Wah-Wah (George Harrison Song)

Wah-Wah (George Harrison Song)

"Wah-Wah" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song in January 1969 following his temporary departure from the Beatles, during the troubled Get Back sessions that resulted in their Let It Be album and film. The lyrics were a response to the musical criticism he had been receiving from bandmates Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and were partly inspired by Harrison's frustration at Yoko Ono's involvement in the band's activities. Music critics and biographers recognise the song as Harrison's statement of personal and artistic freedom from the Beatles, following his more-satisfying collaborations with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and the Band in the months leading up to the Get Back project.

Recorded shortly after the Beatles broke up in 1970, "Wah-Wah" was the first track taped for All Things Must Pass. The recording features a dense production treatment from Phil Spector and backing from a large cast of musicians including Clapton, Billy Preston, Bobby Keys and Ringo Starr. On release, Rolling Stone magazine described it as "a grand cacophony of sound in which horns sound like guitars and vice versa". Despite the praise that the song received from critics, Harrison considered it was overproduced and the sound too cluttered.

"Wah-Wah" was the first song Harrison played live as a solo artist when he performed it as his opener for the Western-music portion of the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971. At the Concert for George in November 2002, a year after Harrison's death, "Wah-Wah" was performed by an all-star band that included Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Starr and McCartney. Ocean Colour Scene and Mickey Thomas have also covered the song.