Dissociated Thoughts

2/18/22 - A Weeping Tribute

18, February 2022

Back on March 15, 2004, a handful of amazing musicians joined together to give tribute to Mr. George Harrison for his posthumous induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group featured Tom Petty and two other members of the Heartbreakers, as well as Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, George Harrison's son Dhani, and Prince. It is said to be Prince's best guitar solo performance. Prince was also inducted into the Hall of Fame that night.

Some Facts About the Song: ▼

*George Harrison wrote While My Guitar Gently Weeps after his return from India, where the Beatles had been studying Transcendental Meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during the spring of 1968.
*While My Guitar Gently Weeps was inspired by the I Ching, and featured his friend Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
*It was one of the few Beatles compositions from early 1968 which changed significantly from the demo form to the official recording.

Facts About This Tribute Version of the Song: ▼

*Prince never rehearsed the solo with the band, instead he allowed Marc Mann to do both solos during the rehearsal and he simply played rhythm.
*Prince was supposed to play both solos for the performance but allowed Marc Mann to take the middle solo while he brought down the house with his memorable outro solo.
*Craig Inciardi (Curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum) later said of Prince's solo that night, "You hear all this sort of harmonics and finger-tapping, sort of like what you’d hear Eddie Van Halen do. He runs through all these different sort of guitar techniques that are sort of astonishing. You hear what sounds like someone cocking a shotgun. There’s all these strumming power chords that really, really connected. Then he plays his version of the Eric Clapton solo. He evokes Eric’s solo in very sort of truncated fashion. As he ends the song, he plays this flourishing thing that sort of ends up sounding a little bit like Spinal Tap, but in a good way."
* The guitar Prince threw into the air at that performance was caught by one of his guitar techs, Takumi Suetsugu - who was in charge of not only catching the guitar but specifically handing it to Oprah Winfrey.
**For a great read about the event and Prince's roll in it, check out The New York Times April 2016 article by Finn Cohen: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/prince-guitar-rock-hall-of-fame.ht...

Some Facts About Prince: ▼

* Prince was born with Epilepsy
* Prince was a Jehovah's Witness and would sometimes go door-to-door witnessing to his neighbors
* He wrote Manic Monday for The Bangles
* Prince was exceptional at singing, dancing, songwriting, arranging music, playing instruments, leading a band, and producing music
* Prince was a multi-instrumentalist. Considered a guitar virtuoso; he was also skilled at playing the drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, and synthesizer.
* His music spanned a wide variety of styles including funk, rock, R&B, new wave, soul, psychedelia, and pop.
* And yes, his favorite color was indeed purple.

Lyrics ▼

While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Songwriters: John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul James Mccartney
Original Performers: The Beatles

I look at you all
See the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps

I look at the floor
And I see, it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you

I look at the world
And I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps

With every mistake
We must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted, too
I don't know how you were diverted
No one alerted you

I look at you all
See the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps

Look at you all
Still my guitar gently weeps