In which songs did Paul use his RIC bass?

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 4:57 pm

it's weird to to Mac with a F..... Makes him look so ordinary.

beatlesgear · Post by **beatlesgear** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:47 am

http://www.beatlesgear.com/beatlesgear/6small.JPG

Sorry guys, I was unable to get the code to work for this image. This is one of the proof sheets from the same day that the three other photos were taken from. Sorry about the resolution and size, but I don't have any permission to put these out anywhere. I figured that if I kicked the hell out of the resolution and shrunk them down small enough they couldn't be used for much. After looking through all of the pics from these photo sessions, it certainly does look like studio 2 to me. The thing to remember when looking at most studio session pics is that they are usully just a few minutes out of what is actually days and days of the actual recording sessions. So, not much is going to be solved with just a few pictures like this, but at least we know for sure that McCartney had a lefty Jazz bass to use.

admin · Post by **admin** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:57 am

Thanks Nick. I appreciate your comments.I guess we need to speak with Paulie (should he remember) or someone else who was at the studio during these days.

eddier · Post by **eddier** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 10:51 am

Does anyone know of a song or a performance in which all the Beatles used only their RIC instruments?

beatlesgear · Post by **beatlesgear** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 7:13 pm

I doubt it ever happened.

gt76 · Post by **gt76** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 5:10 pm

Does anyone know, or care to make an educated guess as to what bass McCartney was used on Harrisons "Something"?

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 10:59 pm

Wasn't Harrison playing a Fender bass on "Something?"

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:29 am

I believe tht's Macca on something. I recall reading an article where George said something like - you see what he (Paul) can do when he focuses on one of my songs - referring to the bass line. Which by-the-way is one hell of a bass line regardless of who played it! I would like to think it was Paulie though! Don’t quote me on the George statement, but that was the gist of it.

gt76 · Post by **gt76** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 8:23 am

The bass lines in that song are incredible. I believe I read a similiar article where George said it was Paul really making an effort to make the song as good as possible. But I'd still like to know what bass was used. It really doesn't sound like a Ric or a Hofner but with all the studio tweaking, who knows. Maybe a Fender??

fur99 · Post by **fur99** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 5:19 am

In those photos, it appears to me that Paul is using his fingers to pluck the strings of that fender jazz....
I'm not expert, but how often did paul use his fingers (of his left hand, obviously) when playing???

He is also playing near the top of the neck, so whatever song he is recording may have a bassy tone to it - of course, assuming that this take was used on a record...

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 5:30 am

He used his fingers quite a bit, most photos I've seen of him are finger style, and that line sounds like vintage melodic McCartney bass to me. He started that whole high note thing that many many players used in the 60's. The octave up notes, boomy and loud 8th notes (16th?). In fact he started the whole melodic thing on bass, as far as I know, or at least popularized it. Uprights were the norm in the early 60's and 50's, electrics were pretty much not used or used in tandem with uprights, called tic tac, very popular in country and rock n roll during the early 60's. The first prominent big hit that I remember with only electric was "Jail House Rock" Elvis, and it was tuned down to E flat, many moons before Hendrix and Eddie did that. I'm sure there were other earlier songs but that is the one I remember.

big_g · Post by **big_g** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:36 am

James Jamerson preceeded Paul by a few years and basically made the transistion from upright to electric in 1957 on the earliest recordings Detroit.
Paul even was quoted in the "Standing In The Shadows of Motown" book as saying that, even though he didn't know James by name he really was into the bass parts on the early Tamala recordings. Tamala was what the Motown label was called early on.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 7:56 am

Same for me, I never knew who it was on the Motown stuff, but it influenced me greatly, but I still think McCartney took the electric to a much wider audience. I remember reading something where Roy Orbison is quoted as saying he didn't have an electric bass player until 1961 they just weren't that common, 90% of the stuff from back then was upright IMHO, they didn't think Fender bass (as it was called) had enough bottom. Look at the big artists from then, Elvis, Everly Bros. (who had some great tic tac on some of their stuff.), Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison. ETC. all upright except for a few select songs. I've heard upright on stuff from Stevie Wonder from the mid 60's, who was on Tamla and Motown.
The big switch was right around when The Beatles became popular. Feel free to refute me, I'm open.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 7:57 am

Same for me, I never knew who it was on the Motown stuff until recently, but it influenced me greatly, but I still think McCartney took the electric to a much wider audience. I remember reading something where Roy Orbison is quoted as saying he didn't have an electric bass player until 1961 they just weren't that common, 90% of the stuff from back then was upright IMHO, they didn't think Fender bass (as it was called) had enough bottom. Look at the big artists from then, Elvis, Everly Bros. (who had some great tic tac on some of their stuff.), Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison. ETC. all upright except for a few select songs. I've heard upright on stuff from Stevie Wonder from the mid 60's, who was on Tamla and Motown.
The big switch was right around when The Beatles became popular. Feel free to refute me, I'm open.

dougp · Post by **dougp** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 2:19 pm

It's true that in the 1950's, there wasn't very much electric bass to be heard in rock'n'roll, but most of the notable American bands of the (pre-Beatles) early sixties used electric basses, like the Beach Boys and all the great Northwest bands (Sonics, Wailers, Raiders). I'd say that the switch was already well underway by the time the Beatles hit it big in the USA. (BTW Tamla was the name of Motown's UK operation; the label was always Motown in the USA.)