# McCartney as a Bassist **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2004, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134 "2004-01-26T10:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/21 "2004-01-26T18:43:57Z")
Yup, funk as a musical genre didn’t really exist until James Brown’s seminal “Poppa’s Got a Brand New Bag” in the latter half of '65. And it took a couple of years for the rest of the world to catch up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/22 "2004-01-26T19:17:58Z")
Such bass knowledge on display in this thread! As a bass player, I’d like to thank everyone for the education. Paul is an awesome bass player. “Dear Prudence”, “Flying”, “I Saw Her Standing There”, “I am the Walrus”, “Money”, “Drive my Car”, “Day Tripper”, “Paperback Writer”…I could go on and on. BTW, for my money, Duck Dunn is just about the best bassist to ever strap on a plank. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/23 "2004-01-26T19:23:11Z")
> [@Wumpus](#): > > Yup, funk as a musical genre didn’t really exist until James Brown’s seminal “Poppa’s Got a Brand New Bag” in the latter half of '65. That’s true. In terms of booty shakin, though, doesn’t “Sex Machine” (1970) just blow it away? What a year 1970 was for funk. Bootsy was playing with JB, Sly Stone released “Thank You Falletin Me”. . . ah. Look on yon golden days and weep! ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/24 "2004-01-26T19:50:17Z")
McCartney plays great melodic bass on a bunch of Beatles tunes, but what comes to mind for me right away is his work on the Sgt. Pepper album. Listen to Lucy in the Sky, where his bass plays an alternating melody behind the main one, which trippily underscores the drifting nature of the song. Check out Fixing a Hole where the bass is again a playful melody of its own, and yet a beautiful anchor for the song. The bass in the White Album’s Martha My Dear has a nice fat sound, creativity at the forefront, not competing with the main melody, but adding a nice dimension all by itself. While My Guitar Gently Weeps: here’s McCartney the sideman, giving his best to Harrison’s composition; this one sounds best on some new-ish remaster I’ve heard on the radio a few times. Whatever compilation it came from beats my cruddy old digital White Album version by miles. His bass line is steady, thumping and, right in sync with Ringo, tunefully holds down the bottom for Clapton’s weeping. Somebody mentioned Come Together already–a great bassline line here. John Lennon even liked it, complimented it, called it “swampy.” On the new Let It Be Naked, McCartney’s bass playing, while singing live on those rooftop tunes–Dig a Pony, Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down–is nothing short of kick ass. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/25 "2004-01-26T21:11:38Z")
**rackensack** and **wumpus** - I could try to offer some half-assed clarification of what I really meant, but I think I will just skulk off instead. Of course you are completely right (but, but but - that’s not exactly what I meant… :smack: Anyway - the basic point is still that McCartney was a real student of the bass and listened to and emulated the greats. And happened to incorporate those approaches into the Beatles music, making it reach even more listeners. Hence his influence. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/26 "2004-01-26T22:01:25Z")
No sweat, WordMan. It’s an easy thing to overlook, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the American rock writers who wrote the first wave of rock history books tended to look down on early 60s R&B, either because they were rabid blues fans who regarded it as too slick and commercial, or because they were rabid prog-rock fans who regarded it as primitive when compared to the Pet Sounds and Sgt. Peppers that were to come. It’s also true that the Stax-Volt soul sound in particular had relatively little effect on the first part of the British Invasion. After a first blush of hits in the early 60s, Stax artists like Otis Redding didn’t come into prominence again until '65 or so. (Booker T and the MGs didn’t crack the Top 40 once between '62 and '67, for example.) By that time the first wave of the invasion had already hit. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/27 "2004-01-27T13:26:44Z")
> [@Wumpus](#): > > No sweat, WordMan. It’s an easy thing to overlook, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the American rock writers who wrote the first wave of rock history books tended to look down on early 60s R&B, either because they were rabid blues fans who regarded it as too slick and commercial, or because they were rabid prog-rock fans who regarded it as primitive when compared to the Pet Sounds and Sgt. Peppers that were to come. > > It’s also true that the Stax-Volt soul sound in particular had relatively little effect on the first part of the British Invasion. After a first blush of hits in the early 60s, Stax artists like Otis Redding didn’t come into prominence again until '65 or so. (Booker T and the MGs didn’t crack the Top 40 once between '62 and '67, for example.) By that time the first wave of the invasion had already hit. [self-serving play to regain credibility] Yeah - Yeah!!! That’s what I meant - what **Wumpus** said! I was brainwashed by the first wave rock historians! It’s a conspiracy - I smell Illuminati around the corner!! Could this be the topic for Dan Brown’s next book? _The Motown Code_ - hmmm, has a nice ring to it… [/ssptrc] ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/28 "2004-01-27T13:34:29Z")
I’m sorry, **Word Man** - you referred to McCartney/Entwistle being most influential to _pop music_. . . it wasn’t clear to me that you were just referring to British Invasion pop. (Obviously, Larry Graham wouldn’ta had much sway over The Animals and Gerry and the Pacemakers, now would he?) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/29 "2004-01-27T15:11:58Z")
I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned the obvious fact that Paul McCartney was an adequate bassist. But after he died, the guy they got to replace him was **excellent**! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/30 "2004-01-27T15:12:19Z")
Ah - HA!!! So there is consensus that _I was misinterpreted!!!_ Credibility is once again mine and a vicious Illuminati plot has been quelled. Warriors of Music Knowledge - I salute you. (wow - caffeine kicks in pretty hard when you get the double-shot espresso, doesn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/31 "2004-01-28T04:22:31Z")
I probably don’t have the insights some others do in this thread, but I’ve thought of Paul as a really good bassist for a long time. He was so far from the root-note-thumping that it really grabbed my attention. He could do what I always love, which is make you say, “that’s kind of weird, but it really works.” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/32 "2004-01-28T12:19:12Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned the obvious fact that Paul McCartney was an adequate bassist. But after he died, the guy they got to replace him was **excellent**! **Dinsdale** is my new favorite Doper. I am now going to run a search for everything that **Dinsdale** ever wrote. If it turns out that **Dinsdale** is a woman, I will try to kiss **Dinsdale**. . ---
**Author:** ![Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/33 "2004-01-28T13:26:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I was brainwashed by the first wave rock historians! It’s a conspiracy You’re joking, but there’s something to that. There is so much factual inaccuracy in Beatles books with regard to pre-Beatles music history, it’s ridiculous. Even critically lauded books like Ian McDonald’s Revolution in the Head, which I mentioned previously, are full of complely wrong statements. Not differences of opinion–I’m talking about factual errors. One of my favorite was McDonald’s claim that Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love” from 1957 is the first double-tracked vocal recording. Never mind that Patti Page and Les Paul & Mary Ford had #1 hits with double-tracked vocal recordings years before that. McDonald makes a lot of mistakes where the Beatles are concerned, too. I’ve read a lot of Beatles books and have yet to find one that doesn’t contain factual errors. I saw Rolling Stone’s Anthony DeCurtis give a lecture on the Beatles and he spouted a bunch of nonsense. For instance, he said that when the Beatles came along, it was unprecedented for British artists to score big chart hits in the US. Never mind Lonnie Donegan, the Tornadoes, the Caravelles… I really could go on forever with examples. If you read these claims over and over again, as many people do, you will come to have a distorted view of the Beatles’ achievements. In general, Beatles-centric writers seem to have little taste for, or knowledge of, the music that came before the Beatles, and as a result they are too quick to declare that the Beatles were the first to do this or that. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/34 "2004-01-28T14:45:58Z")
First off, I love the Beatles’ music and consider them perhaps the greatest rock band of all time. This is primarily in reference to the quality of their material, the production values of their recordings, and, in the early years, when they had the opportunity to perform and be heard, for their performances. And, of the four, I always thought that McCartney seems to have been the most musically gifted. He had a feel for melody and timing that I don’t think the others did. But I don’t think he was the greatest bass player ever. And I cringe when I hear someone say that Lennon, Harrison, or Starr was the best ever on his instrument. It just isn’t true. A good band is way more than the sum of its parts, and the Beatles are the definitive example of that. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/35 "2004-01-28T15:32:21Z")
Try “Rain” and “Paperback Writer.” I’ve always loved both of these songs for their bass. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/36 "2004-01-28T15:50:46Z")
I obviously need to say this twice… and since **Starving A** has also mentioned it: Rain Go listen to it people. Let Us know what you think. ---
**Author:** ![Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/37 "2004-01-28T20:56:52Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > I obviously need to say this twice… and since **Starving A** has also mentioned it: > Rain > Go listen to it people. Let Us know what you think. It’s a two-finger riff that requires very little movement of the hand to play. It is a mid-range bass part placed high in the mix, which must be why it captures your attention. It’s not a virtuoso performance. Compare “Rain” (1966) to Ritchie Valens’ 1959 recording of “Boney Moronie,” on which Rene Hall played a six-string Danelectro electric bass. The riff is very similar to the one in “Rain” but busier, more trebly, and there’s even a crazy, aggressive bass solo towards the end. Again, I don’t consider it a virtuoso performance (it’s a little sloppy), but I mention it because it’s so similar to what McCartney did on “Rain” and, obviously, was made seven years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134/38 "2004-01-28T21:14:18Z")
“Could this be the topic for Dan Brown’s next book? The Motown Code - hmmm, has a nice ring to it…” If you listen to the bass at the beginning of “You Can’t Hurry Love,” it’s actually spelling out “I buried Paul” in Morse code. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccartney-as-a-bassist/226134.md?page=1)