Bass: Paul v. George | Page 2 | Fab forum

A Fiendish Thingy said:

I just assume that the bass is the same difficulty as the guitar, not strumming, you know? I've never actually touched a bass guitar, so…

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As a bass AND guitar player I can tell you, it's something completely different.

The bass is the tonal and rhythmic foundation of any song. You can do that in a very simple matter, by playing just the bass note to every chord, maybe varied with a V if you fell a little crazy! ;-) "Love me do" is a perfect example of VERY easy bass playing.

"I saw her standing there", on the other hand, is a perfect example of how to livin up a bass line. Paul doesn't just play the ground notes, he plays a whole melody, or riff.

Another example is the mentioned "Nowhere man". Check out the bass on this one. A less gifted player just would have played the boring ground notes. Paul, on the other hand, plays whole "walking bass" lines and syncopes. Another great walking bass is "All my loving".

At the end of the scale are those incredibly melodic lines on "With a little help" or "Getting better" or "Something".

Playing the bass and singing at the same time is also harder than with the guitar, because of the special rhythmic feeling you need for the bass. You have to listen very carefully to the drummer so his and your way of playing fit together.

Paul was capable of doing very simple but effective bass lines (Tomorrow never knows, Get back), but very often managed to put some nice touch to it with a little melodic extravaganza (I want you, Come together).

I love how he varied his bass sound, especially on the White Album. Check out "while my guitar gently weeps", where his bass is the most dominant and aggressive instrument, apart from CLaptons solo.

His sung bass line on "I will" is also very nice.

Many Beatles recordings show that his will to play an interesting bass line was bigger than his need for perfection. There are so many "wrong" notes in so many Beatles songs where he tried out something and noticed it was wrong, but they let them on the recording, because he liked the feeling or whatever. That makes his playing so light-hearted and fun.

So, back to your question. You can play the bass very easy, as most players before and after Paul did. But he transformed the bass guitar into a lead instrument that could do more to a song than laying the rhythmic and melodic foundation.

So he opened the door for John Entwistle and any other lead bass player, and he is rightfully named a huge influence on general bass playing.

MrBig said:

You must really hate me, don't you?

 

And I don't mean his full time with the Beatles either. There were a lot of jams with him (George) and Eric Clapton in which George played bass and it was just simply stunning. I still think he's a better bassist. In my mind, the band would have been better (not more successful, but better) if George was the bassist, Paul was the drummer, Ringo was on Lead Vocals, and John did all the guitar. More charisma that way if I do say so myself. 

 

Oh, and paulsbass, Paul is not a better bassist. Paul is a better bassist IN YOUR OPINION. You either forget to add that or do it just to piss me off.

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Well, I thought you started this thread just to piss Paul fans off, so maybe you should think about that saying about calling into the wood…

IF you talk about the jams on "All things must pass" – I was bored out of my mind about them… Please link me 10 GH bass songs as stunning as "Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite", "Come together", "I want you", "Something" etc. etc. etc. On the other hand, you called the bass on "She said, she said" "terrific", so honestly I don't expect much from that task…

So, let's keep that fixed:

You say that George Harrison is a better bass player than Paul McCartney.

You say that Paul McCartney is a better drummer than Ringo Starr.

You say that Ringo Starr is a better singer than John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

You say that John Lennon is a better guitarist than George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

 

And you honestly expect anyone to take you seriously after this statement? 

 

And, btw, judging someone's technical and musical abilities is not only a matter of opinion. And while about 7 billion people including the late George Harrison are with me on this I can live with your juvenile attitude very well.

MrBig said:

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Except that Entwistle is and was 1000x the bassist Paul was and Paul learned a lot from Entwistle.
 

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If you could bring yourself to just quote the passages you are referring to instead of the whole posting threads with your involvement would improve so much!

And, sorry, but he no longer is, but ONLY was technically a far better player than Paul.

Please link a song proving that Paul learned and adapted something from him.

He was perfect for the Who's rough, unpolished rock sound, filling gaps when Pete was the only other instrument.

He never could've replaced Paul in the Beatles, though, since he had just one sound, and the Beatles were much more versatile than the Who.

Anyway, I don't intend to make a fight between two of my favourite bass players. They're both great, and they BOTH did things the other one couldn't do.

MrBig said:

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Excuse me? "juvenile attitude"? You really think that I have a bad attitude because I think George Harrison was a better bassist than Paul McCartney? Really? Wow, and I thought I took things out of proportion. Oh, and none of them were technically great musicians:
 

Ringo's a damn good drummer. He was always a good drummer. He's not technically good, but I think Ringo's drumming is underrated the same way as Paul's bass playing is underrated…

I think Paul and Ringo stand up anywhere with anyof the rock musicians. Not technically great. None of us were technical musicians. None of us could read music. None of us can write it. But as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make noise, they're as good as anybody! – John Lennon

Listen, Paul is an underrated bassist and I can respect that as long as you can respect my thoughts. If you can't respect that then I think we will have a problem. Listen to "Faster" by GH. Amazing bass track.

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I can only repeat my words about quoting whole postings…

"Faster". Please elaborate what excactly you find amazing about the bass. For about 9/10 of the time he just plays the ground notes. Fine example for a generic, boring bass line. Ridiculous, as all your statements yet.

John Lennon's thoughts are just his opinion, and he used to have quite a bitter opinion about many things regarding the Beatles. The Beatles were not as great musicians as the Who, but they still were excellent and extremely influential.

Paul's bass playing is not underrated, he is rightfully considered a master, and Lennon himself stated that most of modern bass playing was directly ripped off Paul's Beatles stuff.

Same with Ringo, who is often called one of the best and most legendary drummers of all time.

You bring yourself down more and more with each posting, just let go of this doomed thread…

paulsbass said:

skye said:

So glad that you live up to your name, paulbass.

I don't know. If in a parallel universe George took up the bass, and Paul guitar, then notUs are probably having the same converstion. They're both very talented, creative people, so why should I be surprised at George not only playing bass, but playing it well?

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Indeed!

The question was not: Is GH capable of playing the bass well, the question was, is GH a better bass player than PM.

While many would state that Paul was a better guitarist than George (considering his work on Taxman, Drive my car, Good morning, Ticket to ride, Helter Skelter, Sgt. Peppers, and all this beautiful acoustic stuff)  George would be the last to claim the bass playing crown in the Beatles. That is just ridiculous.

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I agree that Paul is amazing when he does his picking stints- they're beautiful. But, George with an electric is pretty fierce. 
But yes, Paul is indeed the better bass player, I think. Georgie was a guitarist, Paul happened to be both, though IMHO, was a better bassist. UNLESS we're talking about his acoustic work, which is fab.