Pitchfork

Photo by William Kirk

Turns out the biggest Beatles news today isn't the John Lennon catalog going digital. It's the latest tidbit from the ever lively camp Wu.

As the RZA revealed in a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, the Wu-Tang Clan will tackle a freakin' Beatles tune on their forthcoming longplayer, 8 Diagrams. And not just any Beatles tune-- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which, last time I checked, doesn't exactly bring the motherfuckin' ruckus. Still, lest you think this some idle flight of Wu fancy, the Clan have stepped their game up, enlisting none other than Dhani Harrison-- the 29-year-old son of "Guitar"'s late scribe, George Harrison-- to play acoustic on the track.

"He's the biggest Wu-Tang fan in the world," RZA enthused to Rolling Stone. "He knew all the kung fu shit! That's deep! I told him I would be honored if he played his father’s song."

While they were at it, RZA and the gang also dragged John Frusciante along for the ride.

The Chili Pepper plays lead on the Wu rendition, which is simply called "Gently Weeps" and isn't a cover in the straight sense. Instead it features the Clan rapping over the cover version recorded with Dhani and John, acting out a heroin dealer/heroin user saga. Method Man portrays the victim, while Ghostface turns in "one of the best lyrics I'm ever heard him say" (according to RZA, but we believe him) as the dealer.

8 Diagrams, meanwhile, now has a release date of November 13 on SRC (both this and the whole Beatles thing having been confirmed by the Wu publicist). We won't hold our breath, but we will keep throwing up our Ws.

In other news, it's not too late to win a date with Wu, nor to get amped for the upcoming Raekwon entourage disc. Catch the Clan now on the Rock the Bells tour.

You say "Tang!":

08-18 San Francisco, CA - McCovey Cove
08-19 Sacramento, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre
08-21 Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre
08-22 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
08-25 Minneapolis, MN - Metrodome
08-26 Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion
08-29 Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Center
09-01 Honolulu, HI - Blaisdell Center