Macca

[chris_b]

[quote name='wombatboter' post='907346' date='Jul 27 2010, 05:21 PM']....Well : as a positive note, whether it's McCartney, The Kaiser Chiefs, The Smiths or anyone else : you can be proud of what the UK has contributed to popmusic. It beats Belgium !....[/quote]
Oh I don't know.... What about Jess and James?

Edit: careful what you say!!!!

Edited July 27, 2010 by chris_b

[Big_Stu]

And "Ca Plane Pour Moi" is a classic! Seriously!

[EBS_freak]

I think everybody is missing the point.

"Is Macca a chav?"

[Clarky]

Macca's OK but he's not a patch on Tony Goggle

[lonestar]

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='907360' date='Jul 27 2010, 05:30 PM'][b]TRADE FEELER:[/b]

Complete collection of big-name British musos 1963-2010. Trade for Belgian Beer / Chocolate / Historic Towns / Meuse Valley / Ardennes, etc.

Cash adjustment from me.[/quote]

Don't forget to throw in Tin Tin poirot but perhaps not Plastic Bertrand

[Lord Sausage]

[quote name='scalpy' post='906425' date='Jul 26 2010, 10:46 PM']All these people saying Macca's a bell-end as if they have to work with him. Obviously I haven't either, but I know a man who has who can't praise him enough. He has endless tales of Paul rolling his sleeves up and getting involved, never ever mentioning his wealth and giving to charity on an epic scale. For somebody to live through what he has without any semblance of precedent would put any personality to the test, and you could argue that only George got close to being truly humble about it all. Musicians as a breed are proud of what we do or we wouldn't put ourselves in the position to communicate our ideas to an audience in the first place. Paul is quite rightly proud of his accomplishments and a lesser man would be even more boastful or whatever characteristic you wish to choose to describe him. If I had played bass in the Beatles I'd probably find it a little tricky not to mention it once in a while.

Musically I believe the word to describe his playing is eloquent. Always the right turn of phrase at the right time. One of the few bass players the average punter will do "air bass" to when he drops a fill in- I'm thinking "With a little help from my friends".

I can't believe there's 7 pages of this stuff and I don't believe anyone's mentioned him playing and singing at the same time. There's a video from the Magical Mystery Tour period where you can see him miming away admittedly but the bass line is bang on. I must remember the song. The earlier stuff maybe more simplistic but he rips through it.

And as to all this business about Entwistle and Jamerson. McCartney was doing a very different job for those songs. Most of us have played in more than one band and know that you just can't always do your thing. It's back to the right thing at the right time. The Beatles were about the lyrics, the melodies and the textures. Paul did what he needed to and considering the variety of material demonstrated an imagination way beyond what most other musicians are capable of to suit. Entwistle was effectively the lead guitarist in his band and Jamerson developed a niche for another equally fantastic way of playing, again very specific for the audience.

I'm staggered that so called musicians can't recognise what McCartney has achieved, especially as in many ways he has defined commercial bass playing.[/quote]
right on!

[danbowskill]

but he is a bell end! lol (only jessting)

not the greatest bass player! and not my cuppa, but a fine musician none the less, weather you dig his/there tunes or not.

[Lord Sausage]

You know what the thread was just meant to be about what people thought of his playing. Not whether he was a nob or how good the beatles were. However, I've always thought that certain people like or dislike bands because it's cool to. For instance, I don't like or get Pink Floyd. Sounds like a drug comedown. However over the years i have met people who like Floyd and they only no the obvious but its cool to like them so they do. i think the reverse is true of The Beatles. I'm not their biggest fan but like a lot of what they did and respect what they did. I've met people who are all like 'hate the beatles there sh*t' etc and haven't heard the best and i've met people who jus refuse to like them because its the beatles. I think a bit of that is going on here![size="3"][/size]

[nick]

I like his playing. Don't think he's the greatest technical bass player & not a massive fan of the Beatles either, but played enough of his basslines now in various cover bands to appreciate what he came up with, was right for the song. Plenty of good memorable hooks too.

Edited July 27, 2010 by nick

[Marvin]

[quote name='scalpy' post='906425' date='Jul 26 2010, 10:46 PM']All these people saying Macca's a bell-end as if they have to work with him. Obviously I haven't either, but I know a man who has who can't praise him enough. He has endless tales of Paul rolling his sleeves up and getting involved, never ever mentioning his wealth and giving to charity on an epic scale. For somebody to live through what he has without any semblance of precedent would put any personality to the test, and you could argue that only George got close to being truly humble about it all. Musicians as a breed are proud of what we do or we wouldn't put ourselves in the position to communicate our ideas to an audience in the first place. Paul is quite rightly proud of his accomplishments and a lesser man would be even more boastful or whatever characteristic you wish to choose to describe him. If I had played bass in the Beatles I'd probably find it a little tricky not to mention it once in a while.

Musically I believe the word to describe his playing is eloquent. Always the right turn of phrase at the right time. One of the few bass players the average punter will do "air bass" to when he drops a fill in- I'm thinking "With a little help from my friends".

I can't believe there's 7 pages of this stuff and I don't believe anyone's mentioned him playing and singing at the same time. There's a video from the Magical Mystery Tour period where you can see him miming away admittedly but the bass line is bang on. I must remember the song. The earlier stuff maybe more simplistic but he rips through it.

And as to all this business about Entwistle and Jamerson. McCartney was doing a very different job for those songs. Most of us have played in more than one band and know that you just can't always do your thing. It's back to the right thing at the right time. The Beatles were about the lyrics, the melodies and the textures. Paul did what he needed to and considering the variety of material demonstrated an imagination way beyond what most other musicians are capable of to suit. Entwistle was effectively the lead guitarist in his band and Jamerson developed a niche for another equally fantastic way of playing, again very specific for the audience.

I'm staggered that so called musicians can't recognise what McCartney has achieved, especially as in many ways he has defined commercial bass playing.[/quote]

I was going to write a post but I think you've pretty much covered it for me, a cracking post.

McCartney was a big influence on me when I first picked up the bass, not so much now but you can't deny his influence.

[scalpy]

[quote name='Marvin' post='907495' date='Jul 27 2010, 07:41 PM']I was going to write a post but I think you've pretty much covered it for me, a cracking post.

McCartney was a big influence on me when I first picked up the bass, not so much now but you can't deny his influence.[/quote]

Thank you.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote](scalpy @ Jul 26 2010, 10:46 PM) *
All these people saying Macca's a bell-end as if they have to work with him. Obviously I haven't either, but I know a man who has who can't praise him enough. He has endless tales of Paul rolling his sleeves up and getting involved, never ever mentioning his wealth and giving to charity on an epic scale. For somebody to live through what he has without any semblance of precedent would put any personality to the test, and you could argue that only George got close to being truly humble about it all. Musicians as a breed are proud of what we do or we wouldn't put ourselves in the position to communicate our ideas to an audience in the first place. Paul is quite rightly proud of his accomplishments and a lesser man would be even more boastful or whatever characteristic you wish to choose to describe him. If I had played bass in the Beatles I'd probably find it a little tricky not to mention it once in a while.

Musically I believe the word to describe his playing is eloquent. Always the right turn of phrase at the right time. One of the few bass players the average punter will do "air bass" to when he drops a fill in- I'm thinking "With a little help from my friends".

I can't believe there's 7 pages of this stuff and I don't believe anyone's mentioned him playing and singing at the same time. There's a video from the Magical Mystery Tour period where you can see him miming away admittedly but the bass line is bang on. I must remember the song. The earlier stuff maybe more simplistic but he rips through it.

And as to all this business about Entwistle and Jamerson. McCartney was doing a very different job for those songs. Most of us have played in more than one band and know that you just can't always do your thing. It's back to the right thing at the right time. The Beatles were about the lyrics, the melodies and the textures. Paul did what he needed to and considering the variety of material demonstrated an imagination way beyond what most other musicians are capable of to suit. Entwistle was effectively the lead guitarist in his band and Jamerson developed a niche for another equally fantastic way of playing, again very specific for the audience.

I'm staggered that so called musicians can't recognise what McCartney has achieved, especially as in many ways he has defined commercial bass playing.[/quote]

+1

[quote name='Marvin' post='907495' date='Jul 27 2010, 07:41 PM']I was going to write a post but I think you've pretty much covered it for me, a cracking post.[/quote]

+2

[Annoying Twit]

I think it's interesting to compare the bass on Denny Laine's re-recorded version of "Silly Love Songs" and compare it to the original.

[url="http://www.we7.com/#/song/Denny-Laine-of-Wings+/Silly-Love-Songs"]http://www.we7.com/#/song/Denny-Laine-of-W...illy-Love-Songs[/url]

[JTUK]

What do you mean about defining commercial bass playing in many ways.. how has he done this..?

That he played on records that sold millions..?

[von Braun]

One of the best melodic bass players certainly and patently some who strived to learn and improve.

I read a magazine interview with Flea in which he stated that among his many influences, McCartney stood out for his melodic basslines and strongly influenced his thinking on many of the Chilli Peppers slower numbers. Interestingly, in the same article he cited Paul Simenon as another

[von Braun]

............stong influence in terms of energy and style.

Really should learn to finsh my replies properly before submitting them!

[scalpy]

[quote name='JTUK' post='908067' date='Jul 28 2010, 12:11 PM']What do you mean about defining commercial bass playing in many ways.. how has he done this..?

That he played on records that sold millions..?[/quote]

In one way yes. I know that a lot of the time he just pounded away on the root and fifth, and other lines are walking ones. Some are riff based obviously as well. The point is that he isn't a virtuoso therefore it becomes much more likely that an upcoming player can emulate him. I've been playing for 20 years and I still can't nail a Jamerson line the way I want but I can feel I've got closer to a McCartney line, although the exact feel and phrasing escapes me. When I've written bass lines I wish I could say as much with as little as he does. Being bit of a geek I've come across so many interviews with his peers who see him as the benchmark. Either that or they are aiming to avoid what he would do, which in as many ways is as important/ impressive.

The famous quote about the Velvet Underground is that they didn't sell many records but everyone who bought one started a band. The Beatles/Wings/Macca solo may not have as much take up as that but it doesn't take much imagination to think of the numbers of musicians (people playing bass in this instance) inspired by him, including those around him as already established artists. In this day and age it's easy to forget what a seismic shift in culture the Beatles were, the archetype still for "a band". Aside from slapping and tapping etc, it's difficult to think of compositional tricks that are used today for the bass that he didn't touch upon at one time or another.

I've got a feeling that's the subject of another post or thread entirely!

[grahamd]

[quote name='von Braun' post='908148' date='Jul 28 2010, 01:15 PM']One of the best melodic bass players certainly and patently some who strived to learn and improve.

I read a magazine interview with Flea in which he stated that among his many influences, McCartney stood out for his melodic basslines and strongly influenced his thinking on many of the Chilli Peppers slower numbers. Interestingly, in the same article he cited Paul Simenon as another[/quote]



This figures - surely Give It Away is a direct descendent of Come Together

[4000]

I've read loads of articles where well-respected players comment on Macca as a player, particularly in in terms of his melodic sense. While we no-hopers argue about it, some of the greatest players there are have the utmost respect for his playing (or certainly for the way he wrote his lines, which IMO is the most important thing). I've never understood this issue to be about whether he's the most technical player on the block; neither was Hendrix (or Clapton or Beck etc) compared to many of today's players but anyone who argues Hendrix's influence must be living on another planet (not that I'm saying that McCartney has influenced the world of bass as much as Hendrix influenced guitar, before anyone starts).

FWIW people like Ozzy and Dio of all people cite the Beatles as the greatest band ever in their opinion.

[JTUK]

Well, I can't listen to him as a bass player although I have played a few of the Beatles songs, but they are just chord charts to me.

I have nothing in common in terms of sound, style, technique or anything as far as I would know. I think it is very tenuous indeed to say that bass players copied him so therefore you will be influenced some way down the line by being influenced by others.

In terms of copying someones style..I have never done that to any degree and certainly not to clone-level..but of course, I nicked little riffs and tricks here and there. I can't say that any of them would have originated from McCartney and nothing about his playing or sound or style or technique or feel does anything for me.

To be a major bass playing influence, to me, he just wasn't a good enough player. He was in a world class writing partnership though.

[chris_b]

McCartney took bass playing from dum-de-dum to Sgt Pepper. After that there was no way any bass player was going to escape his influence.

He opened the door and the rest of us just walked through!

[wombatboter]

The fact that I've had studio-sessions during which producers tell me "play like Paul McCartney" (for me a fat creamy sound without sounding too undefined and with some high melodic fills without losing the low end) surely means something...I've heard countless tunes on which someone imitates his sound and phrasing.

[Low End Bee]

I came very, very late to the Beatles party. I'd no interest for years and ended up deliberatly avoiding them because people told me I should listen to them and I'm perverse like that.
I only bought my first Beatles product when the remasters came out last September. I got myself Abbey Road and the White Album. I love his playing and that big, creamy almost dubby sound is lovely. There is the odd gem post Beatles too.

There is no excuse for C Moon or the chestnut rinse though.

[thisnameistaken]

FWIW I know an 18 year old bassist who has two basses: A violin bass copy and a rick copy.

I think it's fair to say McCartney is still inspiring new players.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='chris_b' post='908205' date='Jul 28 2010, 02:02 PM']McCartney took bass playing from dum-de-dum to Sgt Pepper. After that there was no way any bass player was going to escape his influence.

He opened the door and the rest of us just walked through![/quote]
Almost a quote by Bo Diddley about himself, "I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob.”