paul's bass work

[Forum Manager]

i was wondering what everybody thought was paul's greates bass work was. (for those who do not believe that paul is dead, then please pick something from before 1967 just to humor us. thanx)

personally, i think his best is in "i'm only sleeping". just my thoughts.

[Matt]

Yeah, I would definately go with the "Revolver" sessions. "I'm Only Sleeping" is great. I also think, though more subtle, "She Said She Said" has some amazing basswork. That whole song has a great movement to it. And of course "Paperback Writer" and "Rain".
It must've been the Rickenbacker.

[Uberkinder]

"You Won't See Me" is just perfect, it never stops changing. "Eight Days A Week" and "Tell Me Why" are like that too.

"I'm A Loser", "The Night Before", "Help!" and "I Need You" are all rather traditional, but still very unique to Paul's style. Most people would have had "Help!" just go 1, 2, 1, 2, but he changes it up with 1, 1-2, 1, 1-2. and "I'm A Loser" is 1, 1-2-3, and never stops rising and falling during the chorus.

It sounds like he's playing chords on his bass in "All I've Got To Do". And the bassline in "I Saw Her Standing There" is so strong you remember more as the riff than the bassline.

[Eggman]

"Nowhere Man" is Paul's masterpiece on bass!!!

Just my thought!!!!

[victor]

"and your bird can sing" has the kind of melodic bass that i like. listen to how it frames the song like a great, ornate picture frame. it's a good example of how paul's energy added to the group's sound

also, the out-take version on ANTHOLOGY seems to dispel myths that paul was suffering from health woes, at least during THAT session- i mean he was positively GIDDY!!

[Eggman]

Yes!!! In that song he made a great job too!!!

[Darkhorse]

I put my vote in for 'I'm Only Sleeping' also.

I really enjoy the style on such basic songs as 'The Night Before'.

P.S. George, great guitar work on 'And Your Bird Can Sing'.

[Revolver]

"(for those who do not believe that paul is dead, then please pick something from before 1967 just to humor us. thanx)"

I am half inclined to accept something happened, so I'll post one post 67:

DEAR PRUDENCE

Been listening to White Album a little bit and it really does appear there are 2 voices on it as I know someone else noticed. One was the good imitator, and one introducing faul.

Back In the USSR..... .....................Imposer
ObLaDi.......................................... Imposer
Martha my Dear....... .....................Imposer
Blackbird ................. .....................Imposer
Rocky Raccoon.............................. Faul
Why dont we do it in the road ......Faul
I Will .....................Imposer
Birthday ......Faul
Mother Natures Son .....Imposer
Helter Skelter ................Faul

I did not spell 'imposter' wrong here as whoever he was he did a great help to transition Paul to Faul and the chaos of the album sure helped. This is a 'bass' lead album for the most part, as if to draw attention to it.

The differences in voices between Why dont we do it in the road & I will is noticeable.

I have seen a comparable post elsewhere here and apologize for the redundancy, but since the tunes are fresh in my mind I would try to be as objective and not 'copy notes.'

[beldabeast]

Did Paul change to the Rickenbacker bass or did Faul
make the switch ?
This could be a important clue !

[SunKing]

Faul did it.
See the inner of Magical Mystery Tour CD booklet

[MrVanderbuilt]

regardles of the Faul/Paul issue, I think the bassline on "Lucy In The Sky" is just great!

(Sorry chaps!)

[SunKing]

Of course! It's FULL ORIGINAL James Paul's!

[Darkhorse]

Some on this board believe the good bass playing in the Beatles latter years is actually Klaus Voorman, who was a friend of the Beatles from the early days.

[Imgonnaopenmymind]

According to a photo I found dated 1966 that doesn't appear to have been doctored, it was Paul who made the switch and Faul inherited it, using the Rick until at least the early 1990s, when he broke out Paul's old Hofner and started playing that.

[AlexTheLrg]

Faul broke out Paul's Hofner earlier than the early 90s. He used it on what eventually became "Let It Be".

Love Paul's/Faul's Rick bass....excellent guitar, like all Rick models

[beldabeast]

AlexTheLrg said:

Faul broke out Paul's Hofner earlier than the early 90s. He used it on what eventually became "Let It Be".

Love Paul's/Faul's Rick bass....excellent guitar, like all Rick models

I have a 12 string ric that looks like Georges " HELP"
with Johns black finish .

Am I the only one who thought John's Ric was a very dark blue ?
Also Ringo's trademark early Ludwig drum kit always looked blue to me . It was black also .

[beldabeast]

>>for those who do not believe that paul is dead, then please pick something from before 1967 just to humor us. thanx)"<<<


I think it would be revealing to compare the styles of bass
on " Silly love Songs " VS the old Pauls stuff.

We have musicians on this board so maybe a mini-synposium by them.

Even to my untrained ear the differences seem dramatic .
I like Pauls work on the outtakes and live versons of Please Please me , to name one.

[kane1000]

RAIN>>>>>>>>>>>
then COME TOGETHER>>>that faul could reeally play amean bass too

[Perplexed]

Actually,Kane 1000, fine. Paul in the 70's and later DOES play a mean bass. I think so. He also DOES sing his rear end off. He did, he possessed a powerful, big, dramatic tenor top in his voice. His high A's, Bb's, C's were brilliant, clear as a bell and huge. He had a lot of sustain. He had a strong vibrato. I have not heard him perform recently.

Band on the Run has many great things. And besides:

I have really especially always liked "Baby I'm Amazed," and "Live and Let Die." They are exciting pop-rock ballads, his voice is terrific on those and many more I'm sure. The bass work is solid, to my ears.

I am limited to knowing the radio hits and Band on the Run. I should buy others so that I can form more complete views on his work. I probably will. (I have been buying lots of Beatles CD's lately.)

I never thought he was short on talent.

But, to me, the voice, starting with "Hello, Goodbye" diverges.He has gotten higher and more sustaining. Before '66 Paul had a high baritone ceiling. (Although,I recently found a few very high notes of Paul's on Rubber Souls.)

But it is a question of vocals gears and quality.(timbre)

I make my living accompanying vocalists, playing shows, and doing recordings with singers. Some I have worked with since 1975. Nobody I have ever worked with changes this much. I have worked with A LOT of male and female singers. I have worked with some of them off and on since 1975. I have recordings of their voices then, and now. They mature, they grow, but theuy don't change that much.
I know a vocal coach who coaches 1 very successful pop band.( I studied with her for a while.)I would like to get her opinion on this. If McCartney is the same man, then a RARE phenominal change happened to his vocal cords, tone production, breathing, vibrato, vowel phonemes, support, placement........

Forget the clues; keep all the facial comparisons. Ignore all the anecdotal stories hype and lore. Those issues are LESS support of a replacement then the voice.

If the same man that sang Yesterday, Michelle, Paperback Writer and We Can Work it Out also sang Let it Be, Hey Jude, Jet, Say Say Say, then McCartney was changing in ways that would shock most voice teachers.

I am not saying the pre '66 Paul was bad. Not at all. I loved that voice. It is just, to me, a different instrument, a different technique, different breathing and diction. Different cranial resonators. Newer Paul "rings: his head resonators a lot (as opposed to falsetto, true head voice can be very powerful) ; older Paul seemed a bit trapped in his "chest voice."

Paul in the sixties had to "reach" to hit E's and F's (just above middle C) and really had to push to tackle G's and Ab's.
70's and 80's Paul could soar effortlessly to G's and hover in that tessitura.

Plus, there is a total discard of the simple, unaffected, troubadour-balladeer approach that we hear in early work. Why?
People liked it. They bought it. It sold records.

Maybe it is the same man.

But it is ARTISTICALLY two different voices, at the very least.

[MrMustard]

Very VERY good!! Well done! ;D
Yesterday I was listening to "Hey Jude" on my discman and the vibrato in Faul's voice stood out much more than it did when I played the song on my stereo. The difference in voice between Faul and Paul, when you know what to look for, is strikingly obvious. I can't believe I didn't pick up on it before! ;D

[victor]

vocal experts [voice coaches, ect] have an instinctive understanding of these things. i think 90 percent of them would agree that there are major vocal changes in the voice of paul before and after 1967....AND that it is extremely rare for that to occur in a three or four years to a young man.

[Perplexed]

Well, many things all can observe. Just turn the stereo balance all the way to ths side that is predominately voice. Toggle between #11 yesterday and #21 Hey Jude. Play the first "A" section of each song listening only to the left track. (This is using that red CD called #1.)
Go back and forth. Yesterday takes a lot of breath pressure to acsend to "all my troubles seem so FAR AWAY". He is not straining, but let's just say, the envelope is pretty open for "far away". Compare this to "speaking words of wisdom" in "Let it Be". Go back and to.

Of course, there is a change of recording appararus. But that's true for John on that album and he still sounds like John from the past.

Listen to the letter "K" or hard "c". Early Paul makes a very percussive, sharp unmistakeable sound on that consonant. Listen to Eleanor Rigby: chech the words MacKenzie, church, socks, worKing, , or Ah, looKK at all the lonely people......etc. Listen to just the right side.

Paperback Writer: listen to the right channel. paperbac(KKK) writer............

Whereas, Hey Jude, don't make it bad...the make "K" is just not as forceful. Early Paul's "k.'s" are very loud and wet.

Also, low range tones become more resonant before 67. In Eleanor Rigby, the verses range from E 3rd space bass clef to D just above the bass clef (above first ledger line). Most of the notes are E-B. Very comfortable rich range for a baritone. Paul is very at home here.

In Hey Jude, which begins on a tenory middle "C", dips only to that same "E" in Rigby briefly on the phrase..."make it BET-ter." on the syllable "BET". Sounds like he is scraping the botton of the range. He is either way way hoarse, or he is a tenor. Tenors are funny, some can relax and croon down to low Bbs and lower, but it tends to be very thin. But this is middle E, for goodness sakes.
The singer is a tenor.

My roomate has called me out to the living room to watch 1/2 an hour of the McCartney/Red Square concert. Gosh, he did Can't Buy Me Love. I enjoyed it.

My opinion (not everyone's, I know) he really, truthfully does a damn good job. This kind of pop isn't for everybody, but he's up there sellin' it fierce for the Muscovites. The band is youngsters. They sound fine. There is a raw edge. And from a TV mix what can one really tell? (I need better speakers, gosh darn it) But he's doing his job extrordinarily well. He still sings high, although I think I detected a little help on a couple notes holding over.

But hell-a lot of people do that. Lots. Hell, Better Midler makes a joke of it and points to her high note girl at the end of one song on the video of "Diva Las Vegas." She climbs to the note, points at her girl, THEY BRING UP A SPOT-LIGHT ON THE OTHER SINGER, and the back up lady rips off a high belt Db that would peel paint. The audience laughs and goes wild. Of course, Bette has just finished 2.5 hours of an helluva of physical show, and the "bit" is real funny. And Bette is Bette.........

Voices get older and anyone over 55 years old belting for 2 or 3 hours over a rock ensemble deserves some understanding. They should tactically plan their running order to "save" their cords a bit. We are all only human and the vocal mechanism has its limitations.

[LongJohn]

to answer the original topic... for me it has to be paperback writer and rain, brilliant!!

[OPD]

Paul was outstanding in many tracks, playing his bass like lead,,,,From the beginning,

Since Help ,his play increase, he's filling the gap, the bass is getting more and more room and we come to marvelous Nowhere man and Revolver, I,m only sleeping,And your bird can sing, She said She said,Rain,

On Beatles Guitars and Basses Played on the Sessions
beatles.ncf.ca/guitars.html....
It says that Paul use the Rickenbaker Bass for Nowhere man and Think for yourself..
and from Revolution in the head
for Rain ,She said She said(those well backed by Ringo) and Paperback writer with a capo at the third Fret
So he used it from Rubber Soul that has been tape around october 1965,,,, till Fall 1966 .

I play lead guitar and I like learning parts from John and George and learn bass riff from Paul. I am no bass player but on the bass playing it seems to me that the bass playing continue to get on the same course on Pepper. When George said that'' Revolver and Pepper could have been a double LP'' it tells me that few cuts were already on the making for Pepper and that can explain why some of you who have skill for Voices hear Paul and an imposer(s), but the bass seems to stay on the go it was before..
.For me ''A little help from my friends has nice runs of bass ,Lucy is well support too ,Getting better is getting better,,,,,for the rest of the album , something's missing(Though Lovely Rita as plenty of nice riff)

After that the only tunes that make me feel something special is Don't let me down(bass-ically speaking)

Paul was a innovative bass player, so,we have learn from his playing and a replacement guy(s) could have just follow his steps.....I did it for lead ,following George and John

[SunKing]

OPD said:

When George said that'' Revolver and Pepper could have been a double LP'' it tells me that few cuts were already on the making for Pepper and that can explain why some of you who have skill for Voices hear Paul and an imposer(s), but the bass seems to stay on the go it was before..

What?
You are telling about ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING MESSAGES (please call them "clues" NO MORE) George (after "60IF" ;D) ever said!

Thank You OPD!!!