Paul Mccartney tone on Abbey Road

[qervo]

Of course I did see on Larry King Live when Paul was asked "did you think your songs would be staples like Sinatra's songs"? He said "yes , of course, I knew they were going to be around a long time" even with that said, he probably did not think to much about it. He never was into technical thinking , just feeling . Half the time he didn't even know what amp he had, just plug and play was his motto.

[mjac28]

I'm sure if artists back then had Pro Tools they could have edited it all out like they do now I personally could care less does zero to diminish his legacy or the song's.

[qervo]

Agreed, I'm glad pro tools wasn't around back then, I kind of wish it wasn't around today . I'm a big analog fan .

[Stick_Player]

Originally Posted by qervo

It's been said that if Paul was playing piano on a track, George or John played bass, but I have no problem believing that Paul would have redone the bass part if he wasn't satisfied with the others performance . After all , Oh Darling was Paul's song and by this point in their career (and with the absence of their manager, Brian Epstein ) Paul was playing the role of manager and seemed to have the final say of what went down in the studio.

Probably, mostly true. Lewisohn states that the original bass track (probably played by George) was replaced by Paul, on Hey Jude.

Originally Posted by FrednBass

Ok, you got me there. Now I belive is Paul

If my selection were to be made from either John, Paul, George, or Ringo... I'd say definitely not Ringo, probably John on bass. Mostly based on the observations made in the "Recording the Beatles" book.

They make no suggestion as to what bass was used.

Keep in mind, the four-part basic track is a comp of several of the original 26 takes (according to Lewisohn).

[mjac28]

I heard that one of the assistant engineers at the Abbey Road studios actually did the bass part for Oh Darling under Paul's direction but he would have lost his job if it were discovered.

[music fun]

Originally Posted by MrDOS

9:46 AM 2/3/2013

I've been following this thread with interest, so I decided to take Stick Player's advice and mix it for myself. Since not all of you have the tools for this, I've posted the results, along with some quick analysis.

I first downloaded the thomas528491 isolated bass track from youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM5pPM4hA8Q, then mixed it with WaveLab panned hard left with track 4 from my Abbey Road CD.

Here's what it sounds like: http://www.woodlawnsound.com/OhDarli...olatedBass.mp3

Years ago, I played this song in one of my cover bands, and sat down to try to learn it note for note at that time. I've always loved the 5 chord at the start of the 2nd verse (00:36), but this is something guitar players tend to do more than bass players, IMO.

Some clams / notes that are atypical for McCartney lines:
00:52 - missed note on the 1
01:08 - flubbed note ("told")
01:16 - late note ("know")
01:29 - late note ("need")
01:39 - Always thought this harmonic was piano only, but it's clear it's bass too
02:21 - Great how the bass follows the drum fill - (IMO) evidence the bass was added after the drum track was completed.
02:39 - Wrong note is subsequently "covered"
03:06 - Tentative feel on the fill


I'm no expert, but this sounds like Paul to me. Maybe a Jazz bass - doesn't sound like Rick to me.

I stand corrected, and agape. As carefully as I thought I've been listening to that bass line, the mix really swells in and props up the bass glitches.

Thanks for laying this down. You've made the point.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by GM60466

Come Together - Jazz Bass

Nope . . .

[lunarpollen]

The isolated bass on "Oh Darling" sounds to me like the same type of bass used for the Band on the Run album.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by mjac28

I heard that one of the assistant engineers at the Abbey Road studios actually did the bass part for Oh Darling under Paul's direction but he would have lost his job if it were discovered.

Can't tell if serious.

[ShoeManiac]

Originally Posted by lunarpollen

The isolated bass on "Oh Darling" sounds to me like the same type of bass used for the Band on the Run album.

And that would be a Jazz bass.

Originally Posted by mjac28

I heard that one of the assistant engineers at the Abbey Road studios actually did the bass part for Oh Darling under Paul's direction but he would have lost his job if it were discovered.

Alan Parsons played on a Beatles track?

[jasper383]

I'm always surprised, when I hear these isolated tracks, how much dirt these guys played with.

I tend to think of the Beatles as a pretty "clean" sounding band, but there's a lot of overdrive in some of these songs. They were hitting those tubes hard.

Jamerson is another one. Sounds like he's got a RAT pedal in there somewhere.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by jasper383

I'm always surprised, when I hear these isolated tracks, how much dirt these guys played with.

I tend to think of the Beatles as a pretty "clean" sounding band, but there's a lot of overdrive in some of these songs. They were hitting those tubes hard.

Jamerson is another one. Sounds like he's got a RAT pedal in there somewhere.

Me too. I was totally surprised by that as the tones sound pretty clean in the mix.

[Matt R.]

Yep^^ Ditto. It's crazy how much a little overdrive can really make a bass track punch through the mix so cleanly.

[qervo]

The engineer for abbey road said they overdriven the amps on purpose to get a bigger sound.

[jbiscuti]

When I originally posted that "Oh Darling" was "unmistakably" John on the Bass VI, I forgot to mention something really important - the very first note. Go back to the isolated bass track and listen.

It's a high E, the same note that would typically be the 21st fret on the G string.

Ricks and Jazz Basses have 20 frets. The Hofner has 22 but that 21st ain't easy to reach, and we already know it probably wasn't Paul on the bass. Only the Bass VI could have hit that note.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Can't tell if serious.

Absolutely not sir but so many of these conversations end up sounding like this using current technology to dissect these incredible songs recorded using analog equipment? I personally could care less who played what? and who wrote what? but obviously others do and I respect that so I shall take leave of this informative conversation and go back to listening to and playing alongside Abbey Road even with all the mistakes thank you and good day all.

[3234718]

I've always heard that his bass is out of tune on certain tracks? Which are those exactly?

[jbiscuti]

Originally Posted by 3234718

I've always heard that his bass is out of tune on certain tracks? Which are those exactly?

A lot of the Let It Be stuff - "One After 909" irks me in particular. The intonation was shot at that point and any high-register stuff sounds a bit out.

[qervo]

Paul was sort of like jimmy Hendrix in the fact that he wasn't a technical guy when it came to his basses or gear. He just played. He once said his amp could have been a race car for all he knew , meaning he doesn't know what makes it better or worse than any other amp. He just wanted to know where do I plug in. Some of the great ones feel the same way that if they took time to really learn about the technicalities of their instrument then it might take away some of their creative mojo when playing them. So it doesn't surprise me that Paul's bass may have had intonation problems .

[ggvicviper]

I can hear the Jazz Bass now in Oh! Darling.

I guess WMGGW is a similar tone, but it always sounded so thin in my ears.