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4.02am
18 December 2011
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I was laying in bed trying to sleep while listening to the Help ! album, when my playlist came to “I’ve Just Seen A Face ” I was thinking over the fact that it lacks a regular bass line, and since I couldn’t sleep anyway I just got started with this topic trying to make a list covering all Beatles songs with no bass line put down by McCartney (or any other for that matter). Help me out if I forgot some tunes. 
– I Will
– Can You Take Me Back
– Revolution #9
– Dig It
– Two of Us
– Julia
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
4.18am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
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I’m not musically educated enough to know if what John plays on Dig It can be counted as a conventional bass part, but he is playing a six-string bass guitar.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
9.46am
18 December 2011
Offline mja6758 said
I’m not musically educated enough to know if what John plays on Dig It can be counted as a conventional bass part, but he is playing a six-string bass guitar.
Hmm… I listened to it, I’m not sure now. I need to hear it more clearly, barely heard it.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
10.51am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline I don’t know if it’ll help you at all, but this is the long edit of Dig It – 8:26 (the full-length version is 12:25).
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
12.24pm
18 December 2011
Offline mja6758 said
I don’t know if it’ll help you at all, but this is the long edit of Dig It – 8:26 (the full-length version is 12:25).
I still don’t manage to hear a proper bass line, but it’s interesting – I never knew there was such a long version of this song. However, according to “the bible”: The second version of Dig It featured Billy Preston on organ and George Martin on percussion, and Lennon playing a Fender VI six-string bass guitar.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
12.28pm
12 April 2012
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I will doesn’t feature a real bass track. Paul just sings the bass line
Once there was a way to get back homewards. Once there was a way to get back home; sleep pretty darling do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby
12.33pm
18 December 2011
Offline GeorgeTSimpson said
I will doesn’t feature a real bass track. Paul just sings the bass line
I know, he’s pretty amazing right? Paul invented the “vocal bass”. I will add it to the list since I only want songs without real bass guitar.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
8.31pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Since they come from the same session as I Will , at which Paul wasn’t playing a bass as GeorgeTSimpson said, Can You Take Me Back (a short segment of which is used as a link track between Cry Baby Cry and Revolution 9 on The White Album ), Step Inside Love and Los Paranoias (from Anthology 3 ) also lack bass tracks.
As for Dig It , as I said I don’t know if John’s playing can be considered a conventional bass part, and only mentioned it because I knew that he was playing a bass guitar. It is a jam however, that grew out of an earlier jam they were doing at Twickenham called Get Off (the “Can you dig it?” line cropped up in several versions of it, as well as various “shout-outs” to personalities).
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
9.22pm
17 January 2013
Offline mja6758 said
Since they come from the same session as I Will , at which Paul wasn’t playing a bass as GeorgeTSimpson said, Can You Take Me Back (a short segment of which is used as a link track between Cry Baby Cry and Revolution 9 on The White Album ), Step Inside Love and Los Paranoias (from Anthology 3 ) also lack bass tracks.
I always loved that little piece (Can You Take Me Back) and I wish it was longer. 
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
9.43pm
18 December 2011
Offline mja6758 said
Since they come from the same session as I Will , at which Paul wasn’t playing a bass as GeorgeTSimpson said, Can You Take Me Back (a short segment of which is used as a link track between Cry Baby Cry and Revolution 9 on The White Album ), Step Inside Love and Los Paranoias (from Anthology 3 ) also lack bass tracks.
I didn’t add “Can You Take Me Back” because I define it as a part of “Cry Baby Cry ” anyway. I weren’t considering the Anthology tracks, but thanks for writing.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
10.08pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Okay, sticking to what was released while they were together is a legitimate standpoint, and one I understand. However, though you may regard Can You Take Me Back as a part of Cry Baby Cry , it is not. It is the first hidden track. That is like not considering Her Majesty because it wasn’t listed as part of the Abbey Road tracklisting. Except you include Her Majesty . Can You Take Me Back comes from an entirely different session to Cry Baby Cry , was not considered by them to be a part, it was just a little unlisted link. But 99% of people here recognise it for what it is, a separate song.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
2.00pm
18 December 2011
Offline mja6758 said
Okay, sticking to what was released while they were together is a legitimate standpoint, and one I understand. However, though you may regard Can You Take Me Back as a part of Cry Baby Cry , it is not. It is the first hidden track. That is like not considering Her Majesty because it wasn’t listed as part of the Abbey Road tracklisting. Except you include Her Majesty . Can You Take Me Back comes from an entirely different session to Cry Baby Cry , was not considered by them to be a part, it was just a little unlisted link. But 99% of people here recognise it for what it is, a separate song.
I guess you’re right. I’ll just add it to the list then.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
3.46pm
1 November 2012
Offline I thought “Two Of Us ” has a bass — played by George. It may not be an actual bass guitar per se, but I think it was what they call an acoustic “guitar bass”, also amplified (?).
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
5.44pm
18 December 2011
Offline Funny Paper said
I thought “Two Of Us ” has a bass — played by George. It may not be an actual bass guitar per se, but I think it was what they call an acoustic “guitar bass”, also amplified (?).
On “Two of Us” (and “Maggie Mae “, I think), George played a bass line with his 6-string electric guitar, not with an actual bass which made me include it in the list.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
6.43pm
21 November 2012
Offline mja6758 said
Okay, sticking to what was released while they were together is a legitimate standpoint, and one I understand. However, though you may regard Can You Take Me Back as a part of Cry Baby Cry , it is not. It is the first hidden track. That is like not considering Her Majesty because it wasn’t listed as part of the Abbey Road tracklisting. Except you include Her Majesty . Can You Take Me Back comes from an entirely different session to Cry Baby Cry , was not considered by them to be a part, it was just a little unlisted link. But 99% of people here recognise it for what it is, a separate song.
Oh I’m part of the other 1% then.
6.52pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline I have always regarded it as a separate song, more so since hearing the full-length version. It may be a jam, but it’s a goodie.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
8.51pm
18 December 2011
Offline mja6758 said
I have always regarded it as a separate song, more so since hearing the full-length version. It may be a jam, but it’s a goodie.
Unlike “Her Majesty “, “Can You Take Me Back” is on the same track as “Cry Baby Cry ” whereas “Her Majesty ” got her own track. Also the song article for “Cry Baby Cry ” here on the Bible says: On the White Album , Cry Baby Cry was followed by Paul McCartney ‘s Can You Take Me Back, an ad-libbed song recorded during the 16 September session session for I Will. Although unrelated to Cry Baby Cry , the songs are often classed as one.
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
9.31pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline All perfectly true, however many of those books that detail the Beatles discography, and/or give a song-by-song analysis of the discography, give Can You Take Me Back its own mention/entry. Joe made a decision as to whether to give it it’s own entry, but I’m sure he would be the first to admit that many of those who have done a similar exercise of detailing the songs do treat it separately. As you quote him saying, “Although unrelated to Cry Baby Cry , the songs are often classed as one.” That word “often” is important, since it indicates that they are also regularly treated as separate items. The thing to remember with Her Majesty is the original vinyl of Abbey Road . There it was not listed, it was as hidden as Sgt. Pepper ‘s Inner Groove. I’m sure many people didn’t find it for a while, as they lifted the needle at the end of The End to get back to track 1, side 1. How it has come to be treated in a digital age has nothing to do with how it was put on record to begin with. The seventeen-second silence also creates a rill for it on the original vinyl. There is no such gap for Can You Take Me Back, but that does not stop it being an “unrelated” link track.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
2.42am
1 November 2012
Offline Ah, nice to read this discussion between mja and Beatles bassist — makes me feel like the Beatles Bible is also for musicologists!
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
2.22pm
18 December 2011
Offline mja6758 said
All perfectly true, however many of those books that detail the Beatles discography, and/or give a song-by-song analysis of the discography, give Can You Take Me Back its own mention/entry. Joe made a decision as to whether to give it it’s own entry, but I’m sure he would be the first to admit that many of those who have done a similar exercise of detailing the songs do treat it separately. As you quote him saying, “Although unrelated to Cry Baby Cry , the songs are often classed as one.” That word “often” is important, since it indicates that they are also regularly treated as separate items. The thing to remember with Her Majesty is the original vinyl of Abbey Road . There it was not listed, it was as hidden as Sgt. Pepper ‘s Inner Groove. I’m sure many people didn’t find it for a while, as they lifted the needle at the end of The End to get back to track 1, side 1. How it has come to be treated in a digital age has nothing to do with how it was put on record to begin with. The seventeen-second silence also creates a rill for it on the original vinyl. There is no such gap for Can You Take Me Back, but that does not stop it being an “unrelated” link track.
Well, I’ve never seen it being seperated otherwise. I won’t bother to add the inner grove to the list. So you indicate that “Her Majesty ” was on the same track as “The End ” on the original vinyl?
"Real music is made by real people playing real instruments using own creativity and skills."
