The Beatles Bible - Topic: Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Inner Light on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Ben Ramon said

RunForYourLife said
I actually had a specific question regarding Paul's playing on a few songs in the OP, but it looks as if the thread has devolved into a general discussion of his playing.

I do think George began to struggle a little to write solos as John and Paul's songs became far more characteristic and complex, and for several years the guitar solo was a fairly redundant tactic in the Beatles' music. You can't really stick a Chet Atkins-influenced 12-bar blues or rockabilly break in the middle of many of the tracks on Rubber Soul ...

Inner Light on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:43:02 +0000

Funny Paper said
Ben Ramon said

Inner Light said

1. Being a guitarist is not limited to playing "lead guitar"; there is also the category of acoustic guitar playing, both strumming and picking. For example, neither Paul Simon nor James Taylor play "lead guitar", but they are considered among the best guitar players for how they intricately finger and/or pick their acoustic guitars. Playing acoustic guitar is not just about strumming 3 chords, like some airhead at a campfire sing-along.

2. Aside from the two categories of Lead Guitar and of Acoustic Guitar playing, there is another category of the ...

Ben Ramon on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:55:42 +0000

RunForYourLife said

Ben Ramon said

RunForYourLife said
I actually had a specific question regarding Paul's playing on a few songs in the OP, but it looks as if the thread has devolved into a general discussion of his playing.

I do think George began to struggle a little to write solos as John and Paul's songs became far more characteristic and complex, and for several years the guitar solo was a fairly redundant tactic in the Beatles' music. You can't really stick a Chet Atkins-influenced 12-bar blues or rockabilly break in the middle of many of the tracks on ...

RunForYourLife on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:47:33 +0000

Ben Ramon said

RunForYourLife said
I actually had a specific question regarding Paul's playing on a few songs in the OP, but it looks as if the thread has devolved into a general discussion of his playing.

I do think George began to struggle a little to write solos as John and Paul's songs became far more characteristic and complex, and for several years the guitar solo was a fairly redundant tactic in the Beatles' music. You can't really stick a Chet Atkins-influenced 12-bar blues or rockabilly break in the middle of many of the tracks on Rubber Soul ...

Ben Ramon on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:45:19 +0000

RunForYourLife said
I actually had a specific question regarding Paul's playing on a few songs in the OP, but it looks as if the thread has devolved into a general discussion of his playing.

I do think George began to struggle a little to write solos as John and Paul's songs became far more characteristic and complex, and for several years the guitar solo was a fairly redundant tactic in the Beatles' music. You can't really stick a Chet Atkins-influenced 12-bar blues or rockabilly break in the middle of many of the tracks on Rubber Soul or Revolver, so ...

Funny Paper on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:31:31 +0000

Ben Ramon said

Inner Light said

1. Being a guitarist is not limited to playing "lead guitar"; there is also the category of acoustic guitar playing, both strumming and picking. For example, neither Paul Simon nor James Taylor play "lead guitar", but they are considered among the best guitar players for how they intricately finger and/or pick their acoustic guitars. Playing acoustic guitar is not just about strumming 3 chords, like some airhead at a campfire sing-along.

2. Aside from the two categories of Lead Guitar and of Acoustic Guitar playing, there is another category of the Rhythm or Backup Guitar ...

Ben Ramon on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 17:10:08 +0000

Inner Light said
I cannot believe how many fans out there keep talking about McCartney's guitar playing. First of all, he is a bass player. That is his specialty. If he was a great guitarist, he would have been the lead guitarist in the Beatles and he would not have needed to hire other great guitar players such as Jimmy McCulloch, Lawarence Juber, Robbie McIntosh and Rusty Anderson.

McCartney is a good guitarist. I'd still contend George was better, but there's no denying that Paul could have provided lead guitar with just as much proficiency and competence for any band. ...

RunForYourLife on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:27:22 +0000

I actually had a specific question regarding Paul's playing on a few songs in the OP, but it looks as if the thread has devolved into a general discussion of his playing.

Inner Light on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:30:42 +0000

I cannot believe how many fans out there keep talking about McCartney's guitar playing. First of all, he is a bass player. That is his specialty. If he was a great guitarist, he would have been the lead guitarist in the Beatles and he would not have needed to hire other great guitar players such as Jimmy McCulloch, Lawarence Juber, Robbie McIntosh and Rusty Anderson.

Funny Paper on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 04:13:49 +0000

Ben Ramon said

Funny Paper said
I'm a big Paul fan and I consider him to be a better acoustic guitarist than George, however, I think George has the edge over him on lead guitar.

If Paul was really that good, he would have done the solos himself on "Too Many People" -- but I'm pretty sure it's Hugh McCracken (or Dave Spinnozza). If someone can prove to me that the solo on that song is done by Paul, I will pronounce him better than George on lead.

I've always wondered about that solo- it does sound very much in ...

Ben Ramon on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:37:54 +0000

Funny Paper said
I'm a big Paul fan and I consider him to be a better acoustic guitarist than George, however, I think George has the edge over him on lead guitar.

If Paul was really that good, he would have done the solos himself on "Too Many People" -- but I'm pretty sure it's Hugh McCracken (or Dave Spinnozza). If someone can prove to me that the solo on that song is done by Paul, I will pronounce him better than George on lead.

I've always wondered about that solo- it does sound very much in Paul's style. He might ...

Funny Paper on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:09:30 +0000

I'm a big Paul fan and I consider him to be a better acoustic guitarist than George, however, I think George has the edge over him on lead guitar.

If Paul was really that good, he would have done the solos himself on "Too Many People" -- but I'm pretty sure it's Hugh McCracken (or Dave Spinnozza). If someone can prove to me that the solo on that song is done by Paul, I will pronounce him better than George on lead.

Holsety on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 19:17:45 +0000

On another note, he also did the solo to Day Tripper( or I thought he did, but Beatles Bible doesn't mention it so I may be wrong). Considering a lot of songs he started playing lead were on Help, maybe they were trying something new? Paul might have been getting bored of bass and George didn't like being the center of attention all the time anyway. He liked Paul's attempt at the Taxman solo.

RunForYourLife on Paul v.s. George on Lead Guitar

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:16:28 +0000

Relax, this isn't a thread about who was the "better" guitarist.

In 1965/1966, Paul played the lead guitar parts on...

- The Night Before (Doubled w/ George)

- Another Girl

- Ticket To Ride

- Drive My Car (Into and Solo)

- Taxman (Solo)

- It's rumored he also plays lead on Paperback Writer.

My question is, to what extent was this the band "allowing" Paul to flex his chops as a friendly gesture v.s. impatience with George? (I'm not suggesting George was incompetent, but this was the time period where he was sort of "struggling" with breaking from his rockabilly roots and finding his own style)

Geoff Emerick ...