{"id":7639,"date":"2019-01-18T15:22:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T20:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=7639"},"modified":"2019-01-18T15:33:54","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T20:33:54","slug":"tis-the-esher-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/tis-the-esher-season\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tis the Esher Season!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prior to their 1968 summer and early autumn recording sessions at EMI, Paul McCartney stated that The Beatles\u2019 original plan was to have several rehearsals prior to the recording of their new LP.[i]<\/strong><\/a> But \u201clife,\u201d as we all know, \u201cis what happens while you\u2019re making other plans.\u201d [ii]<\/strong><\/a> And so, the boys got one day and one day only to present their ideas and concept songs for <\/em>The Beatles LP to one another. But what a magical day it turned out to be\u2026and what remarkable tracks have recently been revealed to us via the long-awaited mid-November 2018 release of the Esher Demos. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For McCartney fans, there are not as many diamonds to unearth on Esher as there are for Lennon or Harrison aficionados. In keeping with Paul\u2019s lifelong belief that rock\u2019n\u2019roll should be well-manufactured rather than grown, extemporaneously organic, Paul came to George Harrison\u2019s house at Kinfauns with his demo songs almost completely fleshed out. Prior to his arrival in Esher, Paul had performed and recorded the songs with full backing tracks. He\u2019d left very little to the imagination. Indeed, few of McCartney\u2019s Esher offerings deviate significantly from the version we\u2019ve come to know so well on the <\/em>White Album. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And although Ringo contributed significantly to the <\/em>White Album, there was no original Starr composition proudly presented to the others on that late day in May 1968. Therefore, in Part 1 of our discussion of the Esher Demos, our focus will turn to two of George Harrison\u2019s offerings, \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d and \u201cNot Guilty.\u201d \u00a0In Part 2, we\u2019ll consider Harrison\u2019s \u201cSour Milk Sea\u201d and a clever Lennon contribution: \u201cWhat\u2019s the New Mary Jane?\u201d And in our final blog prior to the New York Metro Fest, we\u2019ll examine John\u2019s \u201cChild of Nature\u201d and \u201cJulia.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u060f<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While My Guitar Gently Weeps \u2014 <\/em><\/strong>In Rishikesh, India, George was less productive musically than John and Paul because he firmly believed that writing music was contrary to everything The Beatles had journeyed to India to achieve. They were supposed to be (he insisted) retreating from work and the pressures of business; they were supposed to be concentrating on their souls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paul later commented on the Rishikesh experience: \u201cI remember talking about the next album, and George was quite strict. He\u2019d say, \u2018We\u2019re not here to talk music; we\u2019re here to meditate.\u2019\u201d[iii]<\/a>\u00a0 But agreeing to George\u2019s face, Paul kept right on clandestinely writing music\u2026while John meditated but worked openly \u2014 looking, all the while, for \u201ca shortcut\u201d to the Inner Light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But despite their myriad of distractions from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi\u2019s teachings, the deep influence of India, nevertheless, filled the White Album<\/em>. Indeed, George was later quoted as saying, \u201cThe experience of India was all embodied in that album.\u201d[iv]<\/a> And nowhere is it heard or felt more than in the reflective, soul-searching Esher version of \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Without being preachy (and George could occasionally be preachy, as in \u201cWithin You, Without You\u201d), this quiet song enumerates the sins and faults of his \u201cbrothers\u201d and almost pleads with them for repentance and a better way forward.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In this raw, primitive Esher version \u2014 minus the urgency of Clapton\u2019s dazzling lead guitar \u2014 you can hear George\u2019s heartbreak. Rock\u2019n\u2019roll author of The Recipe Records Series<\/strong>, Lanea Stagg, commented, \u201cYou can almost taste the salt of George\u2019s tears.\u201d Pared down to its essentials, Esher\u2019s \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d is even more poignant and touching than its final iteration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This May 1968 version of the song is the background that we hear playing as Martin Scorsese\u2019s \u201cLiving in the Material World, Part II\u201d opens. And it\u2019s an apt beginning to the second half of George\u2019s biography, because with this song, Harrison more or less declares his independence from The Beatle collective and dejectedly, but firmly, sets out on his solo career.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once this song goes into EMI production \u2014 once it\u2019s engineered and filled out \u2014 the listener will hear Harrison\u2019s words less clearly, less pointedly. But here, with minimal embellishment, one digests the deep disappointment that George has found in John and Paul:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why nobody told you how to unfold your love,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how someone controlled you,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They bought and sold you.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, although you can\u2019t miss the sorrow in George\u2019s voice (the regret that things have played out as they have), you can also hear his resolve. He has come to terms with the fact that the world is still turning; he realizes that there are other options for him. And if waiting around too long to be respected has been a mistake, well, \u201cwith every mistake, we must surely be learning.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> And so, George is sadly \u2014 very sadly \u2014 realizing that he must now move on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d always tugs at the heartstrings, but never more than when you hear it without any distractions. This is just George from Speke telling his boyhood Merseyside friends how much he has loved them and how much he has suffered\u2026and now, at last, he intends to say goodbye.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In this version, it is George Harrison\u2019s \u2014 and no one else\u2019s \u2014 guitar that gently weeps.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not Guilty – <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNot Guilty\u201d is another of George Harrison\u2019s songs (in the same vein as \u201cPiggies,\u201d \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps,\u201d and \u201cSour Milk Sea\u201d) in which he reprimands his mates for the way they\u2019ve dealt with him through the years. \u00a0However, his other songs are rather veiled \u2014 somewhat softened. This track is not milquetoast. This is Harrison standing up for himself, without apology, without regret.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In fact, in 1999, George told Billboard<\/em> Editor-in-Chief, Timothy White, that this song addresses \u201cthe grief I was catching from Lennon and McCartney post-India.\u201d He went on to say that he was telling them once and for all that: \u201cI wasn’t guilty of getting in the way of their career. I said I wasn’t guilty of leading them astray in our going to Rishikesh to see the Maharishi. I was sticking up for myself\u00a0\u2026\u201d[v]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to Harrison biographer Peter Doggett, in You Never Give Me Your Money<\/em>, another issue that George was addressing was the incredible amount of money that The Beatles had invested on the launch of Apple. George had always been a sharp-eyed steward of the group\u2019s finances, and in the spring of 1968, he felt that Apple\u2019s extravagances were \u201ctoo lavish\u201d and unnecessary. In \u201cNot Guilty,\u201d Harrison relents and says he \u201cwon\u2019t upset the Apple cart.\u201d But, clearly, George isn\u2019t pleased with the status quo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Esher version of \u201cNot Guilty\u201d is clear evidence that by May of 1968, George Harrison was no longer content to be long-suffering, to bite back his indignation, to \u201cget along.\u201d From the secure environment of his own home, Harrison cleared his throat, lifted his head, and sang his lyrics unabashedly \u2014 face-to-face with the friends who\u2019d implied that he\u2019d led them astray by convincing them to go to Rishikesh. He stared into their eyes and told them that he had never stood in the way of their progress\u2026and that he had no apologies whatsoever for his behavior. It was a bold move, albeit an emotional one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Esher Demo of \u201cNot Guilty,\u201d you can hear the passion in George\u2019s voice. You can also feel the rigid, awkward silence all around him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next blog:<\/strong> \u201cSour Milk Sea\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s the New Mary Jane?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Purchase the re-engineered White Album with the Esher Demos and liner notes HERE<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

[i]<\/a> Howlett, Kevin, \u201cEsher Demos\u201d liner notes for the re-engineered White Album<\/em>, November 2018.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> Lennon, John, \u201cBeautiful Boy\u201d lyrics, with credit to Allen Saunders, an American cartoonist who created Mary Worth<\/em> and used this phrase in a piece in Readers\u2019 Digest<\/em> in Feb. 1957.<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> Howlett, Kevin, \u201cOn the Road to the White Album<\/em>,\u201d liner notes for the re-engineered White Album<\/em>, November 2018.<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> Howlett, \u201cEsher Demos\u201d liner notes for the re-engineered White Album<\/em>, November 2018.<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> Huntley, Elliot J., Mystical One: George Harrison – After the Break-Up of The Beatles<\/em>, 165.<\/p>\n

\n

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations —\u00a0@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 1   Prior to their 1968 summer and early autumn recording sessions at EMI, Paul McCartney stated that The Beatles\u2019 original plan was to have several rehearsals prior to the recording of their new LP.[i] But \u201clife,\u201d as we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":7640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[98,117,30],"class_list":["post-7639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-beatles","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-fest-for-beatles-fans"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7642,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7639\/revisions\/7642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}