To be a good musician, you need to be open to collaborating with other people. If you work in a creative industry, you need to acknowledge that you will never know everything about said industry. There are always going to be new ideas, new ways to approach things, and different ways to write and record music. The Beatles’ openness to collaboration, both as a band and in their respective solo careers, has helped their music remain timeless.
On some occasions, The Beatles started working with others because they felt it was necessary to get the rest of the band playing to a high standard. George Harrison famously brought in Eric Clapton to play guitar on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ because he didn’t feel like the rest of the band was taking it seriously enough.
“I was driving into London with Eric Clapton,” said Harrison, “And I said, ‘What are you doing today? Why don’t you come to the studio and play on this song for me?’ He said, ‘Oh, no – I can’t do that. Nobody’s ever played on a Beatles record and the others wouldn’t like it.’ I said, ‘Look, it’s my song and I’d like you to play on it.”
He continued, “My ego would rather have Eric play on it. I’ll tell you, I worked on that song with John, Paul, and Ringo one day, and they were not interested in it at all […] And I knew inside of me that it was a nice song.”
Eric Clapton wasn’t the only person performing on this song, though. Another man with whom The Beatles collaborated frequently was Billy Preston, the famous musician who wrote his own material and also stepped in to help a number of different bands with whatever problems they might be facing. He had a great ear for music, and was able to adjust his playing style depending on who he was playing with.
Preston remains one of the only session musicians to actually be credited on a Beatles record. He played on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and was also a prominent figure for the band when they were recording their Let It Be album. John Lennon even dubbed him the fifth Beatle in an interview towards the end of the ‘60s.
While every member of the band, George Harrison, had a particular connection with Preston, one which was clear to him, it was also clear to those around Harrison as well. His wife, Olivia Harrison, commented previously on the connection that the two musicians seemed to have, which meant that even after The Beatles broke up, they continued to work on various solo projects.
“I think George and Billy connected in a way the others didn’t,” said Olivia Harrison, “He was certain of Billy the moment he laid eyes on him. He saw him, and I think Billy saw George. And somehow, they recognized each other, and they really saw who they were. And I think that’s what kept them together.”
Harrison was an incredibly talented musician who transcended just his session work. The director of his documentary, Paris Barclay, shined a light on how versatile an artist he was. “Billy Preston’s legacy is simply that, despite his personal struggles, he sat in and made everyone around him better,” said Barclay’s. “The Beatles, the Stones, Aretha, Elton, Eric Clapton and Barbra Streisand, just to name a few… and [he] made his own Top 10 hits while he was at it.”