10 Songs With George Harrison’s Best Slide Guitar Work
There are tons of songs with George Harrison‘s best slide guitar work. The former Beatle adopted the style in the late 1960s after he realized he needed to freshen up his sound after playing the sitar for so long. He’d lost touch with his guitar. Thankfully, he started playing slide. Here are 10 of his best slide songs.
10. ‘My Sweet Lord’
George’s triple album All Things Must Pass has some of his best slide guitar work, especially on “My Sweet Lord.” The song would be nothing without the slide that plays a beautiful melody. It blends into the chorus of “Hallelujah” and “Hare Krishna” perfectly. By 1970 George hadn’t been playing slide for very long, but he embraced it wholeheartedly on this tune.
9. ‘Wah-Wah’
“Wah- Wah” is a jumble of sounds, but you can make out George’s perfect slide work throughout the song. Around the three-minute mark, George starts playing a great slide guitar solo that seems to go on forever, but that’s completely fine. It’s incredible work and really lifts the tune.
8. ‘Isn’t It a Pity’
“Isn’t It a Pity” starts with driving acoustic guitar, but the slide eventually comes into the song in a way George mastered. He added slide here and there to his songs so eloquently. You don’t even realize the song needed it until he gave you a fill. The slide comes in at about the two-minute mark in “Isn’t It a Pity,” and it is just as gentle and soft as George’s singing and acoustic guitar playing. Like “Wah-Wah,” he lets his slide sing for him.
7. ‘What Is Life’
“What Is Life” doesn’t have too much slide guitar, but when it comes in at around the 2:50 mark, it makes the verses so much better than they were in the first half of the song. He adds a touch of slide throughout the song, changing it and adding more depth to it. He should’ve put the slide in from the beginning, but adding it halfway through built the song up.
6. ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)’
There’s good old-fashioned slide guitar work on “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” Unlike the songs before on this list, the gentle song has slide guitar throughout, not just as fills or solos. Fans usually consider this song one of George’s best slide guitar songs. They’re not wrong. It’s hard not to picture yourself sitting on a remote island, relaxing, and listening to George’s soft playing.
5. ‘The Light That Has Lighted the World’
“The Light That Has Lighted the World” initially seems like a piano song. Then, it becomes a piano and acoustic guitar tune at the one-minute mark. However, about 40 seconds later, George’s slide guitar comes in for a solo, one of his best. The tune is an excellent example of how George built up his songs. Then, he uses his skills to close the song out steadily and gently.
4. ‘Leave a Light On’ (Belinda Carlisle)
Belinda Carlisle’s “Leave a Light On” is the only song on this list that isn’t George’s. The former Beatle played some great slide guitar on other artists’ songs, but for the sake of this list, we chose to stick with his songs. However, this tune has to appear because George claimed it had his all-time best slide guitar work. George’s slide comes in at the three-minute mark, and while it is very complex work, it’s not exactly his best.
3. ‘This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)’
“This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)” is a sequel to George’s Beatles tune “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The song appears on Extra Texture, one of George’s intriguing albums. It’s got a lot of pianos, R&B, and other sounds not typical for a George Harrison album. However, “This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)” is a good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll song with some of George’s usual slide guitar fills.
2. ‘Cheer Down’
“Cheer Down” is remembered as the closing song in Lethal Weapon 2. However, amongst George’s avid fans, it’s recognized as one of his all-time best slide guitar songs. The way the slide comes in at the beginning is perfect. It sings a melody before George even comes in with the lyrics. He played it incredibly during his and Eric Clapton’s Japanese tour.
1. ‘Marwa Blues’
“Marwa Blues,” from George’s last and posthumous album, doesn’t need lyrics to tell you it is a spiritual song. You can feel how much soul George poured into the tune, which is one big slide guitar solo. It’s absolutely perfect and tells many things about who George was then. He recorded the song in his last years and months, yet he was still able to convey so much feeling in his slide guitar work.
George Harrison’s slide guitar work became a part of who he was as a musician and artist. He once confessed he often blacked out during slide guitar solos. It’s easy to see why. Something came out of him when he played that wasn’t from this world. Thankfully, he turned to the technique. Otherwise, his songs wouldn’t have had that spark.
