Two things about Paul's bass playing there:

1) He's a very careful bass player -- you get a sense he has mapped out every little thing.  I prefer that to musicians who say "oh I'm just winging it, man, don't think too much, just feel the music, blah blah effing blah"

2) Near the end I swear he's doing the thumb-tapping technique I thought was pioneered by Larry Graham of Sly & the Family Stone.  (Then when he combines the thumb-tapping with some gravelly intricate runs way down deep, it reminds me of some of Paul Jackson's ...]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 00:51:35 +0100 http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/recording-and-musicology/what-makes-a-great-mccartney-bass-line/page-3/#p74536 Recording and musicology http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/recording-and-musicology/what-makes-a-great-mccartney-bass-line/page-3/#p74536 ^^^^ 'endearing', you choose your words carefully, I see

Thanks for the tips and the link. I do try and listen to my parents one as much as possible but a) it's in a funny room in our house where's there is often a lot of mess (I don't like mess) and b) my dad's not overly keen on me using it (hence I have my own, even if only a mono).

I have listened to a few isolated songs before but I can't recall ever listening to 'DP', I'll check it out.

Thanks Sat, 18 May 2013 20:02:05 +0100 http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/recording-and-musicology/what-makes-a-great-mccartney-bass-line/page-3/#p74535 Recording and musicology http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/recording-and-musicology/what-makes-a-great-mccartney-bass-line/page-3/#p74535 And here's the criminally-underrated "Lovely Rita".  This bass cover shows just how intricate his bass lines could be.

If you use your parents' stereo, pay attention to the equalizer (if it has one).  Tweak the levels to your liking, but make sure to bring up the low-end to bring out Paul's bass.

It never hurts to go to Youtube and look for isolated bass tracks or people doing bass covers.  Once you're familiar with the bass lines, you'll hear them more readily in your everyday listening.

Here's "Dear Prudence"

By 'home theatre', do you mean proper speakers? I have my mono record player with it's in built speaker which I use most of all, and my parents have another one with two big speakers at the side of it, which I think they payed quite a large sum of money for back in the early 90s. Should I use theirs more often then?

If you listen to music on a computer or as lower-bitrate mp3s on an ipod, you're robbing yourself of the music's proper fidelity.  One of the first things to get washed away in the digital sound-scrubbing are the finer details like the bass parts.

If you have a home theatre, I'd suggest using, but that's also assuming you own the actual 2009 remastered CDs or the vinyl.

Not to court controversy here, but in another thread we spoke of how certain medicinal plants cause the listener to focus primarily on the rhythm parts, especially the super-intricate bass lines.  

Paul's bass lines were tighter than most jazz players, and (in my own opinion) and the "Magic Bullet" to explain the greatness of the Beatles.  Listen to "You Never Give Me Your Money" or "Dear Prudence" and you'll see how Paul was doing things with bass lines that musicians are still trying to capture, 50 years later.

Oh.  My.  God.  It's been ...]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 02:29:32 +0100