122 or 147) on slow through most of the song, and at 3:04 it opens up. They may have run a couple effects, but odds are back then they just run the guitar through a preamp into the leslie and let the 6550's scream.
It's a chorus effect. The EMI studio at Abbey Road had several delay units to create various chorusing EFX. They could create stereo spreads (listen to "I'm Only Sleeping" on Revolver or the second half of "I Am The Walrus") or they could just add chorusing and leave it in in mono. They used on of those delay units on Eric's guitar, and mixed it mono. For the guitar-thru-a-Leslie effect, listen to George Harrison's lead on the George Martin produced original studio version of "Let it Be"
I own several Leslies, 147s, 124s and many guitar FX pedals, this is a post-production modified sound with modulated time delay double tracking, it is not a guitar played through a Leslie, as the horn with the 800Hz crossover would color the guitar sound much more. If this is truly the isolated track, the guitar signal sounds very much like it’s going through an early chorus unit, like a CE-1, but with a strong vibrato double track component. The pedals that come closest to this sound are the Keeley 30ms, a Boss DC-30 on a deep setting, or a modulated short delay in stereo with the dry signal recombined.
@bloeddorstigbeest , "But listening to the playback, the ex-Yardbird decided the result "wasn't Beatle-y enough," so the solo was run through the Leslie rotating speaker of the Hammond B-3 organ cabinet, an effect the lads had been using at least as far back as "Tomorrow Never Knows." That same day, the remaining vocal and instrumental tracks were laid down."
They ran the the tape back into the ADT (automatic double track) and then ran that through the leslie, so yes it was post mix, however they still used a leslie to get that effect.
The guitar Clapton played was a 57 Gold Top that he bought at Manny's in New York shortly after Rick Derringer had sold it to them. Rick has told the story that he didn't like the Gold Top look and had Gibson refinish it with the cherry red finish used on the SG models. When he got the guitar back he didn't like the feel. Rick had received the guitar in a trade for an amplifier made with John Sebastian.
the photo is from a cream session u can tell cuz under his left arm is a upside down that housed his cherry 335 and says cream on it plus on the bttm right is a marshall head and the beatles never used marshalls to my knowledge
i believe he is using George's Crimson Les Paul (Lucy), which Clapton bought and gifted to George prior to the session for this song. I'd recommend getting the book "Beatles Gear," it gives detailed descriptions of every instrument used by the Beatles in the studio and on stage. There's a whole section dedicated to George's Les Paul, which is one of the coolest looking Les Pauls I've ever seen.
Eric didn't want to play on this as no one had played on a Beatles song before & he didnt think the other Beatles would like it but George said its my song & I want you to play on it. The rest is history
You almost got it! Although they definitely had the tools (Echo Machines), to create chorusing effects back then, what you are hearing on Eric's guitar is not chorusing. You are hearing ADT (Automatic Double Tracking) but the duplicate image of the guitar track is being slowed down at some points by the smallest amounts, creating comb filtering, or in popular terms, Flanging. That is also what you hear all over the last 3 albums before The White album, as well as the Leslie cabinet.
As much as I like Clapton, and I DO! At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when PRINCE showed up to play on this track...He knocked the solo OUT OF the park! Listen to that track, watch the video...he killed the solo
For the last time this is not a Leslie on the guitar but a VSO (variable speed oscillator) which is being manually manipulated to give a wobble effect because the Beatles thought it sounded too straight without it.
Pedro Miranda What? That's an absurd statement. His involvement was critical. Those boys were so smacked on the junk, they would never have released that record without Martin.
Always thought it was the ES 335 but everything you read says Les Paul. Whatever, he was in a brilliant state of playing on this to really elevate it. It's one of the ten best Beatle songs ever!
Saw a vid of George H. saying the Les Paul Eric gave him was the one Eric played on "Weeps". George went on to say he used it to play the lead on the recording of "Let it Be".
he was playing a les paul that harrison handed him. he was brought in to "cool out" the enmity that existed during the white hour sessions. Hendrix whose playing i like/love had trouble with pitch (and intonation and TUNING) and could never have done the justice this song deserved IMHO. Harrison observed no matter how bad "family fight" bring in an outsider and everyone is suddenly on their "best behavior." a solo so superb even my parents liked it!
Lovely to hear this isolated track. Clapton is, of course a hero, of mine. If Jimi played it he might have taken this a bit over the top, but at this time, remember, Jimi was trying to get back to his roots, so if the opportunity had arisen, it might have been as iconic as Eric's solo. Then of course, there is G and E's friendship to take into account. As it stands, it is CLASSIC!
Allan Cerf Most of Jimi's tuning problems were during live shows when he would abuse the hell out of his vibrato bar. He was pretty solid as far as tuning in the studio. Clapton did a HELL of a job on this solo, but having said that I also think Jimi could have done the song justice. Just listen to his lead on Bold As Love. It's pretty melodic and not as wild as Jimi usually got.
the shape - anyone should have in-tune instruments in the the studio or they probably shouldn't be there. Hendrix as Paul McCartney said, literally stopped a show to ask Clapton to tune his guitar. let's appreciate Hendrix for having a great style and tremendous technique. he did not have great relative pitch! my remarks as i'm sure you know, expressed my opinion that EC's solo on "Gently Weeps," was a singular, almost-perfect event and needn't be second-guessed by "what if X played it instead? what if Buddy Holly or Les Paul or Hendrix played it? they didn't and weren't asked to. what if Columbus had actually reached India instead of the Americas?
I watched a video recently (cannot remember the link) where Eric was talking about this recording suggesting he was nervous going into the studio which I find odd until I discovered that he looked up to George and the Beatle's as a fan too. Even with all his success in the Bluesbreakers and Cream, they came first and when Eric originally met George, he was already a successful musician who had broken America. It gives you a sense of scale for the Beatle's impact in the 60's which we maybe dont fully realise today. Anyway, Eric was making excuses in the car "I'm not a Beatle, only Beatle's can play on Beatle's records" and George said, "Well I am a Beatle and its my song, so I decide who plays and who doesn't" So much for the quiet one stood in the back. I think George was highly underrated... but that's another story.
+Spartanm333 Interesting. From what I have picked up from reading and listening to interviews from various people and what you have written here, George wrote the solo, but Clapton played with what George wrote - George could have played it and would have had the general sound, but perhaps not the exact Leslie speaker/les Paul auto double tracked and Clapton vibrato - it would have been that George sound....slidey...but the point is, he brought Eric in because he wanted to make a point about "well if I am not good enough, fine, but nor are you, so here is Eric." Which I think is true, because Paul played lead on Taxman for example.....and others and the leads were good, but nothing like this.....George was pissed.....ha ha.
Awesome .... it's comforting to hear son uncleanliness in Eric's guitar ... which obviously is buried in the final mix. I thought my playing was too inaccurate but after listening to this it's ok compared to Eric's great technique. One of my favorites solos ever ....and one of my Beatles' Favorite songs ...
Clapton established himself as 'God' two years before this was recorded while Gilly was still busking. Clapton's style was established by the time pf Gently Weeps (some would say it peaked here) and I hear this in Gilmour's playing on Dark Side to Brick In The Wall. I hear Clapton all over Santana too. The Bluesbreakers album was a milestone for aspiring guitarists
You can buy a digital audio recorder for under 200.00. There several brands out there, of course the more you spend the more bells and whistles. There's the Zoom H1 or 2, or the more expensive H4. Then there's Tascam. I bought the Tascam Dr-07 mk11 for under 125.00 on Amazon. There is a bit of a learning curve. But back to the point that you can take a song recorded and slow it down without losing pitch. You can also set it to loop at a set start and stop point for learning.
Spartanm333 He was not according to his own biography, a tremendous Beatles fan. He liked certain of their work. He specifically says throughout his bio... he did not look up to any 'pop' musician ,only his blues 'gods.' Whether that is true or not is anyone's guess. The context of his remark I think, was that he thought only Beatles should play on Beatles records. In other words, he thought being recruited to solo was a bad idea - obviously he was wrong. I doubt he was nervous that he would 'fluff' the solo.
99% hands is a bit of an exaggeration but a lot of a players "sound" is the hands. what that means is HOW they play. basically their style. how you pick the notes, where you pick them, and how you manipulate the notes once you've played them. a lot of clapton's sound is in his vibrato, how he picks and frets the notes and obviously phrasing. having the same gear will only get you so far. if you don't play the same, it won't sound the same.
George knew what he wanted played (NOT note for note) and gave the general idea to Eric, but the major point is that George felt that Eric would make it sound better, something about Eric's sustain and vibrato. George always downplayed his own abilities; he said once, "I'm not a proper guitar player like Eric or somebody." Hey George, that solo on "Something" is and will always be considered one of the most beautiful ever. Not to worry.
Well.. from about 1953 through 1960, the Les Paul existed as we know it today. Then in 1961 they went to the double cutaway model that was the SG. But George's Les Paul was a single cutaway model, and the one shown in the photos accompanying this video are of Clapton's SG, painted by The Fool. That is NOT the SG that John and George owned.
Impressive...what a feeling...nobody could have done that better.....the thing is that if you can do it in one take it contains the same feeling and spirit..keeps the song together ( He might have played it many times..it sounds rather complicated in the arrangement...but when he finally made this take it was done from start to finish...I suppose...but I don´t know.
Not sure what amp he used, as many amps sound pretty good in the studio once the engineers get the signal into the board and can apply all kinds of EQ & EFX to modify it further. Reading further down, there seems to be some guys who are convinced of what amp Clapton used, and I would take their word for it, especially if these guys are guitarists and know their amps. I;m a recording engineer-producer mainly into studio EFX and so I defer to the amp experts cuz of my limited amp knowledge.
I can't hear a Leslie there at all, slight phasing as you would get with ADT. I did read a story about the assistant being told to 'wobble the oscillator' on playback to give the lead part a more Bealtes sound. If you used flanging with tape machines it would sound a great deal more golden and jangly than this does.
He was not playing through a Leslie, the engineer was getting a "wobbly" effect in the control room which made his arm nearly fall off as Clapton wanted it the whole time!
He was actually, he was playing George Harrison's Les Paul. But he wanted to give a that sound in order for the lead guitar can sound "Beatle-ish" and so people won't recognize it was his guitar playing.
***** You said "he was actually." Actually what? I am not sure if you agreed with me or not. He was not playing a Leslie. It was manually wobbled by the engineer in the control room. I already know Clapton used the Les Paul that he had given George, which is not what I am commenting on.
Oops, My reply mysteriously posted before I had finished typing it or fixing my typo errors. Don;t know how that happened. I guess You-Tube had a hiccup. Boards have "sends" out and in, to and from any external EFX box, in addition to internal EFX, so any guitar EFX box can be used in the studio booth OR,from a guitarist using it at his end via an amp. There's always more than one way to do anything in a studio. EMI would have had more than one way to record guitars during the Beatles era.
Clapton is called a rock god!! A person with that title has to be overrated, once your called the king, or it becomes a cliche to call you the greatest band ever (the beatles) people have to think you're overrated. You've left music and become icons, that's why I try not to make a list like rolling stones 100 greatest x or whatever, and just try to love music in general. :)
George wanted Clapton to play, not really much else to say, Clapton was afraid since "nobody ever played on a Beatles track". But George didn't care since it was his song.
George was good enough to do it himself, but he and Eric had become friends and the scene in the studio had become toxic so George felt the presence of an outsider (who was also his friend) would make things a little more bearable. He was right, the rest of the Beatles were on their best behavior and they got a great song out of the session. Pretty darn good. George was like that. He would just think, hey, I want you to play lead on this song. Just to change things up.
I love the guitar crying from 3:40. Amazing performance. It's The Beatles and Eric Clapton. I take it for granted because I listened to the song so many times. But then I stop and, wow, The Beatles and Eric Clapton, how cool is that?
Oudamseth Samin Yeah, man. Frank Underwood, big fan of House of Cards! regards, mate.
Oudamseth Samin is that so? F U then.
Fer Abra Yeah that's true. Reading your comment made me stop and think about it too. The Beatles + Eric Clapton + 1968 + The 'White Album' = That is so cool!
Hearing this in isolation shows how well structured his playing is. Not just a bit of soloing over the top. Wonderful
Having listened to this 500 times in my lifetime, THIS IS AMAZING !! Stunning, really. Thank You for getting this and putting it on RUclips. Appreciate it. I owe you TEN BUCKS.
He played the red Les Paul he later gave to George named "Lucy" on this, not on an SG
Clapton has awesome vibrato!
I wish he could still play like that!
brilliant piece. A band and a musician with unmistakable sound. Very difficult to recreate
This is a classic, without doubt, and bears all the signature items associated with a Clapton solo. Clapton at his finest as a session man.
very understated this recording really shows why he is considered one of the greatest session guitarists of all time
+brutalbrital Eric Clapton is not a "session guitarist". He's Eric Clapton, lol.
Brent Carter
Eric Clapton has always been a session guitarist, he is known as the world's best session guitarist, look up what he has done you will be surprised at the volume of work he has created and some of the songs he has played on will astound you, I'm a big clapton fan man his own work would be enough for most, but he just doesn't stop working.
+brutalbrital I think its just moreee accurate to say that this shows why he is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time not jjust session guitarist
Dustin Duczek
whatever gets you through the day mate cheers and happy new year
+brutalbrital - Agreed! Love how he takes a composition and adds his flair.
I can just play this again and again and again and again.......This isolation bit makes it easier to try and duplicate it....to some degree! Thanks for posting.
Eric sure knows how to get them great sounds out of a guitar! Brilliant playing!
Clapton did this in one take!... awesome solo, perhaps the best ever, so expressive with the unmistakable tone of a Les Paul
Woah! That track immensley simplifies the learning of that lead!
Golden indeed!
I always loved what he added to this song. He just made it better. Didn't overplay or try to look like a star. And in doing that, he did.
Nice, thought I was a Beatle fan, but never know Clapton played on this song. He is one of my guitar idols. Great work.
Qué idea brillante!! Gracias por subirlo. Y este solo genial de EC (a quien vi varias veces en Buenos Aires) no fue nunca jamás, Never, oficialmente reconocido/acreditado.
Makes me appreciate the song even more.
This guitar chorus is what made me want to become a musician...It's so profound... There's a voice to that chorus that talks about loneliness without uttering words...It is the most inspired solo that was ever designed by a human being...
Simply amazing! my idol playing the solo all on his own... with little mistakes and all! and with The Fool on a recording session.
Awesome. Would love to see the actual video of this recording.
The tone is awesome!!!!
Found your link on GCA, thanks for posting! This is hot
Its a nice solo,pretty cool to be able to hear the isolated track
This is awesome.....this is my favorite Beatles song.....
@pica1dilly you can here the leslie open up at 3:04 that tremolo sound is a leslie (probably a 122 or 147) on slow through most of the song, and at 3:04 it opens up. They may have run a couple effects, but odds are back then they just run the guitar through a preamp into the leslie and let the 6550's scream.
It's a chorus effect. The EMI studio at Abbey Road had several delay units to create various chorusing EFX. They could create stereo spreads (listen to "I'm Only Sleeping" on Revolver or the second half of "I Am The Walrus") or they could just add chorusing and leave it in in mono. They used on of those delay units on Eric's guitar, and mixed it mono. For the guitar-thru-a-Leslie effect, listen to George Harrison's lead on the George Martin produced original studio version of "Let it Be"
this is really amazing
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Always wanted to hear that!!!
I own several Leslies, 147s, 124s and many guitar FX pedals, this is a post-production modified sound with modulated time delay double tracking, it is not a guitar played through a Leslie, as the horn with the 800Hz crossover would color the guitar sound much more. If this is truly the isolated track, the guitar signal sounds very much like it’s going through an early chorus unit, like a CE-1, but with a strong vibrato double track component. The pedals that come closest to this sound are the Keeley 30ms, a Boss DC-30 on a deep setting, or a modulated short delay in stereo with the dry signal recombined.
Grande Eric Clapton!!!!
Con una semplice pentatonica ha creato un capolavoro!!!
Totally agree, that whole album the bass line is amazing.
@bloeddorstigbeest , "But listening to the playback, the ex-Yardbird decided the result "wasn't Beatle-y enough," so the solo was run through the Leslie rotating speaker of the Hammond B-3 organ cabinet, an effect the lads had been using at least as far back as "Tomorrow Never Knows." That same day, the remaining vocal and instrumental tracks were laid down."
Another reason to worship Clapton's acumen as a blues master.
They ran the the tape back into the ADT (automatic double track) and then ran that through the leslie, so yes it was post mix, however they still used a leslie to get that effect.
In a interview George said it was Paul who contributed the piano part in the song(give a listen to the isolated piano part on youtube)
Jeez, flawless!
The guitar Clapton played was a 57 Gold Top that he bought at Manny's in New York shortly after Rick Derringer had sold it to them. Rick has told the story that he didn't like the Gold Top look and had Gibson refinish it with the cherry red finish used on the SG models. When he got the guitar back he didn't like the feel. Rick had received the guitar in a trade for an amplifier made with John Sebastian.
Absolutely necessary for any guitarist who considers the Beatles their religion!!
the photo is from a cream session u can tell cuz under his left arm is a upside down that housed his cherry 335 and says cream on it plus on the bttm right is a marshall head and the beatles never used marshalls to my knowledge
i believe he is using George's Crimson Les Paul (Lucy), which Clapton bought and gifted to George prior to the session for this song. I'd recommend getting the book "Beatles Gear," it gives detailed descriptions of every instrument used by the Beatles in the studio and on stage. There's a whole section dedicated to George's Les Paul, which is one of the coolest looking Les Pauls I've ever seen.
Eric didn't want to play on this as no one had played on a Beatles song before & he didnt think the other Beatles would like it but George said its my song & I want you to play on it. The rest is history
You almost got it! Although they definitely had the tools (Echo Machines), to create chorusing effects back then, what you are hearing on Eric's guitar is not chorusing. You are hearing ADT (Automatic Double Tracking) but the duplicate image of the guitar track is being slowed down at some points by the smallest amounts, creating comb filtering, or in popular terms, Flanging. That is also what you hear all over the last 3 albums before The White album, as well as the Leslie cabinet.
It's not a Leslie. It's a delay unit creating some chorusing, mixed in mono. Leslies create a doppler effect that sounds different.
Great! thanks for sharing.
@MADCHALKER No, he's playing the 1957 Les Paul Standard that Clapton gave to Harrison.
Clapton says in his autobio that they did this in ONE TAKE--uneffin' believable
Glad to see you're still alive Mall-------heard you met an untimely death some time ago *****
He also said he was out of his mind on alcohol and drugs during this recording session. He is truly an outstanding guitar player no matter what...
As much as I like Clapton, and I DO! At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when PRINCE showed up to play on this track...He knocked the solo OUT OF the park! Listen to that track, watch the video...he killed the solo
For the last time this is not a Leslie on the guitar but a VSO (variable speed oscillator) which is being manually manipulated to give a wobble effect because the Beatles thought it sounded too straight without it.
Brilliant.
Great effing tone!
Makes you realize how great George Martin was a Beatles producer.
no it doesnt
He kicked Pete Best -.-
Indeed he was, but his participation in the White Album was almost irrelevant
Pedro Miranda
What? That's an absurd statement. His involvement was critical. Those boys were so smacked on the junk, they would never have released that record without Martin.
Ian Ballard martin left the White Album sessions. Chris Thomas did most of the producing
The descending vibrato from about 2:00 is amazing.
Always thought it was the ES 335 but everything you read says Les Paul. Whatever, he was in a brilliant state of playing on this to really elevate it. It's one of the ten best Beatle songs ever!
Saw a vid of George H. saying the Les Paul Eric gave him was the one Eric played on "Weeps". George went on to say he used it to play the lead on the recording of "Let it Be".
he was playing a les paul that harrison handed him. he was brought in to "cool out" the enmity that existed during the white hour sessions. Hendrix whose playing i like/love had trouble with pitch (and intonation and TUNING) and could never have done the justice this song deserved IMHO. Harrison observed no matter how bad "family fight" bring in an outsider and everyone is suddenly on their "best behavior." a solo so superb even my parents liked it!
Lovely to hear this isolated track. Clapton is, of course a hero, of mine. If Jimi played it he might have taken this a bit over the top, but at this time, remember, Jimi was trying to get back to his roots, so if the opportunity had arisen, it might have been as iconic as Eric's solo. Then of course, there is G and E's friendship to take into account. As it stands, it is CLASSIC!
I think Clapton did a good job with this. Hendrix probably would have overshadowed Paul
He would have outshined them all.
Allan Cerf Most of Jimi's tuning problems were during live shows when he would abuse the hell out of his vibrato bar. He was pretty solid as far as tuning in the studio. Clapton did a HELL of a job on this solo, but having said that I also think Jimi could have done the song justice. Just listen to his lead on Bold As Love. It's pretty melodic and not as wild as Jimi usually got.
the shape - anyone should have in-tune instruments in the the studio or they probably shouldn't be there. Hendrix as Paul McCartney said, literally stopped a show to ask Clapton to tune his guitar. let's appreciate Hendrix for having a great style and tremendous technique. he did not have great relative pitch!
my remarks as i'm sure you know, expressed my opinion that EC's solo on "Gently Weeps," was a singular, almost-perfect event and needn't be second-guessed by "what if X played it instead? what if Buddy Holly or Les Paul or Hendrix played it? they didn't and weren't asked to. what if Columbus had actually reached India instead of the Americas?
I watched a video recently (cannot remember the link) where Eric was talking about this recording suggesting he was nervous going into the studio which I find odd until I discovered that he looked up to George and the Beatle's as a fan too. Even with all his success in the Bluesbreakers and Cream, they came first and when Eric originally met George, he was already a successful musician who had broken America. It gives you a sense of scale for the Beatle's impact in the 60's which we maybe dont fully realise today. Anyway, Eric was making excuses in the car "I'm not a Beatle, only Beatle's can play on Beatle's records" and George said, "Well I am a Beatle and its my song, so I decide who plays and who doesn't" So much for the quiet one stood in the back. I think George was highly underrated... but that's another story.
+Spartanm333 Interesting. From what I have picked up from reading and listening to interviews from various people and what you have written here, George wrote the solo, but Clapton played with what George wrote - George could have played it and would have had the general sound, but perhaps not the exact Leslie speaker/les Paul auto double tracked and Clapton vibrato - it would have been that George sound....slidey...but the point is, he brought Eric in because he wanted to make a point about "well if I am not good enough, fine, but nor are you, so here is Eric." Which I think is true, because Paul played lead on Taxman for example.....and others and the leads were good, but nothing like this.....George was pissed.....ha ha.
omg , how great is he !! Immortal song , George Harrison Eric Clapton my god ! plus the greatest Rythm section in music history
I read an Eric Clapton interview way back when he admitted that it was him playing on this tune. He said he used a Les Paul through a Marshall.
Awesome .... it's comforting to hear son uncleanliness in Eric's guitar ... which obviously is buried in the final mix. I thought my playing was too inaccurate but after listening to this it's ok compared to Eric's great technique. One of my favorites solos ever ....and one of my Beatles' Favorite songs ...
Clapton established himself as 'God' two years before this was recorded while Gilly was still busking. Clapton's style was established by the time pf Gently Weeps (some would say it peaked here) and I hear this in Gilmour's playing on Dark Side to Brick In The Wall. I hear Clapton all over Santana too. The Bluesbreakers album was a milestone for aspiring guitarists
This is just great, how did you get it if you don't mind me asking?
Masterpiece.
In the original Rolling Stone review from Dec. '68 Jann Wenner called the solo as Clapton. good guess.
@bsleeman7 How do you split them up?? Do you use a specific program?? Please answer we all want to know how to do this!!
Brilliant
You can buy a digital audio recorder for under 200.00. There several brands out there, of course the more you spend the more bells and whistles. There's the Zoom H1 or 2, or the more expensive H4. Then there's Tascam. I bought the Tascam Dr-07 mk11 for under 125.00 on Amazon. There is a bit of a learning curve. But back to the point that you can take a song recorded and slow it down without losing pitch. You can also set it to loop at a set start and stop point for learning.
It's amazing how the genius does not age. Slowhand is the best ...
the photo shows him with the 1968 SG painted by The Fool... not a 1957 Les Paul....
dont think so... leslie is there but there are miles differences between some phrases... most of work is done by Leslie and Claptons vibrato
For me the guitar is crying, is the perfect sound for a song like that
now I know he's playing through a Leslie, this has to be one of the best rock solos ever, but was he playing a Les Paul or an SG ???
+zurdo z les paul. there is a very interesting story about that particular guitar. It changed hands quite a few times before eric gave it to george
I have some guitars, and I think I'm alright, but one hears this and one thinks, 'Fuck it, why bother!'
According to Mark lewisohn's book,"The Beatles Recording Sessions", Eric played his Les Paul.
Sounds like a phaser! You could recreate it using it very subtle.
I think it's a Leslie speaker but a phaser or chorus would get close
Spartanm333 He was not according to his own biography, a tremendous Beatles fan. He liked certain of their work. He specifically says throughout his bio... he did not look up to any 'pop' musician ,only his blues 'gods.' Whether that is true or not is anyone's guess.
The context of his remark I think, was that he thought only Beatles should play on Beatles records. In other words, he thought being recruited to solo was a bad idea - obviously he was wrong. I doubt he was nervous that he would 'fluff' the solo.
Pure Classic
Are there no photos of this event?!
This was fascinating. Hunkasaurus does a one guitar version of this song that is very good but in a totally different way.
99% hands is a bit of an exaggeration but a lot of a players "sound" is the hands. what that means is HOW they play. basically their style. how you pick the notes, where you pick them, and how you manipulate the notes once you've played them. a lot of clapton's sound is in his vibrato, how he picks and frets the notes and obviously phrasing. having the same gear will only get you so far. if you don't play the same, it won't sound the same.
George knew what he wanted played (NOT note for note) and gave the general idea to Eric, but the major point is that George felt that Eric would make it sound better, something about Eric's sustain and vibrato. George always downplayed his own abilities; he said once, "I'm not a proper guitar player like Eric or somebody."
Hey George, that solo on "Something" is and will always be considered one of the most beautiful ever. Not to worry.
Well.. from about 1953 through 1960, the Les Paul existed as we know it today. Then in 1961 they went to the double cutaway model that was the SG. But George's Les Paul was a single cutaway model, and the one shown in the photos accompanying this video are of Clapton's SG, painted by The Fool. That is NOT the SG that John and George owned.
Impressive...what a feeling...nobody could have done that better.....the thing is that if you can do it in one take it contains the same feeling and spirit..keeps the song together ( He might have played it many times..it sounds rather complicated in the arrangement...but when he finally made this take it was done from start to finish...I suppose...but I don´t know.
It sounds like he's using a very dirty amp and the guitar is played through a Univibe with a very slight tape delay.
Not sure what amp he used, as many amps sound pretty good in the studio once the engineers get the signal into the board and can apply all kinds of EQ & EFX to modify it further. Reading further down, there seems to be some guys who are convinced of what amp Clapton used, and I would take their word for it, especially if these guys are guitarists and know their amps. I;m a recording engineer-producer mainly into studio EFX and so I defer to the amp experts cuz of my limited amp knowledge.
Found the multitrack recording online, and then it was just a matter of splitting them up. Do a little searching and you can find a bunch of them...
You can "hear" the bass line in your mind following the isolated solo above.
It was recorded with his red Les Paul, Lucy.
can someone do this for mick taylor's guitar in the stones' sway? that would be great.
absolute TOP
I can't hear a Leslie there at all, slight phasing as you would get with ADT. I did read a story about the assistant being told to 'wobble the oscillator' on playback to give the lead part a more Bealtes sound. If you used flanging with tape machines it would sound a great deal more golden and jangly than this does.
He was not playing through a Leslie, the engineer was getting a "wobbly" effect in the control room which made his arm nearly fall off as Clapton wanted it the whole time!
He was actually, he was playing George Harrison's Les Paul. But he wanted to give a that sound in order for the lead guitar can sound "Beatle-ish" and so people won't recognize it was his guitar playing.
Sounds a bit like tape flange.
***** You said "he was actually." Actually what? I am not sure if you agreed with me or not. He was not playing a Leslie. It was manually wobbled by the engineer in the control room. I already know Clapton used the Les Paul that he had given George, which is not what I am commenting on.
Justin H Yeah it does, but it was done manually in the control room.
Ram4 It sounds more like the guitar part was double-tracked and one part put slightly out of tune with the other.
Oops, My reply mysteriously posted before I had finished typing it or fixing my typo errors. Don;t know how that happened. I guess You-Tube had a hiccup.
Boards have "sends" out and in, to and from any external EFX box, in addition to internal EFX, so any guitar EFX box can be used in the studio booth OR,from a guitarist using it at his end via an amp. There's always more than one way to do anything in a studio. EMI would have had more than one way to record guitars during the Beatles era.
Clapton is called a rock god!! A person with that title has to be overrated, once your called the king, or it becomes a cliche to call you the greatest band ever (the beatles) people have to think you're overrated. You've left music and become icons, that's why I try not to make a list like rolling stones 100 greatest x or whatever, and just try to love music in general. :)
Back before the Les Paul we know today existed, the model of the SG was called the Les Paul.
Awesome really, E.C. playing Harrisons Les Paul standard !!
I never realized what was going on in that song till now.
+Jack Shelley So much.
An incredible blend of piano, guitars and ghastly vocals.
+Yzacata And an angry bass guitar.
George wanted Clapton to play, not really much else to say, Clapton was afraid since "nobody ever played on a Beatles track". But George didn't care since it was his song.
The Clarences love & support Eric!
George was good enough to do it himself, but he and Eric had become friends and the scene in the studio had become toxic so George felt the presence of an outsider (who was also his friend) would make things a little more bearable. He was right, the rest of the Beatles were on their best behavior and they got a great song out of the session. Pretty darn good.
George was like that. He would just think, hey, I want you to play lead on this song. Just to change things up.
Has a bit of that vibrato he used in 'Badge,' from the same year.
You're right, isn't that amazing? McCartney's bass was still playing in my mind!