Savoy Truffle

By 1968, George Harrison and Eric Clapton were forging what would become a lifelong friendship.  George actually brought Eric in to a Beatles session in September of that year to play lead guitar on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.  He even felt confident enough in this friendship that he knew he could get away with writing a song playfully poking fun at one of his friend's biggest woes - Clapton's notorious sweet tooth.

Savoy Truffle is one of the selections listed on the box of Good News chocolates that Clapton loved so much.  For the lyrics, Harrison only had to invent a few imaginary confections to add to those he used from the actual box pictured above.  While warning a friend that he might have to have his teeth pulled out is an odd idea for a song, the resulting track is a delight.  In fact, it is one of the best rockers that Harrison ever wrote as a member of the Beatles.  

According to official documentation, only one take was required at Trident Studios on October 3rd, 1968, to achieve the basic track, with George on guitar, Paul on bass and Ringo on drums.  (Sadly, Lennon did not contribute to the recording at any point.)  They must have rehearsed extensively beforehand, as their performances, especially that of Ringo, are impressive.  Still working at Trident, they returned to the track on October 5th to overdub another guitar part, as well as George's lead vocal and Paul's harmony vocals.

George Martin was back from an extended holiday to produce these Trident sessions.  There were a number of tracks recorded during his absence which now demanded his attention, so he handed off the task of writing an arrangement for Savoy Truffle to the person who had served as producer over the past several weeks, young Chris Thomas.  Thomas has admitted that he found it to be a bit of a chore, but he succeeded in coming up with a fantastic score for two baritone and four tenor saxophones.  

The saxes were overdubbed onto the track at Abbey Road Studios on October 11th.  Though Martin was producing the session, Harrison took charge, apologizing to the players for adding so much distortion to their sound before playing it back for them to hear.  One final session for the song took place on October 14th, with Chris Thomas playing organ and electric piano parts, and George adding a sizzling lead guitar solo that interplays brilliantly with the horn section.

Unfortunately, the song is practically buried on the middle of side four of the "White Album," making it an obscure track to most casual fans of the Beatles.  It has never appeared on any compilations, though I have always felt that it deserved to be on the 1976 collection Rock and Roll Music.