Paul McCartney & "Band on the Run"

[Spanky]

I am soooo gonna get fried over this, so Ill just apologize in advance to those whom I offend!

This song was on the radio today, and really for the first time ever, I sat up and took notice of Pauls bass parts. Great basslines...dont get me wrong, very solid and foundational. Its the tone I couldnt believe, though. Sounds like an absolute fresh steamy pile of dog poo. Im guessing he was using his Hofner and a seriously blown rig when he recorded it? The rest of the mix was fine...

Anyone else have a take on this?

 

[Floating teetH]

I like that one part that's all funky& etc. (the "if we ever get out of here" part), especially in some Panic cover (don't remember the date or anything) I can't really think of what the original sounds like, though.

 

[SuperSluggard]

I just listened to it and thought he had good tone.

Now I will fry you.

 

[Spanky]

I just listened to it and thought he had good tone.

Now I will fry you.

Fry away! Lol...I just heard it again and still think it at least deserves a remix!

 

[The Golden Boy]

I'm a huge McCartney fan, and I don't like a lot of his Wings bass tones. Thuddy and duddy.

 

[lbanks]

I always thought it was some kind of effect.

 

[Philbiker]

I love the bass tone on that album. And Paul plays drums really well on that record. What a talented musician!

 

[Spanky]

I'm a huge McCartney fan, and I don't like a lot of his Wings bass tones. Thuddy and duddy.

Guess its all a matter of taste. I like most of McCartneys stiff just fine, but thuddy and duddy definately describes the tone on this one! Lol....

 

[tim oconnor]

Funny this came up...I heard the song on the radio this past weekend and it struck me that he had the perfect sound for that song. I was wondering if he was using typical flatwounds or maybe even black nylons. I find it to be a very applicable thick bass tone (for the song). You can CLEARLY hear every note.

IMO, Paul McCartney always seems to play perfect parts for the song. I feel the same way about John Paul Jones too.

 

[brianrost]

The photos on the poster included with the original LP show Paul playing a Fender Jazz Bass in the sessions.

 

[The Golden Boy]

IMO, Paul McCartney always seems to play perfect parts for the song.

Ain't that the truth... Whether it's staying on one note like on "Jet" or something bouncy like "Penny Lane."

 

[chris4001asat]

I don't think I've ever seen Paul play a Jazz. I'd like to see that picture. It sounds like his Rick with flats on it to me.

 

[Spanky]

Wow! A Jazz? I never knew he played one either. I dunno, Im gonna find a copy of it and listen to it again through a couple of different systems and see. There is a possibility that it was the stereo I heard it on at the time. Im sitting here listening to a rough mix of our new CD and I hear alot of crappy bass tone on that as well...and it's ME playing...hahahaha!

 

[apollo11]

I have always loved McCartney's tone on BOTR, both the song and the album. In fact, it is one of my favorite bass albums. It is difficult for me to hear the sounds as thuddy and duddy----I just don't hear it!
Andrew

 

[chris4001asat]

I started thinking about this thread yesterday as I was walking out the door. I ran over and got the anniversary CD out to play in the car. As I was sitting at a red light, I pulled out the poster, and there it was. Paul playing an upside down Jazz!!!!

 

[The Golden Boy]

Compare the sound to a "known" sound. Listen to any of the stuff off "Wings Over America" which you know is the Rick (watch "Rockshow"). It's not identical, but it's the same sound, less than 3 years later.

 

[cosmic]

I don't think I've ever seen Paul play a Jazz. I'd like to see that picture. It sounds like his Rick with flats on it to me.

I got you buddy. I am sorry you had to wait two decades to see these photos.

 

[Slevage]

Sounds very 70’s pop mid-rangey to me. That tone worked on the radio, but live? Not enough bottom end.

The band, The Raspberries, had a similar bass tone in their hits.

 

[bassbrad]

Like so many records from that period the sound and songs are a snapshot that may seem out of time or place to some and a wonderful nostalgia trip for those of us that experienced those daze. I recall buying both the Lp and 8track so both could play it at home and in the car, I had money to burn back then .

Sounds very 70’s pop mid-rangey to me. That tone worked on the radio, but live? Not enough bottom end.

The band, The Raspberries, had a similar bass tone in their hits.

There was an impossible mission back then to make mixes that sounded great on stereo systems of the day as well as on an AM radio in mono thru small speakers in cars, clock radios or juke boxes, that is all a part of the character of those old recordings we still cherish and debate.

 

[dougjwray]

I think it sounds fine.
But I also think Paul has always been concerned with note choices more than his sound. At least I don't ever remember him saying in an interview, "The Jazz Bass blended better with keyboards than the Hofner because it is stronger in the upper mids when you favor the bridge pickup" or something.
He wasn't even 20 years old when George Martin started working with them, so maybe he's always thought, "I just plug in and play, and the technical guys take care of the rest."
There's that classic sequence in the "Get Back" documentary where Glyn Johns is almost begging him to switch from the Hofner to the Rickenbacker, and he refuses. He preferred the Hofner because it was lighter. He also didn't know what the controls on the Rickenbacker did. My guess is that Johns didn't like the Hofner because it didn't play in tune (which you can hear in the rooftop concert) as well as having less definition.