For years I thought using the bass as a sort of lead instrument was mainly pioneered by Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order, but here is McCartney doing much the same thing a decade before Hook collaborated on his first song.
The most frustrating and simultaneously interesting thing Macca does is to never play two verses the same--the basics are there, but the subtle differences make it. Shows he was playing from his gut, extemporaneously, and not from a written plan (or sheet music). My guess is, he never plays any song the same way twice. Genius.
Good point. Kinda reminds me of jazz walking bass lines. I was in jazz band in high school as an electric bass guitarist. I was never "taught" music or how to read sheet music - so I would simply make up the basslines while we were playing everyday. This went unnoticed thankfully, so I got by fine! So I'm not trying to compare myself to Macca, but I can sympathize with the innate skill of being able to improvise basslines
What's ridiculous about this this bass line, is that it isn't something he spent weeks at home working out and rehearsing, but rather something worked out in the studio THAT DAY for a song he had never heard before. The talent to so quickly come up with and play this bass line is extraordinary.
Right. Most bass players if put on the spot would just mimic the melody or hit roots in time, here Paul's driving the rhythm yes but he's playing a harmony to the melody rather than playing along with the melody itself which gives more depth and accenting by alternating higher and lower phrases rather than just sticking with riffs. That's the beauty of that Beatles sound during that middle period, the guitars, drums and vocals are pretty consistently arranged and the bass just dances around all over the place while also driving with that thumpy flatwound sound.
What gets me is how he can play these complicated bass lines like this and then can SING the melody at the same time which is totally different from the bass line.! He's genius
He put in his 10,000+ hours! He had time to work out the intricate bassline for Lovely Rita (which I’ve heard took him dozens of takes to get just right) so by the time it came to record Bulldog he would’ve had no problem making a timeless bassline like this
@@amoru1012 Yeah, John, George and Ringo would record a song without Paul. Remember, Paul wanted to do it this way, they didn't leave him out. Paul would listen to the song a couple of times and make up a bass line as the song went along. The bass line you're hearing is not being played off of a tab or sheet, but it's Paul's creative ingenuity that you're hearing. He made this up himself as the song went along. Paul is highly intelligent and his bass lines and songs show it. He's also quite philosophical. Paul would record a bass line while listening to the song on an eight track, play and record the bass line at the same time he was listening to it, then layer it over on the recorder, then play it back. Next thing you know, there's a bass line in the song. Not all songs were like this, only after 1966. Edit: typo.
I guess he could make up these bass lines as he went along sort of " on the fly" because he didn't have to play them again or learn them because they stopped playing live. That gave them all a certain freedom that must've been great.
@@bobstrete McCartney would play this pretty much note for note if they did have to play it live... the noodling at the end he would probably still noodle, but it would be similar. The first 3/4's was thought out and he "wrote" it, so to speak. They did a handful of takes of this and the bassline was this. It didn't change from take to take.
John Lennon said several times that Paul was one of the most innovative bass players ever. He was 100% correct. Paul's bass work is underrated and underappreciated. He was, and is, way way above and beyond on that thing, which he was more or less forced into playing because no one else wanted to. Try singing the high part while playing the bass--then try singing anything while playing the bass! That's almost unbelievable, a tremendous job that few musicians can accomplish. It was easier in the studio, perhaps, but he's done that on stage for decades!
Having begun my teens when this band came to the USA, I can't say I ever heard anyone under-rating or not appreciating the bass of McCartney. I know he hit the Playboy mag's annual fictional All Star Rock n Roll band more than once. I am sorry that you have had to hear anyone talk down McCartney's skills. In his prime, which lasted beyond the Beatles years, he was untouchable. He took the bass guitar out of the background, literally.
@@aaronbarrett3517 have to agree. to any degree his bass playing wasnt noticed, it may be that there was so much else about the Beatles that shined. every song like a new penny. You release the original Lady Madonna today for the first time... its a hit all over again. sounds like it was recorded last week. their songs refuse to age.
@@faithcurrent658 He is! And he well should be! So many of today's bass guitarists list Paul as an influence, often their first influence. He was a master then and he remains one for sure. I think the best bassists are lead players--which sets them apart from the rhythm players.
My favourite has got to be Hey Bulldog as well, but other nice Beatles bass lines: Taxman, Dear Prudence and lets not forget Day Tripper. The bass part of Silly Love Songs in the Give My Regards to Broad Street version doesn't sound like McCartney to me.
@@machiel5888 Many tunes he did. One of my favorites is Everybody's got something to hide except and my monkey. The end double tracked mini bass solo did it for me. Also, everything on Sgt. Peppers, Something and Here comes the sun, etc, etc. BTW, I've been playing bass for 48 years. I suck with the technical stuff, but I have really good feel.
Paul’s bass lines are so great because of the fact that Paul might be the greatest writer of melodies in history. So when he writes a bass line, he writes them with the same masterful melodic style that he utilizes in all of his songwriting.
I agree with you 100%. Gotta to go back a loooooong way to find a person whose melodies are on par with Paul’s and he def uses that unique melodic gift in his bass lines
But you shouldn't forget John Lennon's and George Harrison's contribute to the Beatles's music !!! They were "unverzichtbar"! Germans would say! John Lennon was even greater than Paul McCartney, I suppose....
This is probably their most under-appreciated song. I have always found it great. Stripped of sentiment, a little psychedelic, a serious rocker, a little bit of fun, great drums, great bass, great piano, great guitar
John will get the plaudits for writing it and its a crowning achievement for any other rock band to have written and merely a castoff for the Fab 4 but the song would lose a certain luster if not for Paul's exquisite bass playing.
@@davidd6218 talking purely instrumentation here. Paul's sense of technical proficiency on bass is stellar and he was the real virtuoso out of the group.
@The Beatles Except he was. Paul was a brilliant multi instrumentalist. He's a top 10 bassist of all time...for an instrument he turned to because the band needed a bassist. (he was originally a guitarist) He's frankly a better guitarist , too, than George or John ever were.
@The Beatles Saying Paul isn't even close to George is a guitarist is just false. While George is definitely the better player( that's why he was the lead guitarist), it's interesting to note that two of the most technical guitar solos (Taxman and Good Morning Good Morning) are both played by Paul. As for the bass, Paul was by FAR the best bassist of the group. Don't get me wrong, John's bassline on Helter Skelter fits the song very well, but if you listen to the isolated track, it just sounds terrible and out of time. I don't even need to bring up how bad the bass is on The Long and Winding Road. George was better than John at bass, but nowhere near Paul. As for being a multi-instrumentalist, Paul was/is of the greatest bassists ever, an excellent guitarist, a very proficient keyboardist and drummer, as well as being able to play a number of other instruments moderately well. The same cannot be said for the others.
I think the thing that really separates Paul’s lines from his contemporaries is that he was a guitar player initially but when the Beatles formed he got delegated to bass because John was frontman and George was better than him at guitar, so he took his melodic instincts from guitar and applied them to the bass instead of just thumping along on the root. You listen to tracks like this and Taxman and even some of their early stuff like Eight Days a Week or Help! and it’s clear that Paul is one of the most influential bass players of all time for what we could call the “melodic bass player”
yeah, but go back to pre ringo Beatles and Paul is relegated to (gamelly at times) just helping poor Pete keep the beat. When Ringo joined the band he unlocked the door for Paul to start expanding what a rock bassist can do.
Paul became the bassist because Stu left and Paul was the only one without a guitar (he had one that got busted and he smashed the remains). John and George had both bought new and high-quality guitars, so he had to fill the void. Also, George was not a better guitar player - Paul played the lead/solo on Taxman because George couldn’t.
@@thomaspappalardo7589 Overall George was a better lead guitar player , which Paul has always acknowledged - and yes Paul did play the solo on Taxman and a number of Beatles songs. Both facts can be true. Paul took up bass being the best all round musician in the band.
Hey Bulldog was recorded after the band decided to quit touring. This meant they could focus on spending more time in the studio to progress creatively. Paul would have recorded his vocals separately. They never performed it live either.
That absolute growl and sucker punch sound of that Rickenbacker is quite literally the most inspiring, influential, interesting thing in music history, and Paul made into something iconic and melodic.
@@drewrussell4519 but no one asks if there's any better bassist player than Paul. Well i respect your favorite bassist but just keep your own opinion if you think James jamerson is better than all bassist player. some few people who is a beatles fan won't agree with that you know whatever you do or comparing them to others they'll keep bashing and says some hateful word if someone says everyone is better than Beatles just a tip man
@@trevorcorcoran5007 Its called difference of opinions dumbass, he isn't correcting him, he is giving him his own input. This is youtube, you new to it? In my opinion Geddy Lee and John Paul Jones are just as good as Mccartney if not better.
@@ArthaxtaDaVince777 I am new to RUclips. I have not heard this word "dumbass". Is it a title used to show respect? A nickname or term of endearment? I want to learn to be a good youTuber and use the "lingo" right.
The accidental bass player turned out pretty darn good. For me one of the great bass players of the sixties along with Duck Dunn, James Jameson, George Porter Jnr and my sentimental fav. Ronnie Lane.
Not surprising as it appears on Beatles most obscure album, & was cut out of the American release of the movie. A hidden gem ready to be re-discovered.
daskitten1 Yes, truly! Even though I’ve been a Beatles Fan for a while now I never appreciated this song until recently, simply because I just rarely sit down to listen to Yellow Submarine in the way I do with say, Sgt. Peppers, Revolver or Abbey Road. So yes, it really is a treat.
Paul McCartney is a true Bassist. Talented and industrious. His Bass line on Paperback Writer was a huge turning point for the elevation of the electric Bass in a band.
Me too! They are precisely my two favorite players! No one plays a bass guitar like sir Paul; no one plays a guitar like D. Gilmour!!! The two most melodious musicians in the whole world!!! All the others? Not even close!!!
I just read the 2019 interview with Dave Grohl and Ringo where Ringo alludes to this bass line and rhetorically says “where did that come from?! Outer Space?!” Fantastic!
It's one of those where you hear it in isolation.. then go back to the full song and all you can hear is this epic bassline.. so unusual and unorthodox.
This is one of the reasons why i love the band so much. While none of them were the most skillful or the most technical of musicians, all 4 had an element to their playing that is so exquisitely them. Paul’s bass playing is so catchy and melodic and its rarely ever the same between verses. John was to me one of the best rhythm guitarist to ever lived, his chord choices and arrangement are so interesting and the notes he chooses for the 7th really adds depth to his guitar playing. George’s guitar sound is recognizable especially in the later years, with the slide and the beautiful lead parts, its a shame that he couldnt write All Things Must Pass with the rest. Last but not least, Ringo... always getting meme’d for being a bad drummer, his work with A Day in the Life and Rain speaks for itself. His playing complemented the styles of the rest so well as if he wraps them up.
Take a listen to All My Loving.... very simple melody, but what would that be without his walking baseline? It counters, lifts and supports the melody. And in the process, bits includes Carl Perkins riffs, and he even flubs one note. But still, brilliance!
Kelly Billingham I'm a drummer, but I appreciate a sweet bass line and damn, this is one of the sweetest. So, my rhythmic bass brothers, drummers DO listen to you!
Just that sound of the Rickenbacker 4001s Fireglo is just amazing! And a 2 to 4 thousand dollar bass played by Paul McCartney is just a master piece! Good job Paul.
Easily my favorite rock and roll bass player. Improvisation is his second nature. I love Entwistle, Butler, Jones, Bruce, but McCartney is so fundamentally incredible, and did it first, at that. He wrote the book on this style of playing bass in rock music.
I'm not a bass player, so I'm grateful that my son and I played Beatles Rock Band as often as we did. I don't think I knew this song at all before then, and it quickly became my favorite because I always "played" the bass line, and the more I did, the more I was amazed by Paul's creation -- and the more fun I had.
¡Maestro de maestros! ¡El Bassman por antonomasia! ¡El Les Paul del bajo! Paul siempre ''ataca'', nota tras nota y sorprende, siempre. ¡Puro arte y maestría! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@@christiancevallos9820 I disagree, John's bass playing is raw and expressive in its own way which was suitable to the song. If you want to hear terrible bass playing from Lennon, listen to The Long and Winding Road...
mmjahink the thing with Lennon is, hes such a great rhythm guitarist. His chord choices and progressions are so interesting. They were never the greatest technical musicians but all of them had an element to their playing that is so exquisitely them. Ringo on A Day in The Life and Rain were so damn good.
I can play this line and it's one of my favorites. Always changing from verse to verse, so you can put your own twist on each round you play. You can mess around while sticking near the same principle notes
I think that, if people at the time would have hear all those isolated tracks, they would have realized the unique experiment the Beatles were endeavoring. Paul is so free in his expression, it never stops to amaze me.
The reason Paul played a Hofner was left-handed guitars and electric basses were hard to come by. The Hofner looks almost identical played left-handed. He took a right handed bass and did simple alterations to the nut and bridge and it didn't look awkward--like Jimi Hendrix playing a right-handed Fender Strat left handed. McCartney played on a Fender Jazz bass for awhile. McCartney likes to play bass with more treble rather than bottom-end punch. The Rick 4001 and Jazz bass do that quite well.
The Beatles music will endure for generations to come. Just as classical music is still heard today. This was the classical music of my generation. And Paul was essential in the evolution and progression of the role the bass had in popular music. John Entwistle was another enormously innovative player, who took it to new levels also.
Fascinating how McCartney had the creativity to change bass tones back and forth in this song. That's a lot of what's missing in the era of Pro Tools, where it's one bass line, with one tone, and too often looped. This is a master class, even for a top cat like James Jameson.
I love the effect where it sounds like its under water. Is that a result of you chopping this bass line out of the song and cutting some of the basses frequencies in the process??? I'd love to have that effect built into my bass, it just sounds so cool.
There could have been some possible Guitar and Snare Drum overdubs in the "Isolated Bass track" itself. Which could be the reason why it sounds Underwater in most parts in the track. The makers of the Rock band game had access to the Original Four track master tape recordings and they tried their best to isolate each instrument they could.
Your funny 😉 Paul Mccartney is one of the worlds best, if not thee best Bass guitarist! His bass playing is like a song in itself! And the reason why Paul is so good is because he's a Guitarist! I am a Guitarist, and years ago I use to jam with a band. I played bass. They thought I was great! 🎃💀👽🛸 🕷 🧛
This should be put into context as well; this was recorded in 1968 and has one of the most funkiest bass lines throughout the whole song. Where did THAT come from?
As a bass player Paul has influenced me so much. I once was in a Facebook group explaining how innovative he was. Another bass player in the group said how?? He went on to say that Paul was just an okay bass player. I could have went on and on about Paul’s lines but at that point I just called the guy a complete moron!!!
After beatles days end, Its crazy paul's makes a album, create song, play instruments & recording by himself like Kevin parker did right now. Man I love Paul.
To think this song was made to support the soundtrack of an animated movie... It carries the whole album by itself, while the bass line carries the song. Hence, the bass is carrying everything.
That bass line is a song by itself
I feel the same way about Rain! His bass there is also a song in its own too!
For years I thought using the bass as a sort of lead instrument was mainly pioneered by Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order, but here is McCartney doing much the same thing a decade before Hook collaborated on his first song.
Ringo said Paul played melodies inside his melodies.
That man seriously knows how to palm mute
Hey Bassdog
The most frustrating and simultaneously interesting thing Macca does is to never play two verses the same--the basics are there, but the subtle differences make it. Shows he was playing from his gut, extemporaneously, and not from a written plan (or sheet music). My guess is, he never plays any song the same way twice. Genius.
Good point. Kinda reminds me of jazz walking bass lines. I was in jazz band in high school as an electric bass guitarist. I was never "taught" music or how to read sheet music - so I would simply make up the basslines while we were playing everyday. This went unnoticed thankfully, so I got by fine! So I'm not trying to compare myself to Macca, but I can sympathize with the innate skill of being able to improvise basslines
She came in through....
I used to play this in my old band, and you're right. I hit most of the broad strokes, but his parts are nuanced you lose your self in them
That’s a common practice in music. It’s taught by most music schools. It works great, but it’s not like it’s unique to him.
Exactly
What's ridiculous about this this bass line, is that it isn't something he spent weeks at home working out and rehearsing, but rather something worked out in the studio THAT DAY for a song he had never heard before. The talent to so quickly come up with and play this bass line is extraordinary.
Haha
Right. Most bass players if put on the spot would just mimic the melody or hit roots in time, here Paul's driving the rhythm yes but he's playing a harmony to the melody rather than playing along with the melody itself which gives more depth and accenting by alternating higher and lower phrases rather than just sticking with riffs. That's the beauty of that Beatles sound during that middle period, the guitars, drums and vocals are pretty consistently arranged and the bass just dances around all over the place while also driving with that thumpy flatwound sound.
What gets me is how he can play these complicated bass lines like this and then can SING the melody at the same time which is totally different from the bass line.! He's genius
He put in his 10,000+ hours! He had time to work out the intricate bassline for Lovely Rita (which I’ve heard took him dozens of takes to get just right) so by the time it came to record Bulldog he would’ve had no problem making a timeless bassline like this
@@jwardbass4452 sure. Walk in the park. Let’s deminish his talent why won’t we😂😂
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is an interesting bass part.
WHAT, no slapping no 5th string no 32 notes no tappings?11 You will burn in hell! xD
its called Winging it
It sounds like the rest of the bands amps are up stairs and Paul's is here
White Album sessions were kinda like that
@@amoru1012 Yeah, John, George and Ringo would record a song without Paul. Remember, Paul wanted to do it this way, they didn't leave him out. Paul would listen to the song a couple of times and make up a bass line as the song went along. The bass line you're hearing is not being played off of a tab or sheet, but it's Paul's creative ingenuity that you're hearing. He made this up himself as the song went along. Paul is highly intelligent and his bass lines and songs show it. He's also quite philosophical. Paul would record a bass line while listening to the song on an eight track, play and record the bass line at the same time he was listening to it, then layer it over on the recorder, then play it back. Next thing you know, there's a bass line in the song. Not all songs were like this, only after 1966.
Edit: typo.
I guess he could make up these bass lines as he went along sort of " on the fly" because he didn't have to play them again or learn them because they stopped playing live. That gave them all a certain freedom that must've been great.
Paul first overdubbed the bass in The Word because he played Piano in the basic track
@@bobstrete McCartney would play this pretty much note for note if they did have to play it live... the noodling at the end he would probably still noodle, but it would be similar. The first 3/4's was thought out and he "wrote" it, so to speak. They did a handful of takes of this and the bassline was this. It didn't change from take to take.
John Lennon said several times that Paul was one of the most innovative bass players ever. He was 100% correct. Paul's bass work is underrated and underappreciated. He was, and is, way way above and beyond on that thing, which he was more or less forced into playing because no one else wanted to. Try singing the high part while playing the bass--then try singing anything while playing the bass! That's almost unbelievable, a tremendous job that few musicians can accomplish. It was easier in the studio, perhaps, but he's done that on stage for decades!
Having begun my teens when this band came to the USA, I can't say I ever heard anyone under-rating or not appreciating the bass of McCartney. I know he hit the Playboy mag's annual fictional All Star Rock n Roll band more than once. I am sorry that you have had to hear anyone talk down McCartney's skills. In his prime, which lasted beyond the Beatles years, he was untouchable. He took the bass guitar out of the background, literally.
@@aaronbarrett3517 have to agree. to any degree his bass playing wasnt
noticed, it may be that there was so much else about the Beatles that shined.
every song like a new penny. You release the original Lady Madonna today
for the first time... its a hit all over again. sounds like it was recorded last
week. their songs refuse to age.
@@aaronbarrett3517 Yeah I'd have to say his bass playing has always been put on a pretty damn high pedestal in the bass-playing world.
@@faithcurrent658 He is! And he well should be! So many of today's bass guitarists list Paul as an influence, often their first influence. He was a master then and he remains one for sure. I think the best bassists are lead players--which sets them apart from the rhythm players.
And for John to give any compliment is a huge deal!
This is one of my favorite bass lines. McCartney is the master when it comes to feel which to me is way more important than being technical IMO.
Goodnight tonight, silly love songs, hey bulldog.... what else is up there for you?
@@machiel5888 Rain
Getting Better, And Your Bird Can Sing, Don't Let Me Down, Something... the list goes on 😁
My favourite has got to be Hey Bulldog as well, but other nice Beatles bass lines: Taxman, Dear Prudence and lets not forget Day Tripper.
The bass part of Silly Love Songs in the Give My Regards to Broad Street version doesn't sound like McCartney to me.
@@machiel5888 Many tunes he did. One of my favorites is Everybody's got something to hide except and my monkey. The end double tracked mini bass solo did it for me. Also, everything on Sgt. Peppers, Something and Here comes the sun, etc, etc.
BTW, I've been playing bass for 48 years. I suck with the technical stuff, but I have really good feel.
Paul’s bass lines are so great because of the fact that Paul might be the greatest writer of melodies in history. So when he writes a bass line, he writes them with the same masterful melodic style that he utilizes in all of his songwriting.
Paul can’t read or write music.
@@WorldwideWyatt Not being able to transcribe is not the same as not being able to write.
@@WorldwideWyatt How does that have anything to do with what they said 😆
I agree with you 100%. Gotta to go back a loooooong way to find a person whose melodies are on par with Paul’s and he def uses that unique melodic gift in his bass lines
But you shouldn't forget John Lennon's and George Harrison's contribute to the Beatles's music !!! They were "unverzichtbar"! Germans would say! John Lennon was even greater than Paul McCartney, I suppose....
John Lennon in the '70s when he was mad at Paul he still could say to a reporter: "He's such an f'ing good musician..."
John is terrible person
@@redparadise5466 bcz of insecurities
@@redparadise5466 ah a queen fan
@@grapefruitjuice9473 no I'm more Beatles fun, I put Freddie just because i like this picture
It's total improvisation. Genius.
Best Maccabasslines:
Hey bulldog
Rain
I want you
Something
Nowhere Man
Don't let me down
Taxman
That's why i love the beatles look how many basslines he has you can say a few under a fingersnap and let's not forget come together
and come together !!
This is bassgasm..
Immensely creative Bass part. Sounds good no matter how many times you listen to it
X
She: Who are you listening to these days?
Me: The Beatle.
This is probably their most under-appreciated song. I have always found it great. Stripped of sentiment, a little psychedelic, a serious rocker, a little bit of fun, great drums, great bass, great piano, great guitar
He's SO good, he didn't need to be a genius playing bass too but he is, he blows my mind
The next time someone says Paul is a mediocre bassist, just send this link to them. That oughta shut em up and probably even open their eyes
Vincent Prakash have people said that before?!? Paul is anything but mediocre in all facets of music. He’s brilliant!
Literally no one has ever said that
Has anyone ever said that? I’ve never heard this comment. Don’t suspect I ever will.
I am 51, and I have NEVER heard anyone say that! Who in sweet jesus would say THAT??
Thats like saying Maradona was a mediocre football player or Michelangelo was a mediocre sculptor.
John will get the plaudits for writing it and its a crowning achievement for any other rock band to have written and merely a castoff for the Fab 4 but the song would lose a certain luster if not for Paul's exquisite bass playing.
that kind of comment would apply to everything they did. they needed all of them.
@@davidd6218 talking purely instrumentation here. Paul's sense of technical proficiency on bass is stellar and he was the real virtuoso out of the group.
@The Beatles Except he was. Paul was a brilliant multi instrumentalist. He's a top 10 bassist of all time...for an instrument he turned to because the band needed a bassist. (he was originally a guitarist) He's frankly a better guitarist , too, than George or John ever were.
@The Beatles Saying Paul isn't even close to George is a guitarist is just false. While George is definitely the better player( that's why he was the lead guitarist), it's interesting to note that two of the most technical guitar solos (Taxman and Good Morning Good Morning) are both played by Paul.
As for the bass, Paul was by FAR the best bassist of the group. Don't get me wrong, John's bassline on Helter Skelter fits the song very well, but if you listen to the isolated track, it just sounds terrible and out of time. I don't even need to bring up how bad the bass is on The Long and Winding Road. George was better than John at bass, but nowhere near Paul.
As for being a multi-instrumentalist, Paul was/is of the greatest bassists ever, an excellent guitarist, a very proficient keyboardist and drummer, as well as being able to play a number of other instruments moderately well. The same cannot be said for the others.
@The Beatles Everyone knows Paul was the best musician in the band.... except for a this so-called Beatles fan commenting here?
I think the thing that really separates Paul’s lines from his contemporaries is that he was a guitar player initially but when the Beatles formed he got delegated to bass because John was frontman and George was better than him at guitar, so he took his melodic instincts from guitar and applied them to the bass instead of just thumping along on the root. You listen to tracks like this and Taxman and even some of their early stuff like Eight Days a Week or Help! and it’s clear that Paul is one of the most influential bass players of all time for what we could call the “melodic bass player”
yeah, but go back to pre ringo Beatles and Paul is relegated to (gamelly at times) just helping poor Pete keep the beat. When Ringo joined the band he unlocked the door for Paul to start expanding what a rock bassist can do.
Paul became the bassist because Stu left and Paul was the only one without a guitar (he had one that got busted and he smashed the remains). John and George had both bought new and high-quality guitars, so he had to fill the void. Also, George was not a better guitar player - Paul played the lead/solo on Taxman because George couldn’t.
Thomas Pappalardo Macca and Lennon admitted that Harrison was “a little bit better” than they were, at first at least
@@thomaspappalardo7589 Overall George was a better lead guitar player , which Paul has always acknowledged - and yes Paul did play the solo on Taxman and a number of Beatles songs. Both facts can be true. Paul took up bass being the best all round musician in the band.
Think For Yourself
If not for main riff I wouldn't have known that this is hey bulldog. How does he even play this and sing at the same time is mind blowing
Hey Bulldog was recorded after the band decided to quit touring. This meant they could focus on spending more time in the studio to progress creatively. Paul would have recorded his vocals separately. They never performed it live either.
Pure genius. One of the best, if not the best, bass line in music.
Paul McCartney and James Jamerson are by far the most melodic bass players and were so innovative for their time
I'll take John Entwistle every day of the week.
@@streaming1950 You're welcome to him.
Hello there
The force is so strong on McCartney
Phil Lesh as well
John, George, and Ringo: What baseline are you make for the song?
Paul: Y E S
That absolute growl and sucker punch sound of that Rickenbacker is quite literally the most inspiring, influential, interesting thing in music history, and Paul made into something iconic and melodic.
McCartney has so many great basslines, and this one here is right up there with the best of them
Paul McCartney is the best bass player ever. And the most gorgeous one too ❤️😍
SAINTgs3 James Jamerson was better at bass , Paul is the greatest songwriter and musician though
@@drewrussell4519 but no one asks if there's any better bassist player than Paul. Well i respect your favorite bassist but just keep your own opinion if you think James jamerson is better than all bassist player. some few people who is a beatles fan won't agree with that you know whatever you do or comparing them to others they'll keep bashing and says some hateful word if someone says everyone is better than Beatles just a tip man
@@trevorcorcoran5007
Its called difference of opinions dumbass, he isn't correcting him, he is giving him his own input. This is youtube, you new to it? In my opinion Geddy Lee and John Paul Jones are just as good as Mccartney if not better.
@@ArthaxtaDaVince777 I am new to RUclips. I have not heard this word "dumbass". Is it a title used to show respect? A nickname or term of endearment? I want to learn to be a good youTuber and use the "lingo" right.
@@monsieurcommissaire1628
hahaha, that was good one.
The accidental bass player turned out pretty darn good. For me one of the great bass players of the sixties along with Duck Dunn, James Jameson, George Porter Jnr and my sentimental fav. Ronnie Lane.
Jack bruce
I heard this song for the first time recently (yes in 2019 I know) and the first thing I said was, “Wow that bass line!”
Not surprising as it appears on Beatles most obscure album, & was cut out of the American release of the movie. A hidden gem ready to be re-discovered.
daskitten1 Yes, truly! Even though I’ve been a Beatles Fan for a while now I never appreciated this song until recently, simply because I just rarely sit down to listen to Yellow Submarine in the way I do with say, Sgt. Peppers, Revolver or Abbey Road. So yes, it really is a treat.
Paul McCartney is a true Bassist. Talented and industrious.
His Bass line on Paperback Writer was a huge turning point for the elevation of the electric Bass in a band.
Paul is to bass what David Gilmour is to guitar. Innovative, unique and most importantly full of emotion. This my friends, is an art.
Me too! They are precisely my two favorite players! No one plays a bass guitar like sir Paul; no one plays a guitar like D. Gilmour!!! The two most melodious musicians in the whole world!!!
All the others? Not even close!!!
@@GabrielSoares-lj9rv I agree and I wish they played together more than they have
Funny, I equated those two also. Imagine them playing with Mitch Mitchell on drums and someone like Joe Walsh on lead guitar.
@@GabrielSoares-lj9rv oddly mine too,, since i started my 1st band a beatles copy band in 1976 age12..with hands that didant even open
Greatest songwriter of our time is a kick a** bass player.
and he never ever imagined or intended to play bass.
This could well be my favorite bass line ever. It's just... bonkers. Paul Mc fucking rules.
I just read the 2019 interview with Dave Grohl and Ringo where Ringo alludes to this bass line and rhetorically says “where did that come from?!
Outer Space?!” Fantastic!
A good little rock song, utterly transformed by McCartney's (best ever?) bass line.
It's one of those where you hear it in isolation.. then go back to the full song and all you can hear is this epic bassline.. so unusual and unorthodox.
This is one of the reasons why i love the band so much. While none of them were the most skillful or the most technical of musicians, all 4 had an element to their playing that is so exquisitely them.
Paul’s bass playing is so catchy and melodic and its rarely ever the same between verses. John was to me one of the best rhythm guitarist to ever lived, his chord choices and arrangement are so interesting and the notes he chooses for the 7th really adds depth to his guitar playing. George’s guitar sound is recognizable especially in the later years, with the slide and the beautiful lead parts, its a shame that he couldnt write All Things Must Pass with the rest. Last but not least, Ringo... always getting meme’d for being a bad drummer, his work with A Day in the Life and Rain speaks for itself. His playing complemented the styles of the rest so well as if he wraps them up.
Take a listen to All My Loving.... very simple melody, but what would that be without his walking baseline? It counters, lifts and supports the melody. And in the process, bits includes Carl Perkins riffs, and he even flubs one note. But still, brilliance!
I'm guessing most of us here are bass players :)
nooope :) i have no idea about music playing, but i love this bass
Kelly Billingham I'm a drummer, but I appreciate a sweet bass line and damn, this is one of the sweetest. So, my rhythmic bass brothers, drummers DO listen to you!
@@zoznack sweet as. Love connecting with a drummer, it's seriously the best. Like we're the only two people in the room!
Learning
Do cardboard basses count? I have two cardboard ones
I was actually looking for this a couple decades ago...
For those questioning if this is Paul's playing. You can hear the other tracks bleed through, and exactly as they sound on the record.
And Paul was forced into the bass when Stu left, he's a guitarist.
He's an amazing bass player.
Just that sound of the Rickenbacker 4001s Fireglo is just amazing! And a 2 to 4 thousand dollar bass played by Paul McCartney is just a master piece! Good job Paul.
Easily my favorite rock and roll bass player. Improvisation is his second nature. I love Entwistle, Butler, Jones, Bruce, but McCartney is so fundamentally incredible, and did it first, at that. He wrote the book on this style of playing bass in rock music.
I'm not a bass player, so I'm grateful that my son and I played Beatles Rock Band as often as we did. I don't think I knew this song at all before then, and it quickly became my favorite because I always "played" the bass line, and the more I did, the more I was amazed by Paul's creation -- and the more fun I had.
¡Maestro de maestros!
¡El Bassman por antonomasia!
¡El Les Paul del bajo!
Paul siempre ''ataca'', nota tras nota y sorprende, siempre.
¡Puro arte y maestría!
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
This is great. Lennon Helter Skelter isolated bass is dope too.
actually helter skelter is ALSO a paul song- you would think john but it's paul's song
@@maxdingotm Helter Skelter is a Paul song only, but Lennon played the bass in that one.
The bass in that song isn’t that good
@@christiancevallos9820 I disagree, John's bass playing is raw and expressive in its own way which was suitable to the song. If you want to hear terrible bass playing from Lennon, listen to The Long and Winding Road...
mmjahink the thing with Lennon is, hes such a great rhythm guitarist. His chord choices and progressions are so interesting. They were never the greatest technical musicians but all of them had an element to their playing that is so exquisitely them. Ringo on A Day in The Life and Rain were so damn good.
To me, bassline is the soul of a song. Listen to Nowhere Man, great bassline!!! Beautiful!!
Proof that Paul McCartney is a genius!
"Hey bassdog!"
Lol
To me, this is one of the coolest songs and bass lines ever recorded.
My fav bass player...when I'm coming up with a bass line I think WWPD?
Great bass playing; McCartney's playing on "Come Together" also shines.
One of the coolest bass lines ever
I can play this line and it's one of my favorites. Always changing from verse to verse, so you can put your own twist on each round you play. You can mess around while sticking near the same principle notes
I love it too. Play it always for warming up
I don't hear anything nearly this good in music today. Am I listening in the wrong places?
just an onslaught of the dumbing down of pop music.
You should check out Declan McKenna!
Such a crafty melodic bass line that’s just. perfectly. executed. this is the creation of somebody who speaks melody very fluently
I think that, if people at the time would have hear all those isolated tracks, they would have realized the unique experiment the Beatles were endeavoring. Paul is so free in his expression, it never stops to amaze me.
So incredibly awesome.
Personally, I prefer the sound of McCartney’s “Rick” bass over the Hofner. The “Rick” really KICKS!
affinity for german guitars..... from playing Hamburg perhaps
The reason Paul played a Hofner was left-handed guitars and electric basses were hard to come by. The Hofner looks almost identical played left-handed. He took a right handed bass and did simple alterations to the nut and bridge and it didn't look awkward--like Jimi Hendrix playing a right-handed Fender Strat left handed.
McCartney played on a Fender Jazz bass for awhile.
McCartney likes to play bass with more treble rather than bottom-end punch. The Rick 4001 and Jazz bass do that quite well.
Yeah the Hofner kinda sucks, ngl
I think Sir McCartney was like: "Remember when I used to play rockabilly guitar?"
Paul always went Bass-bananas on the other Beatles' songs.
Pretty sure Paul was thinking "let me make an extremely fun bass-line for everyone after me to try and play along to"
A god.... no words.
No quit in the line. Constantly leading. Surprising. Discovering. Brilliant!
Thank you for manking this. Paul is a freaking madman. He really puts his soul into this one. So free and fun😁🍄
This is honestly one of the best basslines 👌
I think this is my new fave bass line after Mr Kite. What a talent Paul is
The Beatles music will endure for generations to come. Just as classical music is still heard today. This was the classical music of my generation. And Paul was essential in the evolution and progression of the role the bass had in popular music. John Entwistle was another enormously innovative player, who took it to new levels also.
the Beatles' music belongs with classical music
@@Bella-nt7ec Agree 100%! I'm glad you get it too!
Mccartney has no fuckin god damn business being this fuckin unbelievably talented.
Hey BassGod!
McCartney = God of Bass...among many other things...
Hey Bulldog and Savoy Truffle have the best bass lines from Paul. It takes many listens to get all the notes he plays
My favourite bass line of all time.
I'm sure Sir Paul is not human.Outstanding bass lines.
This is one my favorite Macca Bass Line, they're just amazing ^^
this is literally a sexy sound
Rickenbacker 4001
Paul has always been one of my favorite bassist it always stuck out to me
Fascinating how McCartney had the creativity to change bass tones back and forth in this song. That's a lot of what's missing in the era of Pro Tools, where it's one bass line, with one tone, and too often looped. This is a master class, even for a top cat like James Jameson.
I love the effect where it sounds like its under water. Is that a result of you chopping this bass line out of the song and cutting some of the basses frequencies in the process??? I'd love to have that effect built into my bass, it just sounds so cool.
There could have been some possible Guitar and Snare Drum overdubs in the "Isolated Bass track" itself. Which could be the reason why it sounds Underwater in most parts in the track. The makers of the Rock band game had access to the Original Four track master tape recordings and they tried their best to isolate each instrument they could.
@@mario486waluigi2 Oh wow, cool insight!
Paul is *FLYING* on this track.
„McCartney only plays root notes. He‘s not a good Bassist“ - Quote by persons with no brain
Besides bass he s a good pianist guitarist drummer ...list goes on
You can almost feel Jamerson through most of his work - here too. Tasteful and grabs you by the cobblers at the same time. Magnificent.
Your funny 😉 Paul Mccartney is one of the worlds best, if not thee best Bass guitarist! His bass playing is like a song in itself!
And the reason why Paul is so good is because he's a Guitarist! I am a Guitarist, and years ago I use to jam with a band.
I played bass. They thought I was great! 🎃💀👽🛸 🕷 🧛
@Freedom Solossa Man, on "Something" Pauls bass lines are like a song itself! Even on "I Want You" (Shes so heavy) those bass runs are wild! 🎃💀👽🛸 🕷 🧛
鑕牆聲
Best Paul's bass line ever
This should be put into context as well; this was recorded in 1968 and has one of the most funkiest bass lines throughout the whole song. Where did THAT come from?
The best bass player in the whole galaxy!
its crazy how good paul was at bass
This bass kicks ass big style
Its very very loose. This is amazing because it explains the dynamic with left handed loosey goosey Ringo.
One of my favorite Beatles songs
Paul must never die.
Paul is an awesome bass player...he's of course a brilliant musician, but with the Beatles when he had to play bass, he was just awesome 👍🏻💯🎸🇬🇧
As a bass player Paul has influenced me so much. I once was in a Facebook group explaining how innovative he was. Another bass player in the group said how?? He went on to say that Paul was just an okay bass player. I could have went on and on about Paul’s lines but at that point I just called the guy a complete moron!!!
This was written in a single day... Let that sink in.
so was Hard Day's Night
After beatles days end, Its crazy paul's makes a album, create song, play instruments & recording by himself like Kevin parker did right now.
Man I love Paul.
I love 0:43 so much! No idea what the other sound is besides the bass though. Anyone know?
Snare overdubs, probably from Mic bleed.
Is The Best Bass Line Of The Beatles thank you dashy :)
Of all time
Eargasm
Love this song from yellow submarine movie.
Great bass
To think this song was made to support the soundtrack of an animated movie... It carries the whole album by itself, while the bass line carries the song. Hence, the bass is carrying everything.
I'd sell my soul for a Rickembacker.
Very creative!
That's such a tricky bass line