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Monday, July 16, 2012

4 Isolated McCartney Bass Lines

We all know Paul McCartney as a fabulous songwriter and singer, but it's easy to overlook what an influential bass player he is as well. Paul, along with MoTown's James Jamerson, changed bass playing from laying down a foundation of root notes to a melodic thing of beauty. Although I don't think the following video is comprised of the best examples of Paul's genius, it does give you an idea of his style.

You'll hear individual snippets from the songs "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Come Together,""Golden Slumbers," and "Band On The Run" with the bass mostly isolated. Sometimes you'll hear other instruments also on the bass track (like the tambourine on "Help From My Friends"), which wasn't all that unusual, according to Beatle engineer Ken Scott's book Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust (which I was lucky enough to help him write). Have a listen.




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3 comments:

Eric Marshall Schoonmaker said...

How wonderfully refreshing to know that Paul's tracks in these amazing recordings is as dingy and full of instrument noises as anything I've ever come up with. Now, I know that I can take a technically correct part and make it amazing. I've always felt as though maybe I had poor technique, but overall, my bass sounds are no worse than what I'm hearing.
Thank you for this one Bobby!

Bobby Owsinski said...

Yeah, we're so used to perfect that we overlook the soul sometimes. It's always amazing to hear the tracks from hit songs isolated and hear all the flaws, then hear how well they work in the track later.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it George playing bass on Golden Slumbers?

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