McCartney and his Rick

[Toronto Bassist]

Ever since the remasters came out, I've slowly been adding Beatles CDs to my collection (so far I'm at Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, White Album, and Sgt Pepper). I've heard that Macca got his Rick in '65. I'm curious if he still used the Hofner for any (Beatles) recordings after that...what do you think? It sounds like it's all over the white album, that's for sure. At other times though, some songs like "When I'm 64" and "Octopus' Garden" seem to have that thumpy, tubby sound of the Hofner.

[warnergt]

Yes. He occasionally continued to use his Hofner 500/1.
He uses it to this day.
It is used in the following:
I'm Only Sleeping - 1966.
Revolution - 1968.
Get Back - 1969.
Don't Let Me Down - 1969.
The Ballad Of John And Yoko - 1969.
Something - 1969.
I Want You (She's So Heavy) - 1969.
In 1966, George appears to have actually used it on "She Said She Said" - this may be the only Beatles tune that does not feature Paul McCartney.

"Octopus's Garden" and "When I'm 64" were both Paul's Rickenbacker 4001s.

[Toronto Bassist]

What about "Old Brown Shoe"?

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by warnergt

In 1966, George appears to have actually used it on "She Said She Said" - this may be the only Beatles tune that does not feature Paul McCartney.

While there is some disagreement as to who played bass on the RELEASED version of "SSSS", No one actually thinks George played Paul's Hofner(as you seem to be saying), there are photos of George in the studio from this period playing a Burns bass.

And as for "this may be the only Beatles tune that does not feature Paul McCartney", what do you mean? There are several tunes that McCartney doesn't appear on, do you mean that he doesn't play BASS on? There's plenty of those too.

Something - 1969.

"Something" is Rickenbacker 4001S.

[Toronto Bassist]

Yeah, "Something" definitely sounds like a Rick...there's no mistaking it on that one.

[AltGrendel]

I believe that Old Brown Shoe is the Hofner.

[warnergt]

What other tune(s) did McCartney not appear in?

I was going on one of McCartney's own quotes where he says exactly that
-- this may be one of the only Beatles tunes that he does not play in.
I could be wrong but that would mean that McCartney was wrong.

George may have used a Burns bass on SSSS. There has been some
speculation that he used Paul's Hofner. Paul wanted to change
something in the song and walked out when the other Beatles refused
to go along with his change. According to Paul, he didn't play the
bass on that tune.

Regarding the "Old Brown Shoe" question, Paul did not play bass on
this tune (George did). The bass in this tune is often miscredited to
Paul. However, Paul is in the tune playing piano and singing backing vocals.

[warnergt]

Originally Posted by warnergt

What other tune(s) did McCartney not appear in?

Let me rephrase that:
What other tune features all three of the other Beatles but no Paul McCartney (besides Revolution 9)?

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by warnergt

Let me rephrase that:
What other tune features all three of the other Beatles but no Paul McCartney (besides Revolution 9)?

That's a different question from your original one, which is the one I disagreed with.

[McHaven]

Since I got my Rick, I've been searching for a list of Rickenbacker Beatles tracks. I know he first used it on Paperback Writer and Rain, and it was his main bass through Sgt Pepper's, and then he went back to the Hofner for Let It Be. Anyone have a more track by track listing?

[adamrobertt]

Originally Posted by McHaven

Since I got my Rick, I've been searching for a list of Rickenbacker Beatles tracks. I know he first used it on Paperback Writer and Rain, and it was his main bass through Sgt Pepper's, and then he went back to the Hofner for Let It Be. Anyone have a more track by track listing?

You're skipping the White Album, Abbey Road, and Magical Mystery Tour

Edit: Try just running Bealtes song titles into Wikipedia. Most of them have a pretty detailed article.

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by warnergt

George may have used a Burns bass on SSSS. There has been some
speculation that he used Paul's Hofner.

You do know that McCartney(and thus his bass) is left-handed and George is not.

As someone who has spent the last 18 years playing bass in a (award-winning)Beatles tribute band, I've done a LOT of research on this topic over the years, and have to say this is the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest that George played Paul's Hofner on anything. FWIW.

[Ric5]

Paul used 3 different basses in Beatle Recordings. Rickenbacker 4001, Jazz Bass, Hofner.

The songs where Paul plays guitar or piano John or George quite often played the bass lines on a jazz or a Fender VI.

So on any given record there a 7 different possibilities for the bass line.

[McHaven]

Originally Posted by adamrobertt

You're skipping the White Album, Abbey Road, and Magical Mystery Tour

Edit: Try just running Bealtes song titles into Wikipedia. Most of them have a pretty detailed article.

I'm not skipping them. I'm saying that I know Sgt Pepper's is nearly 100% Rick, and Let It Be is nearly 100% Hofner. I don't know what the percentages are for the other albums.

[warnergt]

Originally Posted by iamthebassman

You do know that McCartney(and thus his bass) is left-handed and George is not.

As someone who has spent the last 18 years playing bass in a (award-winning)Beatles tribute band, I've done a LOT of research on this topic over the years, and have to say this is the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest that George played Paul's Hofner on anything. FWIW.

Good point. I saw something that indicated George played a Hofner bass for that tune.
I made the (probably bad) assumption that it would have been Paul's Hofner. So I guess I stand corrected there.

[Toronto Bassist]

I can't tell because I had eye surgery yesterday and everything's blurry...is George actually playing bass in this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD3ovfZXO5Q

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by Toronto Bassist

I can't tell because I had eye surgery yesterday and everything's blurry...is George actually playing bass in this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD3ovfZXO5Q

Yep, that's from their appearance on the David Frost Show. Fender VI.

[mccartneyman]

Originally Posted by adamrobertt

Edit: Try just running Bealtes song titles into Wikipedia. Most of them have a pretty detailed article.

I would not cite Wikipedia as a reliable source on many subjects, including the Beatles. It's too easy to throw up unverified or speculative information.

It has been reported -- by Denny Laine, I think -- that McCartney can and did play a right handed bass, upside down, on the Band on the Run LP.

[McHaven]

This will sound silly, but I have found that the Beatles Rock Band game has done their research, and accurately portrays each member, and what they played on the track. For example, you'll see George playing a Fender IV, or on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", Paul plays a jazz.

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by mccartneyman

It has been reported -- by Denny Laine, I think -- that McCartney can and did play a right handed bass, upside down, on the Band on the Run LP.

You are ABSOLUTELY correct, on that album he played a right-handed Fender Jazz RESTRUNG LEFTY!