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Paul McCartney

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#41
Originally posted by Paul A
Huh??????
I thought it was The Stones who brought people like Muddy Waters,Robert Johnson et al to the publics attention? not the "Beatless"
Oh yeah.... I think McCartney "Lost it" a LONG time ago .... someone should tell him...
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I think you are refering to his song writing skills without Lennon and Pauls solo career. The question was about his BASS PLAYING, not his silly love songs.:rolleyes:
 
#42
I'm a big McCartney fan and I can see where people wouldn't care for his new stuff (Run Devil Run and Driving Rain for instance). However, I look at that material as him just playing what he enjoys and not trying to recreate the material he came up with during the Beatles or even Wings. He's made a big enough contribution (as a bass player, song writer, and performer) to not worry about changing the face of music any more.

I liked the live Silly Love Songs that was on the Wingspan page, but it doesn't work any more... oh well.
 
#43
Thanks very much for your opinons. My feelings about Pauls bass skills are this. I have listen to bass players as Sting,Bill Wyman John Entwistle and Brian Wilson(Carol Kaye) but no one can reach Mccartneys level. You have to see that Mccartney is not a flashy bass player no one in the Beatles ever did any flashy.........That which makes Mccartney diffrent from any other players is that he plays some very technical bass lines and at the same time sings lead vocal not many bass player does that. And he does that infron of 180 000 people.........Many bass players only have to play bass but Paul write songs on a level that not many people can reach (only Lennon and Dylan) so his first chose was not to became a bass player that you all knows.........

If you not heard any bass lines Paul have played listen to these songs:Taxman, Paperbackwriter and the best bass song of all time :Rain - Listen to those songs and you gonne understand how great Sir Paul Mccartney are on bass playing!!!!!!!
 
#44
I can't really evaluate Paul but he's one very cool bassist...

nevertheless...

1-George Harrison did play bass in some Beatles recordings (didn't he?) and I remember reading about it in a BassPlayer mag plus there was a photo of him on bass. So Paul apparently did not do all basslines. I listen to "Hey Bulldog" and I get this doubt...that's Paul?? Or is he on piano?? Now if that is Paul then wow!

2-Many on the forums here HATE picks/plectrums... that gets me thinking... wasn't Paul one of the first bassists to play WITH A PICK? If so then uh oh...
 
#45
Even the great Lennon played bass ont the song The long and winding Road he plays a really bad bass line. George did not play on many only one song or something like that. George was not a great bass player either. But he was one of the top guitarrist ever on this world. And Lennon knew how to get loud out of his guitarr
 
#47
I still haven't figured out what is bad about that bassline (The Long and Winding Road). People on this board have said that before but it sounds good to me.

Hey Bulldog sounds like a Rickenbacker and I'd say without a doubt it is McCartney though I believe he may have played on a Fender bass some about that time.

Harrison played on some Abbey Road stuff while Lennon was in the hospital (Golden Slumbers through Carry that Weight was him I believe) and some material on The Beatles. I'll have to check out that list to be sure...
 
#50
According to some of you guys, Charles Manson should've been paroled a long time ago. He hadn't killed anyone in ages! If you're going to judge Macca, judge him on ALL of his stuff, not just his solo and Wings stuff. You can not discount what he did with the Beatles! Some of you act like the stuff he did with the Beatles never happened.
 
#51
Originally posted by Showdown
This is a cool site that lists every Beatles recording, and who played which instruments:



http://www.tacoshell.com/spinalcracker/cgi-bin/search.pl?title=t
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I've perused this website a couple times and, although it has a lot of great information, I'm not sure it's all totally accurate. For instance-- John Lennon is credited with playing the guitar solo on "Hey Bulldog." I read a short interview with George Harrison about the time the movie Yellow Submarine was re-released on video a couple years ago and he talked specifically about his approach to that particular solo.

As far as which songs Paul McCartney played bass on-- I don't think there are a lot of examples of any of the other Beatles playing bass. A lot of the time they would do the initial recordings with no bass at all an Paul would play piano or guitar and then dub the bass line in last. The thing is McCartney had a fascination with other instruments like guitar, piano, and drums but I don't think any of the other Beatles had a huge fascination with the bass. I think they were just as happy to leave that to Paul.;)
 
#52
I grew up listening to The Beatles, and many, many, other groups/musicians.
Paul McCartney's Bass work, in The Beatles, is why I originally decided to play Bass!
I think if anyone gets credited for bringing melody to the bassline, it must go to him, as a MAJOR pioneer. Also, he was fantastic for his sense of space and underplay.
He pointed the way of "new-think" for the Bass.



all those years ago
 
#53
The Beatles' site is nice, but I have my doubts as to accuracy.

Check out "Love You To" for example...I defy anyone to find a bass guitar on that track, but Paul is listed. Also, I thought it was by now well-established that George contributed all the synth parts on Abbey Road, especially seeing how he had released Electronic Sounds, but Paul is listed.

(Side note: I have come to the conclusion that "Here Comes The Sun" is a George solo track, save for Ringo's drumming. Compare that pedestrian bass line in tone and feel to everything else McCartney did.)

I always knew John played bass on several Beatles tracks, in particular "Let It Be," "Back In The USSR" and "The Long and Winding Road." It is news to me to hear that he's playing bass on "I'm Looking Through You" and "Rocky Raccoon" and, given the style of play, I don't believe he played bass on "Helter Skelter."

The tracks where Harrison is listed as bassist are interesting: "Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)," "Hey Jude," "Back In The USSR" (actually a 6-string bass), "Honey Pie," "Golden Slumbers," and "Carry That Weight."

Didn't Lennon used to say he played everything on "Ballad of John and Yoko" except drums? I forgot to check that one out.

Anyway, compare McCartney's style with the basic root-five stuff his compadres contributed and see if you get a better appreciation for Macca's bass skills.
 
#54
Originally posted by Steve Holroyd
(Side note: I have come to the conclusion that "Here Comes The Sun" is a George solo track, save for Ringo's drumming. Compare that pedestrian bass line in tone and feel to everything else McCartney did.)
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That line is fairly pedestrian, but the passing notes during the verse, while not difficult or outstanding, are indicative of Paul. It also has the distinctive "thump" that Paul was known for, which you don't really hear when the others are playing bass. I'm doubting that it was George... does anyone have "Beatles as Musicians"? Does that book clear it up?

Dino
 
#55
according to Ian Macdonald book Revolution in the head:George Harrisson play bass on the tracks:Birthday,Honey Pie,Golden Slumbers/Carry theWeight

Lennon on:Back in the USSR, Let it Be and The long and Winding Road

Lennon misses on the long and winding road are:0.28,2.10,3.07 he wrong notes,at 2.39,2.52none notes at all,and at 0.19 he just cant hit the strings and at 1.59 Mccartney laughs about lennons wrong notes...........
 
#56
I can hear some of those mistakes on the Long and Winding road when I listen hard enough. Lennon was pretty sloppy on the 6 string, but Let It Be was kind of a loose album any way, I think. Listen to the piano chord McCartney completely messes up on the song Let It Be. I'm surprised he let that one get to press.
 
#57
Originally posted by DinoSco


It also has the distinctive "thump" that Paul was known for, which you don't really hear when the others are playing bass.
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Really? The thing that really caught my ear and got me thinking is that the bass has such a thin tone on "Sun" that it couldn't have been McCartney. I mean, it is really out of tone (for want of a better phrase) with the rest of the bass on the album...even the stuff George played.

I realize that Paul could, in theory, have toned it down a bit for an acoustic track, but that wasn't his style. Check out his nice playing on his solo "Another Day"...a very fat tone.

As far as Revolution In The Head, it would appear it's as hit-or-miss as other attempts to thoroughly catalog who played what on Beatles records...Harrison most definitely played a 6-string bass on "USSR," for example. Some list him as playing bass on "Two Of Us," but, if you see the movie, he's playing his guitar with the most bassy tone possible.
 
#58
Originally posted by Steve Holroyd


Really? The thing that really caught my ear and got me thinking is that the bass has such a thin tone on "Sun" that it couldn't have been McCartney. I mean, it is really out of tone (for want of a better phrase) with the rest of the bass on the album...even the stuff George played.

I realize that Paul could, in theory, have toned it down a bit for an acoustic track, but that wasn't his style. Check out his nice playing on his solo "Another Day"...a very fat tone.
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I just listened to several tracks on "Abbey Road", and you are right that "Sun" is thinner than most of the others. Still, to my ear, I hear the distinctive thump of McCartney's style in there. It's decidedly different than "USSR", for example, which is a mishmash of almost toneless eighth-notes.

Maybe Macca did tone it down for "Sun", or heck, maybe it is indeed George. I just think it sounds like Paul, and as I mentioned, the passing notes in the verse -- hitting the III before going to the IV, and walking up to the V -- is very McCartney. Almost reminds me of "Little Help From My Friends," although that's a different pattern. Not that this type of playing would be above George, but McCartney always used a lot of passing notes and major scale walk-ups and -downs in his Beatles stuff.

But, stuff like this will always be open to conjecture until some definitive resource comes out! :) It's still interesting to discuss.

Dino
 
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