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01. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (1968)

On September 6, 1968, guitarist Eric Clapton entered Abbey Road Studio Two in London to overdub lead guitar onto a newly recorded Beatles song called "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

During the recording of The Beatles (aka "The White Album"), Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr were seriously getting on each other's nerves.

To lighten the mood a bit, Harrison asked his friend Clapton to play on his new song -- which he felt was being unfairly overshadowed by Lennon's and McCartney's new songs anyway.

Clapton originally wasn't all that into the idea, saying, "Nobody ever plays on The Beatles' records."

"So what?" Harrison said. "It's my song." So Clapton showed up -- and, as it turned out, the battling Beatles were on their best behavior that day.

The video below shows a live version from the 1987 Prince's Trust Concert featuring three musicians from the original recording -- Harrison, Starr and Clapton -- plus Elton John, Phil Collins and assorted hangers-on.

No band made a bigger mark on rock and roll in the 20th century than the Beatles. Check out our "Guitar Legends: The Beatles" issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World.

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