Paul McCartney: How does he rank as a Bass Player?

[Ekulati]

Sorry OP, but it IS a dumb question. But I'll weigh in anyway:

Dude is awful, never had an original thought in his brain, never came up with any interesting bass lines, always RUINED whatever groove a song had, never did anything more than just copy boring bass lines from music before him, just doubled the bottom note of the rhythm guitar.

So awful he really should have never picked up the instrument.

 

[Bass Man Dan]

I equate him to the bass version of Kurt Cobain on guitar. There are probably a million guys with better "chops". But "chops" and song writing ability do not necessarily go together...at all.

 

[Kmonk]

One of the most creative and innovative players of all time. He's in my top 10.

 

[40Hz]

He's up there. Thinks outside the box. Wrote some of the cleverest bass lines imaginable. Whatever he lacks in technique is more than made up for when it comes to musical invention and creativity IMO.

tl:dr - Class act. Period.

 

[Splash7]

Not bad for a guy that got stuck playing the bass guitar in a four piece band.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

Paul is awesome. He knows when to hold back and when to have fun with it.

 

[bassstrangler]

It doesn't matter where he ranks, there's no bassist playoff or bassist draft taking place. He plays the bass just the way he needs to. Some people find him to be the greatest ever, some probably think he's a hack.

What does it matter? @51PRI this is only a question you can answer. The rest of us chiming in is just a subjective take on Sir Paul's playing.

Let me know when the official rankings come out and how the decision was made to rank these bassists.

It's not like we can rank them according to amount of points scored, yards ran, free throws made, goals scored, how fast the ran the forty.

Maybe it's ranked by amount of notes played.

I know I must rank somewhere around 1,745,682

 

[Jebberz]

Innovative, imaginative and tastefull

 

[4001]

I think Paul came up with the perfect bassline in each tune.
He is a great writer and composer of advanced pop rock bass and led the way for so many others.

There's no ranking order in music though.....

 

[micguy]

In the stereos of the time (and cars), you never heard the fundamentals of the bass - playing a sustained note wasn't something that was helpful to a tune, as it didn't come across to the listener. Add to that the vibe of what the Beatles were doing (upbeat moving stuff in general), and Paul's style (a lot of movement in the bass line) was perfect for the music they did. Many of the same things can be said about Jamerson - same era, similar approach to the instrument.

 

[Slevage]

Musically creative in my book.
Not a technician, though not necessary.

 

[rashrader]

Listen to Rain and get back to me.... Still one of my all time favorite bass lines.

 

[Ostie]

A great bass player, a great song writer, lyricist, band leader. Seems like a good guy, I would love to sit down and have a pint with him. Maybe give him a few pointers....

 

[TheReceder]

He's a no talent hack, of course. Which explains why he never made it.

Two thumbs up for first rate sarcasm

 

[bassdude51]

Old

 

[sears]

He's a freak. "I Saw Her Standing There" is a bear. Granted, I'm playing on a 34" with fingers but I'm not singing it. "Day Tripper" is a workout. Every one of his lines is interesting and half are brilliant. To say nothing of his tone. If anything he's underrated.

 

[bassliner50]

For me, an early inspiration.

 

[Ric5]

nice melodic bass line here

 

[Ric5]

 

[dalkowski]

He only needs 4 strings.