Who was the beatles best guitarist? | Fab forum

mr. Sun king coming together said

Von Bontee said

mr. Sun king coming together said

Why the hell is this up for debate? If Paul was a better guitarist, why didn't he become a guitarist after they broke up? It's obviously George, cause he was THE LEAD GUITARIST

Well, Paul didn't "become" a guitarist after the breakup because he already was one!

I meant (and will willingly admit to making unclear) that why didn't Paul take the role of lead guitarist in his post Beatles endeavors.
As for the Taxman solo, it is one great solo. Even if you take Taxman, Good Morning, and any other songs he took lead on, I'll see them with Something, Michelle, Revolution, Back In The USSR, Let It Be, Here Comes The Sun, Not Guilty (Anthology 3), and others.

With what I have above, how can you say it was Paul? I'm not saying Paul wasn't a good guitarist, but George is better. I'd love someone to explain the argument for Paul, maybe I'll be convinced.

Back in the USSR is actually Paul playing guitar…

Michelle doesn't have much of a solo, neither has Here comes the sun.

Something is George's undisputable shining moment as a lead guitarist and he didn't accomplish anything as stunningly beautiful as that again, before or after. The Let it be solo(s) is/are also legendary, but not THAT special, imo. (the best take is from Wings at the Concert for the people of Kampuchea with the Rockestra line up, played by Laurence Juber)

Another favourite for me is Old brown shoe, that sounds really inspired, Savoy truffle as well, but a bit thin.

Being "just" the lead guitarist would never have been enough for Paul. That is someone who has a spotlight here and then.

He needed to be the central part of his music by playing bass or central rhythm guitar or piano.

And surely his technique was never THAT elaborate to compete with the true wizards.

So, when we make a difference between the "lead guitarist" who plays the flashy solo parts (which he COULD do, listen to "Maybe I'm amazed") or the guitarist who plays the most important part in the song he kind of WAS the "lead guitarist"!

mr. Sun king coming together said
Oh, we're allowed talking solo? Okay, how about All Things Must Pass? Or Wah Wah? Or Ball of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)? Or Your Love is Forever? Or Behind That Locked Door? his work on How Do You Sleep? Or maybe you prefer his work on Gimme Some Truth?
Oh, and what about And I Love Her? Or Run For Your Life?

Well, you asked for his solo career.

All the George songs fit in my description of having interesting chords and some inspired slide work. No excactly guitar hero stuff, though.

And I love her and Til there was you are very nice acoustic solos.

No one says George couldn't play.

He was technically better and cleaner in his sound than Paul.

But Paul was more versatile and natural.

mr. Sun king coming together said

Okay, so he was more natural – that doesn't equal better. Nor does being more versatile. All being more versatile means is you can play 3 styles instead of two (not actually the case – I'm not being exact). How can you compare Paul's minimal (in quantity) playing with George's masses? So George doesn't have many absolutely fantastic performances. He was consistent. Something Paul never had to be. That has to count for something.

Anyways, I'm made my case. If I've failed to convince you, well, I gave it all I've got.

How can you call Paul's guitar output in the Beatles "minimal"?

Sure, in the early days they mostly played "their" instrument, at least on the records. He would always compose his songs mostly on guitar, so there would always be some kind of guitar "output"

But later Paul would do more and more guitar parts as well:

She's a woman, Yesterday, the fabulous Michelle, Drive my car, I'll follow the sun, I've just seen a face, Ticket to ride, Sgt. Peppers, Taxman, Here there and everywhere, MASSES on the White Album…

Sure, George plays guitar on almost every Beatles track, because he was "THE" guitarist. That doesn't mean he had to be better. Later Paul didn't even bother to play the bass because he was more into the piano. He was just a multi instrument player, and excellent on each of them.

His bass playing was the only really outstanding achievement on an instrument in the Beatles – there were lots of more impressive guitarists, drummers and keyboard players out there.

So none of them was totally amazing on guitar during that time. But they were all really good.

Paul's work impresses me the most, overall.

Shall I mention again I still think George was great as well?