Grooviest Paul McCartney bass lines?

[nixdad]

Excellent thread!
I'm fortunate to be in a Beatles band and have the opportunity to play many of the songs mentioned in this thread whenever we perform. Playing these songs is such a blast and such a privilege.

I have never really learned a Paul bassline completely and I'm feeling like it is time. Any suggestions on his grooviest bass lines? I know a lot of beatles for sure, but am mostly playing jam/groove music these days and would love to learn something that applies.

Thank you!

Listen to the entire Beatles catalog as time permits, as there is ALWAYS something to be learned. Paul was so ahead of his time and responsible for not only creating many of the most memorable basslines in recorded history, but also for implementing and using so many different techniques throughout the years which were typically not associated with bass players (chords, hammer-ons, slides, bends, pull-offs, etc.)

Prepare to have an entirely new appreciation for Paul. I always really liked his bass work, but when I started learning Beatles songs, I realized his genius and loved his songs so much more. It started a slight obsession with his work, haha. I also found that a lot of his stuff is far more difficult than I was anticipating. I wish I could think like him, he's an excellent songwriter.

These statements are sooooo true. A lot of people think what Paul plays is simple until you dive into it.

I Want You/She's so Heavy. Macca's doing the full tour de force here. He's doing hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, runs of various lengths, some shredding (before there even was shredding) and IIRC, a full 12 fret glissando in about a second.

+100

One of my favorites is You Wont See Me.

I completely agree. This is not one of the tunes that first comes to mind when you think of Paul's best basslines, but the way he weaves in and out of the verses and choruses is sheer perfection. It's not a standout bass line, but it fits the tune like a glove.

Sir Paul is underrated IMO, which seems impossible given who he is. Even the earliest live clips show what a tremendous player he was even then, plus he was singing great while doing so.

+100

I often wonder if George Martin didn't have hand in suggesting the more melodic bass lines that he came up in the late 60's.

Hey Tony -
Of course it's possible, but I doubt it. As far as I've read and understand, in the later years Paul would actually record his bass part last to really nail the story he wanted to tell within the song. Not sure if this is 100% accurate, but it certainly makes sense. Paul was also blown away with how the bass on Pet Sounds was almost never conventional and rarely was played as a root - the bass notes many times were not the note you'd expect, nor in the place you'd expect. This may have influenced his approach as well. We all know Paul had very little company when it came to creating melodic bass lines.

Here's some great ones from Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, it's loaded with great melodic intricate bass lines that are indispensable to the songs they're in. I've got to say that it has unbelievable bass in almost every tune, that album could keep you busy for a while, great bass time too. To me this was the pinnacle of McCartney's experimental bass phase and his melodic playing, NOBODY ever played a bass like this anywhere before. Paul made bass a lead instrument in popular music.

SOOOOOO TRUE.

+1

The little changes in this one are crazy. If you're not listening for it, it sounds simple and consistent. As soon as you try to play along, you realize you're playing it wrong every time.

Typical!

Not taking anything away from all of the phenomenal bass playing through the years of of studio masters including Jamerson, Kaye, Osborn, Sklar, etc. However, I can't think of any other bassist in history who's bass lines can not only be recited by bass players, but can be recited by much of the general public as well. Truly amazing.

 

[dougjwray]

I haven't read the whole thread, but has the OP given his definition of "grooviest"?
He could mean an ostinato ("Come Together"), a walking line that grooves ("All My Loving", "Tell Me Why"), or a melodic part which is "groovy" ("really good" in Austin Powers speak) ("Lovely Rita", "With a Little Help From My Friends", "Nowhere Man").
If by "grooviest" we mean the ones with solid time and a great feel, every single thing McCartney has ever played qualifies.
As a genius composer, he has always had a knack for playing things which might or might not be technically difficult, but which are things none of us would have thought of. Even "If I Needed Someone", a rather obscure song, has a simple bass line with a detail no one else would imagine. Check it out.
None other than chops wizard Stanley Clarke once cited "Come Together" as a great line which "is the whole song."

 

[Nick Danger]

Our classic rock band plays Come Together, Hey Bulldog, Taxman, Day Tripper and Birthday. I love playing every one of them!
I'm even a lefty and use a Hofner for these.

 

[Skokiaan]

Sir Paul wrote this and did the instrumental work on the recording. There are some layers to it. We are doing a cover of it this Saturday for the first time. It has a lot of room for improvisation.

Paul only played acoustic guitar on this track, nothing else. Per Paul, his part was heavily modified in production, so much so that when the record came out he didn't recognize the song or know he was on it. He was given songwriting and production credits, but based on Paul's comments that must have been as a courtesy.

 

[BOOG]

Paul only played acoustic guitar on this track, nothing else. Per Paul, his part was heavily modified in production, so much so that when the record came out he didn't recognize the song or know he was on it. He was given songwriting and production credits, but based on Paul's comments that must have been as a courtesy.

Interesting! I will have to check my sources deeper. Where did you hear about this?

 

[Skokiaan]

Interesting! I will have to check my sources deeper. Where did you hear about this?

If I could remember I would post a link. I'll look around.

 

[Skokiaan]

Interesting! I will have to check my sources deeper. Where did you hear about this?

Found it:

Invalid Link Removed

Kanye West edited Paul McCartney's voice on FourFiveSeconds so much the Beatle didn't know it was him

Sir Paul McCartney has revealed how he didn't realise he was on Kanye West's FourFiveSeconds until he was told by the rapper. The Beatles legend collaborated with Kanye West and Rihanna on the hit single, but didn't recognise the recording which came about from them 'knocking around' in the studio. Speaking to Q Magazine, he said: 'I got a call, somebody said, "Kanye would like to work with you." So we just knocked around for a few days and he recorded any little thing we did.

'In the end, I thought we'd just knocked around and chatted a lot and I'd played a couple of things. 'Then suddenly in the post I get this Rihanna record and I thought it was great but I had to ring up and say, "What's this got to do with me?". 'Kanye said, "Well that's you on guitar." I didn't recognise it cos they'd sped it up. 'And then there's a sort of Mickey Mouse voice on the middle and that's me. I really liked that,' he added.

Let's be honest. It could have been anyone, couldn't it? Paul however seemed to enjoy his time with Mr. West, saying: 'he's an artist and he's eccentric but he's a great guy. 'It was a great pleasure working with him. You're on your toes.'

 

[BOOG]

Found it:

Invalid Link Removed

Kanye West edited Paul McCartney's voice on FourFiveSeconds so much the Beatle didn't know it was him

Sir Paul McCartney has revealed how he didn't realise he was on Kanye West's FourFiveSeconds until he was told by the rapper. The Beatles legend collaborated with Kanye West and Rihanna on the hit single, but didn't recognise the recording which came about from them 'knocking around' in the studio. Speaking to Q Magazine, he said: 'I got a call, somebody said, "Kanye would like to work with you." So we just knocked around for a few days and he recorded any little thing we did.

'In the end, I thought we'd just knocked around and chatted a lot and I'd played a couple of things. 'Then suddenly in the post I get this Rihanna record and I thought it was great but I had to ring up and say, "What's this got to do with me?". 'Kanye said, "Well that's you on guitar." I didn't recognise it cos they'd sped it up. 'And then there's a sort of Mickey Mouse voice on the middle and that's me. I really liked that,' he added.

Let's be honest. It could have been anyone, couldn't it? Paul however seemed to enjoy his time with Mr. West, saying: 'he's an artist and he's eccentric but he's a great guy. 'It was a great pleasure working with him. You're on your toes.'

Well, I had fun playing it Saturday night. Has some room to dance around the Bm.

 

[Garret Graves]

So many of his basslines were iconic, interesting, and some are pretty hard to play well. Keep in mind that he sang leads on many- to really know what he did, play the line and sing his part too! Think the "I Saw Her Standing There" bassline is hard, and a workout? Sing lead and play that line- he did!

 

[nixdad]

One of my favorites is You Wont See Me.

I completely agree. This is not one of the tunes that first comes to mind when you think of Paul's best basslines, but the way he weaves in and out of the verses and choruses is sheer perfection. It's not a standout bass line, but it fits the tune like a glove.

Edit: Ha! I got my songs mixed up. I love "You Won't See Me," but I meant the comments above for "Im Looking Through You." Also from Rubber Soul. Truly a perfect bass part for the song.

 

[MrDOS]

This may have been posted here, but this compilation is just amazing.
PS - I am amazed if this is George on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

 

[Mike JV]

Great thread. While there are many, many greats, Paul is my #1 favorite.

I've always loved the "bounce" in his playing. Two examples that always come to mind are "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" and "I Call Your Name." Those two have a feel that won't quit!

Right from some of their earliest recorded bar gigs you could hear how melodic his playing was and the great feel he had for the instrument.

 

[nixdad]

This may have been posted here, but this compilation is just amazing.
PS - I am amazed if this is George on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

Thanks for posting!

Maxwell's Silver Hammer has Paul written all over it.

 

[boggus]

Thanks for posting!

Maxwell's Silver Hammer has Paul written all over it.

Basic track was recorded with Paul on piano and guide vocals, Ringo on drums, and George on right-handed Fender Jazz Bass.

 

[Briton]

Silly Love Songs is my personal favorite. Jet is cool and this one is exceptionally great:

With the exception of McCartney they all look stoned out of their heads!
My favourites are Something and Hello Goodbye......Both are fun to play!

 

[nixdad]

Basic track was recorded with Paul on piano and guide vocals, Ringo on drums, and George on right-handed Fender Jazz Bass.

Wow!. It's certainly a very McCartneyesque bass part!

 

[MrDOS]

Various "Beatles Bible" sites state that Paul went back and overdubbed the bass, which makes sense to my ear.
For instance, check out the triplet run that follows the toms at 1:40

I don't think that was in George's wheelhouse during basic tracking.

 

[Richie Se7en]

Various "Beatles Bible" sites state that Paul went back and overdubbed the bass, which makes sense to my ear.
For instance, check out the triplet run that follows the toms at 1:40

I don't think that was in George's wheelhouse during basic tracking.

I totally agree with you on this. Most of the bass tracks played by George were pretty straightforward and this smells like Paul every which way.

I'm not sure but who is?

 

[boggus]

I don't think that was in George's wheelhouse during basic tracking.

I totally agree with you on this. Most of the bass tracks played by George were pretty straightforward and this smells like Paul every which way.

I'm not sure but who is?

Check out alternate basic take on Anthology, it has the same sound, different fills and not as polished yet.
And in the available multitrack of released version the bass guitar bleeds into the drum track, and the triplet fill is there. So whoever plays that bass part, is playing live together with the drums, and Paul was on Piano. The bass wasn't overdubbed.

"Beatles Bible" however nice it is, is full of inaccurate information, because a lot of that comes from books like Geoff Emerick's "Here, There and Everywhere".

I'm not sure but who is?

Even Beatles themselves weren't sure in 90s during making of Anthology where they were listening to early take of Golden Slumbers basic track, which has bass guitar (also played by George on Jazz Bass), and they are like "who's on bass here?" - Paul says "must be me?", George Martin replies "you are playing piano and singing on this take, so you can't be playing bass", someone (Paul or George) says "must've overdubbed it", to which George Martin reasonably says "why would you overdub a bass on Take 1?", to which George Harrison cracks a joke saying "well, he was keen!".

 

[MrDOS]

Check out alternate basic take on Anthology, it has the same sound, different fills and not as polished yet.

I did!

And in the available multitrack of released version the bass guitar bleeds into the drum track, and the triplet fill is there.

Available where?