Here Comes the Sun

Tired of the tension-filled meetings that were becoming the norm in the business of running Apple, George Harrison took a break from the Beatles one sunny spring day in 1969 and visited the home of his good friend Eric Clapton.  Sitting in the garden, guitar in hand, inspiration struck and one of his finest compositions was born.

It is no small irony that Harrison was reaching his peak as a songwriter during the waning days of the group's career.  At the same time, he was finally developing his signature sound as a guitarist, settling on a simple, fluid style that became instantly identifiable for the rest of his life.

Sadly, John Lennon once again played no part in the recording of a Harrison composition.  Initially, he had good reason, as he was recuperating from an automobile accident, yet even when he was available for later sessions of work on the song, he did not participate.  Only George, Paul and Ringo gathered at Abbey Road Studios on July 7th, 1969 to record the basic track.  With Paul on bass and Ringo on drums, George played an acoustic guitar and sang a guide vocal until he was happy with take thirteen.  He then re-recorded his acoustic guitar part before calling it a day.

June 8th saw George record his lead vocal, then double-track backing vocals with Paul's assistance.  A week later, on July 16th, a session was devoted to adding a series of handclaps at various points in the song.  By this time, John Lennon was back but, as stated above, he did not join in.  George also reportedly overdubbed a harmonium part.  On August 4th, a stereo mix of the song was prepared so George could decide what else could be added to the recording.

The next new overdub was an additional guitar part recorded on August 6th.  This included the forgotten lead guitar solo discovered by Dhani Harrison and the Martins - George and Giles - in 2012.  It's well worth the time searching for the video of this remarkable discovery on YouTube.  Yet another guitar line was added on the 11th.

The two Georges - Harrison and Martin - collaborated on the orchestral overdub added on August 15th.  It was the last of five songs to receive a George Martin arrangement on this long day, but the assembled musicians saw it through to their mutual satisfaction.  Finally, on August 19th, George played his Moog synthesizer to put some finishing touches on the recording.

The result was a pastoral delight which instantly became one of Harrison's most popular compositions.  It was chosen to open side two of the album Abbey Road, a very prominent position.  George played it at the Concert of Bangladesh in 1971, alongside Pete Ham of the group Badfinger.  And, in 1976, he appeared on Saturday Night Live and played the song with host Paul Simon.

Though the song made the cut for the Blue Album in 1973, it has hardly surfaced on any other compilations.