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What's your favourite Beatle bassline?
16 June 2011
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mr. Sun king coming together
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Small smileys, brain on Paul, and a hockey game starting in minutes. Error fixed.

As if it matters how a man falls down.'

'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.

16 June 2011
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16 November 2011
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At Helter Skelter John is playing the Fender Bass VI.For me,here is one of the best basslines beatles had in their songs

 

And In The End, The Love You Take….Is Equal to the Love……You Make

17 November 2011
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I love how isolated tracks have appeared all over the place as you get to hear parts of the songs that otherwise you never would and they help you see whats going on. Two of the highlights are Here Comes The Sun (moog syth and orchestra) and Something (Hammond Organ and orchestra). Both are gorgeous pieces of music.

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17 November 2011
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The bassline to the bridge section of “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da” is absolutely stunning. Paul is also in killer form on just about every tune thrown onto Hey Jude , particularly “Rain ” and “Old Brown Shoe .” His bass is understated but mind-boggling on the latter part of “I Want You (She's So Heavy)” and I also adore “Helter Skelter .” It's worth checking out that one of his huge influences, the Motown legend James Jamerson, plays unbelievable bass on the tune “Standing In The Shadows Of Love,” and I think you can find the bassline on YouTube. Happy listening! apple01

17 November 2011
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Oh, and I forgot “Baby, You're A Rich Man.” Too important to miss. More happy listening! apple01

17 November 2011
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Rain , Come Together , Rain , With A Little Help
But every time I listen to a Beatles song carefully I realise how awsome are Paul's basslines.

Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble.

18 November 2011
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Basically all of Abbey Road . Paul's bass is a part of what makes that album so utterly incredible!

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19 November 2011
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CranberrySauce said:

Basically all of Abbey Road . Paul's bass is a part of what makes that album so utterly incredible!

 I agree TOTALLY. apple01
Yesterday I listened to the whole albm both on vinyl and CD and I thought “I forfot to mention this awsome basslines on the Fab Forum…”

Sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble.

20 November 2011
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Also the album with the greatest basslines should be Sgt Peppers…..

And In The End, The Love You Take….Is Equal to the Love……You Make

9 June 2017
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Dark Overlord
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9 June 2017
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Taxman , Hey Bulldog , Rain , Oh Darling, The Medley, Come Together , Your Mother Should Know

Also every other song that he plays bass on, including the original cut of Carolina In My Mind and Donovan’s Mellow Yellow. 

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9 June 2017
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All the basslines! I have favourites from the albums to practice with:  Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite ! starts with actual bass chords which I think is unique. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) has almost unfollowable rills even to the point of interrupting the main line, which Paul gets away with because so much else is happening on the track, and that’s AFTER all the heavy lines under the vocals. Nowhere Man is a really intense walking line that focuses on harmonising with the vocal, on the other hand Lovely Rita is an amazing bouncy thing that seems to lightly hit the changes on its own journey through the song. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window is similar and demonstrates a thing that the really good players do, which is to vary their parts in each verse or each chorus (James Jamerson was notorious for this).  Check out Cry Baby Cry , the bassline is very unobtrusive and does something different every verse. The Word is bouncy, the fuzz bass of Think For Yourself and Mean Mr Mustard is great and they should have done more of it, the tightness of Savoy Truffle is as fun to play as the dizzying Rain . I never get tired of playing along to the Beatles. Might go right now and play What Goes On .

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9 June 2017
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ewe2 said
Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite ! starts with actual bass chords which I think is unique.

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window is similar and demonstrates a thing that the really good players do, which is to vary their parts in each verse or each chorus (James Jamerson was notorious for this).  Check out Cry Baby Cry , the bassline is very unobtrusive and does something different every verse.

I just listened to Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! and couldn’t hear bass chords at the beginning.

I noticed that too about She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and Cry Baby Cry , and I note that in general in many songs over the years, Paul is good about putting a variance in when he will repeat something, whether a chorus or a riff or something (whereas most other pop musicians it seems feel bound to repeat formulas exactly throughout the song).

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9 June 2017
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Probably my favorite is the famous B side of Abbey Road , from “You Never Give Me Your Money ” clear through to “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window “.

(The bass on “Carry That Weight ” and “The End ” is great and I appreciate it when Paul is restrained as he is here, because sometimes that’s called for, but it doesn’t quite rise to the satisfaction as when he experiments more.)

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10 June 2017
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I love every time you talk about Paul’s bass playing, @ewe2! The detailed thread dedicated to it is also a joy to read for everyone who doesn’t know it yet!

Unfortunately, I can’t play bass but I love the sound of bass anyway! When I listened to the Beatles canon in chronological order one of the greatest experiences was to hear Paul’s basslines develope. 

Some of my favourites are The Word , Michelle , Nowhere Man , Day Tripper , Getting Better , Paperback Writer , Sexy Sadie , Rain , I Want To Tell You and The End

It’s incredible how Paul’s bass isn’t only an accompaniment in most of their work but has an own soul really.

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Not once does the diversity seem forced -- the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita. - Stephen T. Erlewine on Sgt Pepper's

10 June 2017
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Pineapple Records said
I just listened to Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! and couldn’t hear bass chords at the beginning.

It’s almost impossible to hear, particularly on the new remix, but they are there when the bass is isolated:

Right at the beginning, which is almost impossible to play along with! It’s also clearly heard in Anthology 2 from Take 1 so not an afterthought either. Unrelated note: why did we get Take 7 again on the new Sgt Pepper ‘s 50th?

 

I noticed that too about She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and Cry Baby Cry , and I note that in general in many songs over the years, Paul is good about putting a variance in when he will repeat something, whether a chorus or a riff or something (whereas most other pop musicians it seems feel bound to repeat formulas exactly throughout the song).  

To be fair, it’s something bassists argue about. Kim Deal, who I admire immensely, is utterly implacable about playing the simple line without embellishment, and regards variance as a form of egotism. And her music (and that of the Pixies) relies on that simplicity for its effect. I’ve never heard Tina Weymouth say anything similar, but she seems to echo that philosophy in her style. Sting’s basslines are deceptively simple and repetitive. Sir Horace Gentleman does vary things a tiny bit but usually sticks to the plan, as does Colin Moulding.

But on the other hand many players, especially the great session players, all have that way of putting interesting variance and always in the service of the song. Some bassist think like songwriters, and some don’t. I’m a huge fan of Tony Levin, who is a master of this art and the criminally unsung George Murray, who played some monster lines for some of Bowie’s greatest albums.

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11 June 2017
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Pretty much any Macca bass line on Sgt Pepper ‘s is fantastic. Lucy, With A Little Help , A Day In The Life , Mr Kite, Getting Better .. all very tuneful and memorable. Elsewhere i think his contribution on Something was stunning. And I love that bit in I Want You where he does that fast little run down. 

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
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11 June 2017
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Just blasted Mr. Kite with my nice headphones and heard the bass chords. Now I’ve got to go back and listen to the entire album again with these. I’m hearing way more than I did out of my bluetooth speaker. 

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11 June 2017
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