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Double Bass Paul McCartney why he's an Icon.
- Thread starter Vincent P
- Start date
Actually pretty horrible and derivative - I stopped it after about 30 seconds and what has it got to do with Double Bass....
You do realise that this is the Double Bass forum .....?
You do realise that this is the Double Bass forum .....?
The though that ran through my head on the day I posted this thread would have been, "John was a better musician, writer, composer"; but I should have seen the "he's not so great" also. I should have labled the thread, "Why I think Paul McCartney is an Icon".
Does he over embellish? Yes. Does he think he's a God in the music industry? Yes. So do 95% of all Iconic musicians. Gene Simmons has made a carreer of this and so did Elvis (before you start, I'm a fan of both) its the nature of the beast.
I love the directions these posts go some days. ;-)
Does he over embellish? Yes. Does he think he's a God in the music industry? Yes. So do 95% of all Iconic musicians. Gene Simmons has made a carreer of this and so did Elvis (before you start, I'm a fan of both) its the nature of the beast.
I love the directions these posts go some days. ;-)
The Beatles were the Britney Spears of their time, but who is going to be the Chris Crocker of that generation?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc&feature=related
Talk about performance!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc&feature=related
Talk about performance!
I know what you're saying but the analogy still makes me queasy and uneasy. When Britney makes her Rubber Soul, maybe the feeling will go away...
"Irving Berlin was the Britney Spears of his day..." Ugh.
Well, I am half joking but I am also taking into account the decline in quality in general since then. I have seen it argued that the Beatles started that decline....
Well the Beatles created pop compositions that continue on to this day as examples of some of the last centuries finest popular music. IMO
Before that we had 50's music I VI ii IV progressions adnauseam. I don't think you could make a case that "Eleanor Rigby" was somehow a step backward from "Earth Angle" or a selection of that ilk. Mind numbing wall paper!
As far as McCartney's DB performance, his technique, while not pretty, produced clear notes with pretty darn good intonation, and he sings great and his groove was terrific. 2 on technical skill, 9.5 on artistic skill.
Britney Spears?, LOL surely you jest, if you are serious, go buy a copy of Abby Road and repost after listening.
They had their moments, mostly the interactions between Paul and John's ideas. I am just making the point that being an icon which Paul and Britney are does not equal great or even good. I heard "Let it Be" in Wendy's today while enjoying Big Bacon Classic. It was fitting for the context, but every bit as vapid and "Earth Angel" or any of that ilk.
I am not saying the Beatles are without merit, but iconic status tends to come with a large helping of bull**** and they are no different.
Being iconic and ubiquitous lessens the impact of the great things they had to offer especially for those of us who were born post-British invasion - if Mingus' music was shoved down my throat my whole life I doubt I would care or find much to get excited about with his music either.
You are of course, entitled to your opinion but I whole-heartedly disagree with you. To my ears, The Beatles are by far the greatest pop band ever (This may not be a unaminous opinion but I am pretty sure I'm far from the only one who thinks so. (Perhaps we could ask Will Lee what he thinks? Its not even a generational thing - my son is 20, a 3rd year music student, and I'd bet a $100 he'd say the exact same thing).
No Paul McCartney is an icon not because he noodled around on Elvis upright bass but because he was 1/2 of the best pop-songwriting duo, and 1/4 of the best, and most successful, pop band ever. He is (and has been since youth) a multi-instrumentalist, and has one helluva a voice even at age 65. And IMO, he is one of the best pop bassist ever.
Your comparison to Brittany Spears simply doesn't work for me. Brittany is a pretty girl with lots and lots of problems. But she has done nothing of lasting importance in music. Don't get me wrong, I hope all the best for her - I really do. But I don't think (and I sincerely doubt that you or anyone else could make a case) that her musical contributions will ever have the impact, influence or creativity of any of the Beatles tunes. I could be wrong but I really don't think that there is any chance that music schools around the world will be teaching any courses on Brittany's music anytime soon. The Beatles music, OTOH, are a staple.
YMMV, etc.
No Paul McCartney is an icon not because he noodled around on Elvis upright bass but because he was 1/2 of the best pop-songwriting duo, and 1/4 of the best, and most successful, pop band ever. He is (and has been since youth) a multi-instrumentalist, and has one helluva a voice even at age 65. And IMO, he is one of the best pop bassist ever.
Your comparison to Brittany Spears simply doesn't work for me. Brittany is a pretty girl with lots and lots of problems. But she has done nothing of lasting importance in music. Don't get me wrong, I hope all the best for her - I really do. But I don't think (and I sincerely doubt that you or anyone else could make a case) that her musical contributions will ever have the impact, influence or creativity of any of the Beatles tunes. I could be wrong but I really don't think that there is any chance that music schools around the world will be teaching any courses on Brittany's music anytime soon. The Beatles music, OTOH, are a staple.
YMMV, etc.
Your post above is certainly the party line. I am not so much disagreeing with it as giving another perspective.
My dad is a huge Beatles fan, I grew up hearing it at every turn.
I intellectually understand their importance, but I am mostly bored by their music. Even worse I like Yoko Ono's work, especially in the visual arts, very much.
Millions think as you do above, and millions love Britney.
Proving what, exactly? "Millions" do lots of things without loving Britney. Millions also eat and excrete every day. Just because someone does something that millions of other people do doesn't lower the value of the thing being done one iota. Artistic and musical taste is subjective, and there is no inverse ratio between the number of people who like something and its intrinsic value. Millions of people like lots of wonderful things...and lots of not so wonderful things. That's just life.
I have a huge amount of respect for Paul and the Beatles, even though I could easily walk onto that stage and play all of those instruments (except the vocal parts
) as well as he did in that youtube clip. What I fully realize, however, is that I couldn't do what he/they did by writing so many great tunes in such a short period of time and elevating and transforming popular music in the process. If for nothing else, he deserves immense respect for being a central part of that. Heck, I don't "like" Michael Jordan all that much, but no way am I going to pretend that the man wasn't one of the greatest ballplayers of all time. And millions loved him, too. 
I guess I just don't understand your perspective. Paul is famous. Brittany is famous therefore Paul = Brittany? I just don't buy it.
Aside from the youtube clip you are I assume aware that McCartney played many of the lead guitar parts attributed to Harrison along with some of the drum parts usually thought to be Ringo. And of course, he also played many of the piano parts. Anyhoo, I'm splitting hairs.
Natch. I'm actually a huge Beatles fan, and used to teach a history of Rock class where I tried (successfully, in many cases) to create more among the younger generation. My only point was that what we saw in the Youtube clip could have been done by a lot of people; what sets sir Paul apart has little to do with the contents of that clip.
Ironically, this thread is starting to remind me of the Elvis Costello vs. Gary Peacock thread, in a different sort of way. But also ironically, I share Elvis' view of Mr. McCartney (or at least what I think is his view): It's a Love/Hate thing. He is admirable and despicable at the same time. I love him but I want to hit him sometimes. There's no doubt that Paul and John wrote a lot of good pop tunes. But me, I'm a John man. I'll take Norwegian Wood or Girl over Let It Be any day. John's stuff was clever and dark and sometimes kind of creepy. Paul has always been the crowd-pleaser, Guy Smiley, The Corn Dog. They really complemented each other but most of Paul's stuff is corny. The aforementioned Eleanor Rigby would be one of only a few exceptions that I could think of. If the Beatles never were, Paul would have been "the bassist from Wings" and this conversation would not be happening. There was a time when I thought I could listen to the Beatles forever but I'm kind of over them now. I still enjoy it occasionally but I rarely put it on myself.
But anyway the Elvis Costello connection is of course tenuous at best but he came to mind because a similar back-and-forth went on in that other thread. EC had McCartney write for some of his albums, and there are a bunch of songs where he blatantly rips off Beatles material, in a tongue-and-cheek kind of way (take the coda to "Party Girl" for example, which aside from the lyrics, is an exact gank of "Carry The Weight". Oh, EC also did a "classical" album, or maybe an opera or something, right around the same time Paul did. And I never listened to either one, but I think Elvis was totally making fun of Paul there, and did not expect to be taken seriously at all. (*edit - I just looked it up and boy was I wrong. It's actually a score to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it was commissioned by an Italian ballet company... )
...sorry for the derail. now back to our regularly scheduled program
But anyway the Elvis Costello connection is of course tenuous at best but he came to mind because a similar back-and-forth went on in that other thread. EC had McCartney write for some of his albums, and there are a bunch of songs where he blatantly rips off Beatles material, in a tongue-and-cheek kind of way (take the coda to "Party Girl" for example, which aside from the lyrics, is an exact gank of "Carry The Weight". Oh, EC also did a "classical" album, or maybe an opera or something, right around the same time Paul did. And I never listened to either one, but I think Elvis was totally making fun of Paul there, and did not expect to be taken seriously at all. (*edit - I just looked it up and boy was I wrong. It's actually a score to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it was commissioned by an Italian ballet company... )
...sorry for the derail. now back to our regularly scheduled program
