Paul McCartney: Overrated or What?

[Norris]

59 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'm surprised at the dislike of that bassline. I think it's sublime.

Absolutely. He turned a pleasant enough song into something rather special 

[fleabag]

I'm very partial to the bass on Paperback Writer.

[Marvin]

I think he's rather good. When I started playing bass PM was someone who stood out for me.

[visog]

Hmm... this thread is symptomatic of the decline of music, the industry and more importantly, the value of music. The OP is entitled to their opinion but then so am I and I say that based on empiric evidence of sales, critical success and positive Basschat posts, he's talking b*ll*cks. It's good to be contrary to stimulate debate - I do it all the time on these forums but sometimes posts like this are pointless. And moreover, I'd say who is rateable? And then I'd ask, what do these rated people think of McCartney or Jaco etc, and of course, they'll usually give their approval. 

[Guest]

Whether anyone on here considers him to be terrible, or conversely the god of modern pop bass, it makes not one jot of difference. The music is there as is the evolution of bass playing and has been captured for posterity. These “Is [insert player name here] over-rated” threads smack of boredom to me. 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 3, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[wateroftyne]

At least the bloke that wrote it agrees with me 😄

[Dan Dare]

I can see why those with more "modern" tastes might wonder why PM is so respected, but what he played was always musical, even if it wasn't technically impressive. That's what is really important (imho of course). There's a reason why so many prominent bass players rate his playing.

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'm surprised at the dislike of that bassline. I think it's sublime.

I think it’s pretty decent to say the least, not sure why so many dislike it.

[wateroftyne]

20 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I think it’s pretty decent to say the least, not sure why so many dislike it.

It sounds to me like it was still at the 'doodle' stage. Had it been a McCartney tune, he would whittled it down to about half the notes.

IMO, obv.

[MacDaddy]

7 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I don't think most even knew what an electric Bass Guitar was until Paul showed us.

 

Blue

 

Maybe stateside, but Jet Harris showed us here 😀

[Bluewine]

7 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Maybe stateside, but Jet Harris showed us here 😀

I was 9 or 10 years old in 1964. I definitely had never seen or heard of an electric bass guitar until I saw The Beatles.

Blue

[Bluewine]

If I could meet any famous bass player Paul would be number 1 on my list.

Blue

Edited March 17, 2019 by Bluewine

[Bluewine]

10 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

I can see why those with more "modern" tastes might wonder why PM is so respected, but what he played was always musical, even if it wasn't technically impressive. That's what is really important (imho of course). There's a reason why so many prominent bass players rate his playing.

And we respect Paul because he didn't have 50 years of Rock & Roll bass playing and hundreds of bass players to look back on and draw from.

Paul was pioneer.

Blue

Edited March 17, 2019 by Bluewine

[Al Krow]

Newton was a genius not 'cos he got it perfectly right (he didn't) but because he, together with some of his contempories, took things a long forward from what was around them at the time.

In the context of rock n roll, the Beatles did exactly the same and McCartney was part of one of the most creative song writing partnerships ever.

[Frank Blank]

I’m not a huge fan of the Beatles nor of Macca (or Sir Thumbsaloft as he’s referred to in these parts) but he played interesting melodic and most importantly totally song-serving bass lines in some of the most important songs ever written, that, to me, makes him a top drawer bass player. Give me that over virtuosity or ‘technique’ every time.

[Baxlin]

14 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'm surprised at the dislike of that bassline. I think it's sublime.

Me too!  

'Something is a brilliant song, it was when PM murdered it "singalongaMax' style with his ukulele, (was it on 'Concert for George'?) that got me.....

Edited March 17, 2019 by Baxlin

[Grangur]

1 hour ago, Bluewine said:

And we respect Paul because he didn't have 50 years of Rock & Roll bass playing and hundreds of bass players to look back on and draw from.

Paul was pioneer.

Blue

This exactly.

[EssentialTension]

 

22 minutes ago, Baxlin said:

 

'Something is a brilliant song, it was when PM murdered it "singalongaMax' style with his ukulele, (was it on 'Concert for George'?) that got me.....

You call it 'murdered' but I'd call it an homage to Geoge Harrision who was a massive ukulele fan.

[EssentialTension]

9 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Maybe stateside, but Jet Harris showed us here 😀

 

Jet Harris shows us the first Fender Precision Bass in the UK I believe ...

 

[Paul S]

28 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

I’m not a huge fan of the Beatles nor of Macca (or Sir Thumbsaloft as he’s referred to in these parts) but he played interesting melodic and most importantly totally song-serving bass lines in some of the most important songs ever written, that, to me, makes him a top drawer bass player. Give me that over virtuosity or ‘technique’ every time.

We always call him the 'Fab One' in my household.  Not that we speak about him much.  I've never enjoyed much of his output and I think he is a prize tool.  Nevertheless his basslines weave through the songs so melodically and become such an integral part of them that it is hard not to respect the musicality. I would have said 'impossible' but clearly that isn't the case.

[Japhet]

I'm not a Beatles or McCartney fan particularly but I fail to see how you can overrate PMs contribution to music and bass playing. He was one of the very first to push melodic bass lines to the forefront and had an gigantic effect on whatever came afterwards. He was way ahead of his time and put electric bass playing in the spotlight when it had previously been no more than a backing instrument.

[Barking Spiders]

1 hour ago, Frank Blank said:

I’m not a huge fan of the Beatles nor of Macca (or Sir Thumbsaloft as he’s referred to in these parts) but he played interesting melodic and most importantly totally song-serving bass lines in some of the most important songs ever written, that, to me, makes him a top drawer bass player. Give me that over virtuosity or ‘technique’ every time.

Too bluddy right. The fixation on technique seems mainly to be a thing for teenage boys who thrap away on their guitars/basses in their bedrooms. At that age it's understandable.

[Frank Blank]

6 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Too bluddy right. The fixation on technique seems mainly to be a thing for teenage boys who thrap away on their guitars/basses in their bedrooms. At that age it's understandable.

I thrapped away on something else in my bedroom as a teenager, something even more understandable. 

[Paul S]

Beat me to it.

Or is that a bad choice of expression?