Who was the beatles best guitarist? | Page 2 | Fab forum

Von Bontee said

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

He said "minimal in QUANTITY", which is inarguable.

I got what he was trying to say, but I don't agree.

He's on more songs than you'd think, and even when he's not playing he wrote the song on the guitar in many cases and influenced the way it was played, no doubt.

Someone once argued that George was a better BASS player than Paul.

Now THAT'S what I'd call "minimal output", but not Paul's guitar work.

It was less than George, obviously, but not "minimal".

"Yesterday" and "Michelle" alone put that point to dust.

mr. Sun king coming together said
How the hell does two songs reduce a point about QUANTITY (you don't seem to be getting that) to dust? It doesn't. I get you may prefer Paul's playing, but stop making shit up. Paul played nowhere close to as much as George. There are 217 Beatles songs (Canonical songs – no Anthology's or Live At The BBC). I can come up with 15 songs where George didn't play guitar (either there was no guitar, or Paul played it). Even if we double it to 30, how does 187 (# of songs George plays on) compare to 26 (best case scenario for Paul – as there is no George or Paul guitar playing in 4 songs). If I have the time later, I'll actually count it. But for now, how does that compare?

Dude, calm down, seriously.

Please read carefully: I didn't try to put your "quantity" point to dust, but your point about Paul's guitar output being "minimal".

Cause that's just ridiculous.

And did I say "calm down" already? Cause I mean it.

mr. Sun king coming together said
36, 3 co leads with George, so 33. Add the five songs with no guitar from either, it becomes 36 for Paul, 182 for George. In comparison, that's pretty minimal.

Dude, you don't get anything I'm saying.

And what's with your math??

Why take off the three co leads??

Do you think I'm trying to list songs with Paul but not George?? If you had taken the time to actually look at the list you'd have realized that George is on many of these songs as well.

And there's actually a lot more than 5 songs with no guitar from George or Paul (about as credible as your "best case scenario", huh?), so I'm pretty sure there's not even 182 songs where George plays guitar. But that's not even my point!

Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

If you want to stick to your "minimalizing" of Paul's legendary guitar work – go ahead, it's a free country.

Don't let the facts bother you.

More thinking first – then posting, some advice for the future.

Inner Light said
Who is the best guitarist in The Beatles has always been up for discussion. It usually comes down to either George or Paul. George was the lead guitarist of the group and was asked to join in 1958 due to his great guitar playing and McCartney has said in interviews that they needed a great guitarist and that is why they selected Harrison.

McCartney has done some great lead guitar work in some of the songs but as an all around guitarist, I feel George was superior. He could play many styles of music including his trademark slide work and was very innovative with a lot of work done in the Beatles songs including backwards loops and not being a flashy player but always playing to the song adding just the right part to compliment those songs he was a part of.

Where did Paul say the "great guitarist" bit?

The way I know the story George hadn't been picked as a "special force" because of his great playing – he just lingered around the band and joined in as a replacement when one of the regular guys was out – and so worked his way into the group.

Plus he was the one from a family that was a bit wealthier, with an actually good electric guitar.

I don't think they were that much impressed by his work, and he was also a lot younger than John. But he was very reliable and solid and nice, so he stuck.

I guess Paul and John were both not that much into the "solo" work but more into songwriting and playing their songs or the covers, and they needed someone to "flesh out" the sound with some solos.

Paul finally switched mainly to bass, so he was out anyway.

Again: George didn't play slide on a single Beatles track.

I don't think he was the driving force behind the backwards tape stuff, that's more Paul and John.

Before I sound too much like totally downsizing George I'd like to show some appreciation:

He was the only "true" guitarist in the group, Paul and John were mainly songwriters who played guitar, and Paul was playing all kinds of instruments anyway.

So George was the one who really focused on his playing and explored some techniques.

His volume pedal work is impressive, although not often used.

He developed his style nicely, after sounding REALLY clumsy at the beginning.

His guitar work on Revolver is groundbreaking, along with the others, of course. And let's not forget his 12string Rickenbacker.

His influence with the Indian music was also very important, if not actually guitar related.

So at the end of the Beatles and especially in the early days of his solo career he was the one being respected as a "guitarist" (and a songwriter and singer) while Paul was seen more as a bass player (and a songwriter) and John mainly as a songwriter and singer.

STILL I don't think many people are aware on how many songs Paul actually played guitar.

So I still give him the edge, although I like George very much.

Inner Light said
McCartney mentions his guitar playing in the 'Living In The Material World' documentary where he say's they needed a great guitar player that could solo.

Here is a link to a nice article about George's guitar playing and his influence on the band that you might enjoy. 

http://www.acguitar.com/issues…..re122.html

That IS a nice article, although I'm not that impressed with some of the things he said, PLUS he gave "Paperback writer" to George, when it's really Paul PLUS George.

Inner Light said

You are correct. Also George and Paul play the solo together in 'The Night Before' I always wondered how they got that sound during the solo.

In contrast to The night before where there are obviously two guitars playing I can't even hear George on Paperback writer, at least not without headphones. The main riff is Paul, which I never realized before, to be honest. But when you know it, you can hear Paul's sound, which is a little thinner and with less vibrato than George's.

Btw, The night before, while musically ok, has REAAAAALLY cringe-worthy lyrics…

Von Bontee said

I'll admit, I'm not getting why you keep insisting you're not talking about "quantity", and yet at the same time you're saying things like "I don't think you realize how many songs Paul played guitar on!" and "It's 37 tracks! You guessed 25! And you're not counting co-leads!!" Make up your mind, dude!

Last chance.

Once more:

"Minimal" means being the "minimum", so the "lowest possible" amount, not really worth mentioning.

Would you find this an adequate attribute for Paul's guitar work in the Beatles?

What's your answer to this question?

If you don't get the problem I have with what he said after all my explanations, then indeed there's no point in taking this "discussion" any further.

I've made my mind up perfectly well, it's not my fault he's not getting it and you're not getting that he's not getting it.

Sorry.