later. Rather than esraj, which Leng gives for "The Inner Light" and for Wonderwall tracks such as "Crying", Harrison used the bow-played tar shehnai during the Bombay sessions, played by Vinayak Vora. As with the Wonderwall selections recorded at HMV, Harrison directed the musicians but did not perform on the instrumental track. London Harrison completed the song in London during sessions for a new Beatles single, which was intended to cover their absence while the group were in Rishikesh, India, with the Maharishi. Once the Bombay recording had been transferred to four-track tape, Harrison recorded his vocal part for "The Inner Light" on 6 February, at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios). Lacking confidence in his ability to sing in so high a register, he had to be coaxed by Lennon and Paul McCartney into delivering the requisite performance. Two days later, McCartney and Lennon overdubbed backing vocals at the very end of the song, over the words "Do all without doing". "The Inner Light" was held in high regard by Harrison's bandmates, particularly McCartney, and was selected as the B-side for the forthcoming single. It was the first Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles single, in addition to being the only Beatles studio recording made outside Europe. Everett writes that Lennon's admiration for the track was evident from his subsequent creation of the song "Julia" through "a very parallel process" – in that instance, by adapting a work by Kahlil Gibran. Although Harrison had served as the producer at the Bombay session, only George Martin received a production credit for "The Inner Light". Release The song was issued as the B-side of "Lady Madonna" on 15 March 1968 in the UK, with the US release following three days later. While Chris Welch of Melody Maker expressed doubts about the hit potential of the A-side, Billboard magazine commented on the aptness of "The Inner Light", given the band's concurrent "meditation spell". Cash Boxs reviewer wrote: "Lyrics from the transcendental meditation school and near-Eastern orchestrations on a very interesting coupler that could show sales as strong as ['Lady Madonna']." In America, the song charted independently on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, placing at number 96. In Australia, it was listed with "Lady Madonna", as a double A-side, when the single topped the Go-Set national chart. In the description of author and critic David Quantick, whereas "Lady Madonna" represented