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11.57pm
7 November 2010
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Ooh I love them both, but the first five seconds of Mr Moonlight means I have to lean towards John.
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7.32pm
22 May 2012
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Paul wins in my opinion. He nailed the cat scream every time he tried it. John’s voice might have been more distinctive but Paul’s was, by far, more versatile! Examples: Oh! Darling , Can’t Buy Me Love , I’m Down , The Night Before , Hey Jude (last section), Helter Skelter , etc. Solo Examples: Monkberry Moon Delight , Maybe I’m Amazed , Old Siam Sir, Rode All Night, Soily, etc. And the best example of Paul’s vocal power: Oh Woman , Oh Why – probably his best vocal performance and a great showcase of his screaming! John’s screams sounded like screaming, Paul’s were more like soulful grit. He had that same quality that Rod Stewart had or Steven Tyler or Janis Joplin. And he could sing smooth and beautiful as well!
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10.31pm
10 August 2011
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This topic surprises me – they’re both such great screamers!
Sure, you might prefer one over the other – but to say that one is clearly better than the other?
I disagree with those who say Paul’s voice sounds forced. To me it’s quite the opposite: I’m constantly astounded by his ability to screech, yell, growl, yelp, and croon – all in one song.
Repeatedly.
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11.09pm
25 June 2012
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I honestly do prefer Paul’s overall but I don’t think many of his songs match the power in Twist And Shout .
Oh! Darling , I’m Down & Helter Skelter and like 3 of my Favourite Paul songs so I think I just prefer Paul’s shouting out of Paul’s songs.
Maybe I’m Amazed is an epic song with such range, and on Live And Let Die is awesome (especially the you gotta give the fellow hell bit)
3.40pm
26 July 2011
Offline For me, this is just another example of how John Lennon and Paul McCartney came out pretty much equal in their abilities. Both were excellent singers, songwriters and musicians. (Paul is always considered a much better guitarist — and I suppose he was — but John played great guitar on “I Feel Fine “, “You Can’t Do That “, “Get Back ” and “All My Loving ” — among many other songs.)
In terms of the best “screaming” vocals, I’d probably give the edge (as I usually do) to John — especially on songs like “Twist & Shout”, “You Can’t Do That ” (his shout as the band goes into his guitar solo), “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Yer Blues ” and on his solo song “Meat City” (on the MIND GAMES album).
But Paul does a terrific job on “Long Tall Sally “, “Hey Jude “, “I’m Down “, “Maybe I’m Amazed ” to name a few.
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7.53pm
14 February 2012
Offline Personally, I have always been a bigger fan of the Lennon scream.Chills, man. Chills.
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2.15am
9 May 2012
Offline IMDeWalrus said
For me, this is just another example of how John Lennon and Paul McCartney came out pretty much equal in their abilities. Both were excellent singers, songwriters and musicians. (Paul is always considered a much better guitarist — and I suppose he was — but John played great guitar on “I Feel Fine “, “You Can’t Do That “, “Get Back ” and “All My Loving ” — among many other songs.)
In terms of the best “screaming” vocals, I’d probably give the edge (as I usually do) to John — especially on songs like “Twist & Shout”, “You Can’t Do That ” (his shout as the band goes into his guitar solo), “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Yer Blues ” and on his solo song “Meat City” (on the MIND GAMES album).
But Paul does a terrific job on “Long Tall Sally “, “Hey Jude “, “I’m Down “, “Maybe I’m Amazed ” to name a few.
I’ve never heard about Paul being a better guitarist? I don’t say he isn’t, just that I’ve never heard about that. He was a better bass player that’s for sure, not sure about guitar.
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11.03am
26 March 2012
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Long John Silver said
IMDeWalrus said
For me, this is just another example of how John Lennon and Paul McCartney came out pretty much equal in their abilities. Both were excellent singers, songwriters and musicians. (Paul is always considered a much better guitarist — and I suppose he was — but John played great guitar on “I Feel Fine “, “You Can’t Do That “, “Get Back ” and “All My Loving ” — among many other songs.)
In terms of the best “screaming” vocals, I’d probably give the edge (as I usually do) to John — especially on songs like “Twist & Shout”, “You Can’t Do That ” (his shout as the band goes into his guitar solo), “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Yer Blues ” and on his solo song “Meat City” (on the MIND GAMES album).
But Paul does a terrific job on “Long Tall Sally “, “Hey Jude “, “I’m Down “, “Maybe I’m Amazed ” to name a few.
I’ve never heard about Paul being a better guitarist? I don’t say he isn’t, just that I’ve never heard about that. He was a better bass player that’s for sure, not sure about guitar.
The absolute majority of people I’ve spoken to on the subject rate both George and Paul above John on guitar. I think all three were good in their own way but technically Paul was more skilled than John. I don’t see John ever whacking out anything in the calibre of the Too Many People or Taxman solos.
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12.10pm
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1 May 2011
Offline John felt slighted in his guitar playing to the point of highlighting in an interview what he felt was some great rhythm guitar, the one i remember being All My Loving . Paul was praised and respected in the press for his bass playing, Ringo for his drumming and George for his solos but John was normally overlooked in that department.
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12.22pm
9 May 2012
Offline Ben Ramon said
Long John Silver said
IMDeWalrus said
For me, this is just another example of how John Lennon and Paul McCartney came out pretty much equal in their abilities. Both were excellent singers, songwriters and musicians. (Paul is always considered a much better guitarist — and I suppose he was — but John played great guitar on “I Feel Fine “, “You Can’t Do That “, “Get Back ” and “All My Loving ” — among many other songs.)
In terms of the best “screaming” vocals, I’d probably give the edge (as I usually do) to John — especially on songs like “Twist & Shout”, “You Can’t Do That ” (his shout as the band goes into his guitar solo), “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Yer Blues ” and on his solo song “Meat City” (on the MIND GAMES album).
But Paul does a terrific job on “Long Tall Sally “, “Hey Jude “, “I’m Down “, “Maybe I’m Amazed ” to name a few.
I’ve never heard about Paul being a better guitarist? I don’t say he isn’t, just that I’ve never heard about that. He was a better bass player that’s for sure, not sure about guitar.
The absolute majority of people I’ve spoken to on the subject rate both George and Paul above John on guitar. I think all three were good in their own way but technically Paul was more skilled than John. I don’t see John ever whacking out anything in the calibre of the Too Many People or Taxman solos.
Maybe, but when someone plays instrument for over 10 years, probably could play Taxman , Too Many People etc… they are not that much complicated songs.
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1.35pm
26 March 2012
Offline Long John Silver said
Ben Ramon said
Long John Silver said
IMDeWalrus said
For me, this is just another example of how John Lennon and Paul McCartney came out pretty much equal in their abilities. Both were excellent singers, songwriters and musicians. (Paul is always considered a much better guitarist — and I suppose he was — but John played great guitar on “I Feel Fine “, “You Can’t Do That “, “Get Back ” and “All My Loving ” — among many other songs.)
In terms of the best “screaming” vocals, I’d probably give the edge (as I usually do) to John — especially on songs like “Twist & Shout”, “You Can’t Do That ” (his shout as the band goes into his guitar solo), “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Yer Blues ” and on his solo song “Meat City” (on the MIND GAMES album).
But Paul does a terrific job on “Long Tall Sally “, “Hey Jude “, “I’m Down “, “Maybe I’m Amazed ” to name a few.
I’ve never heard about Paul being a better guitarist? I don’t say he isn’t, just that I’ve never heard about that. He was a better bass player that’s for sure, not sure about guitar.
The absolute majority of people I’ve spoken to on the subject rate both George and Paul above John on guitar. I think all three were good in their own way but technically Paul was more skilled than John. I don’t see John ever whacking out anything in the calibre of the Too Many People or Taxman solos.
Maybe, but when someone plays instrument for over 10 years, probably could play Taxman , Too Many People etc… they are not that much complicated songs.
Not from a rhythm guitarist’s perspective, but the guitar solos in them are difficult.
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1.36am
9 May 2012
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He never played them so we can’t really judge but I see your point. George was probably best at guitar anyway.
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3.56am
5 November 2011
Offline I don’t really prefer either of them over the other. I probably like more of Paul’s screamers than John’s, but that’s mainly because I like his solo work and that better than I do John’s. John’s screamers sound so real, so deep; while Paul’s sound so effortless and clean. They both did them well, and in different ways, so it’s hard to pick whose I prefer.
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11.01am
22 July 2012
Offline It depends on the song. They’re both good in their own ways.
11.32pm
5 February 2014
Offline Zig said
. I don’t think Paul sounds awkward on any songs but will say that on songs like “Oh! Darling “, he does come off as sounding a bit forced. That is not a knock on him, just an observation.
P:I agree with John on “Oh! Darling “.Paul should have let John si
Zig said
kedame said
I guess it really depends on the song. I don’t think Paul sounds awkward at all on songs like Long Tall Sally or She’s A Woman , and he really kills Helter Skelter . I’m not sure where you get that he sounds awkward at all…Go take a listen to Monkberry Moon Delight or Rode All Night.
However, I do love John’s screaming in Twist And Shout and Yer Blues . It’s raw and emotional.
I get more of a kick out of Paul screaming simply because he can do the softer ballads so well, too.
I agree with the portions of your post that I have bolded. I don’t think Paul sounds awkward on any songs but will say that on songs like “Oh! Darling “, he does come off as sounding a bit forced. That is not a knock on him, just an observation.
In any event, I would kill (OK – give someone a paper cut) to have his range!
I agree with John on “Oh! Darling “.Paul should have let John have a go at it.Paul just sounds forced on it.
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12.57am
5 February 2010
Offline Paul had the naturally higher vocal range, so he’s able to do more with the full-voice screaming than John. The top note in the “Mr. Moonlight” intro is a B-flat, I believe, but the Anthology outtakes reveal that John had a hard time getting there. Heck, he had a hard time getting to the high A in the chorus of “No Reply ” (“I saw the liiight“), so he eventually relegated that part to Paul, just as he handed over the bridge of “A Hard Day’s Night ” to Paul because he couldn’t hit the repeated high G’s, F#’s, and screamin’ high A at the end. “Anytime at All” is another example – Paul gets the second “anytime at all” in the chorus because it went too high for John, and again, it was only an A.
All of that to say, John could hit the occasional high screamer note if it was a somewhat isolated instance in the song, but even then he seems to have topped out around an A or maybe a B-flat on a good day. With that in mind, “Oh Darling” has that bridge that just freakin’ camps out on high B’s and A’s, and I have absolutely no doubt that this would have been way out of John’s range and ability. Not only does that bridge go higher than I’ve ever heard John sing, but it stays up there for longer than John could have done. (Listen to the end of “Instant Karma ” and how the repeated high G’s in the chorus eventually force John to start speak-singing because his voice can’t sustain the punishment – and those are lower notes than the ones found in “Oh Darling”.)
They could both scream, but John had a limit as to how high he could go and how often he could go there. Paul’s screaming stuff is more razor-sharp and closer to the actual notes as well, whereas John’s screams tended to splatter a bit (as in “Mother “).
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1.06am
5 February 2010
Offline One quick exception to the rule that I just thought of: John’s recording of “What You Got.” It’s an absolute anomaly given everything he’d said in the past about not being able to reach certain notes, and so rearranging “Hard Day’s Night,” “Anytime at All,” “No Reply ,” and so on. Because in the chorus of “What You Got,” he hits that high B repeatedly (“You don’t know what you got …”), and then tops out with a high C# at the end of the chorus (“give me one more chance“).
I have no idea how he hit those notes, or how many re-takes it took to get there, but it flies in the face of everything he ever said about his range.
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2.41am
18 January 2014
Offline This is one area I can’t decide on. John’s screaming seems more raw and emotional – it seriously gives me chills sometimes. Paul effing takes the torch and runs with it when he puts his mind to screaming though. This is one of the key reasons why, despite being an unabashed John fanboy, I can’t really put Paul down like some others do.
So I’ll call this one a tie. For their different approaches.
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4 February 2014
Offline I believe I’m going to have to go with Paul as he has such range, for example when he hits those high notes in Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? He also has a trademark, for lack of better word, Paul voice for these songs (like in WDWIITR, I’ve Got A Feeling , Maybe I’m Amazed ). Even if it is forced as some have pointed out. Johns voice is more raw and emotional but I think Paul wins BARELY!
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C.R.A.3.15am
1 November 2012
Offline The question is, after all, which do you prefer — not which is objectively better. I definitely prefer Paul. However, as I have noted in another topic I created, Paul does seem to have a bit of a deficiency in translating raw emotion into his talent; John had a natural knack for that. It seems usually that people with less technical talent have more “soul” (one exception to this rule: Ray Charles — he had both technical talent and soul).
But for the sheer pleasure of hearing technical talent in screaming (and in a multitude of other ways) soar — I go with Paul.
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