George Harrison let another rock star use the guitar that Eric Clapton played on The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” What an honor! That rock star used the guitar on another classic song. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a beloved tune but it was never a hit in the United States.
The guitar from The Beatles’ ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ was used in a soul song
Peter Frampton is a rock star who was part of the bands The Herd and Humble Pie. He also had a number of solo hits, including “Do You Feel Like We Do,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Show Me the Way,” and “I’m in You.” In a 2022 Loudersound interview, Frampton recalled what it was like getting to work with George and company. “It was: ‘Nice to meet you, man … Do you want to play?’ I said: ‘You mean now?’
“They’d just finished writing this song for Doris Troy, called ‘Ain’t That Cute,’” he recalled. “So he gave me ‘Lucy,’ that red Les Paul that he used on a lot of later records, and the one Eric played on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’” “Ain’t That Cute” appeared on Troy’s self-titled album, which was released through The Beatles’ Apple Records.https://youtu.be/YFDg-pgE0Hk
George Harrison and Stephen Stills worked on Doris Troy’s song
Frampton revealed what it was like playing on “Ain’t That Cute.” “I plugged in, and I can’t take my eyes off George, because I want to get this right,” he said. “Then I glanced to my right and there’s Stephen Stills sitting there. What?!” It must have been incredible to perform with two rock icons at the same time.
The “Isn’t It a Pity?” singer displayed a lot of faith in Frampton. “George showed me the chords, and I’m playing very quiet rhythm,” he said. “He stops the tape and says: ‘No, I want you to play lead.’ Then I started to sweat a little [laughs]. But I ended up playing the lead fills and intro on this song that was a single.”
How ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘Ain’t That Cute’ performed on the charts
Even though “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is one of the Fab Four’s most acclaimed hard-rock tunes, it was never a single. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is probably the most beloved track from The White Album. That album topped the Billboard 200 for nine of its 215 weeks on the chart.
“Ain’t That Cute” was a single, but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, none of Troy’s songs became hits in the United States besides “Just One Look.” Troy’s self-titled album didn’t hit the Billboard 200 either. While The Beatles were some of the most famous musicians of all time, they didn’t do a very good job catapulting other Apple Records artists to stardom. Just because someone is a good musician doesn’t make them a good talent manager.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Ain’t That Cute” weren’t chart hits but they are both remarkable songs.
