Beatles Bass Lines

Paul McCartney’s bass playing on the Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul is outstanding and is light years ahead of his playing on the previous album Help , which had been released only 4 months earlier. McCartney’s bass playing on Help and earlier albums was solid and appropriate for the songs they were writing and the musical styles they were playing. But with the recording of Rubber Soul , several things occurred/converged that led to this giant leap forward in his approach to creating bass lines.

John Lennon's song "Run for Your Life" has what is probably McCartney's least imaginative bass line on the 1965 Rubber Soul  album. It certainly is not a bad bass line, it's just not as inventive as what he played on most of the rest of the record. It is solid and supportive, but offers little in the way of innovation. It sounds like something he might have played on the previous album, Help! . This is not entirely surprising, as "Run for Your Life" was the first song recorded for Rubber Soul . Perhaps McCartney hadn't yet realized how adventurous he could truly be with his bass parts.  The lyrics on this song are problematic and always make me cringe. The opening line, "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man" was taken from an Elvis Presley recording of a song called "Baby Let's Play House" by Arthur Gunter. Lennon takes that threat of domestic violence as the subject and tone for the rest of th...

Arpeggios abound in McCartney's bass line for "You Won't See Me" from 1965's Rubber Soul . It is repetitive, but also constantly changing. McCartney finds numerous ways of subtly varying the patterns.  It's hard to imagine him playing this bass line even 6 months earlier. Not because he couldn't  have, but because he wouldn't  have. He certainly played some great bass lines before the Rubber Soul album, but his concept of what the bass line could be in a pop song changed so much in mid-1965. He went from playing solid, supportive lines to playing melodically, his bass offering a contrapuntal voice to sit at the bottom of the musical texture. I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney Full transcription is below (no tab)

Here is my bass cover of "Wait," the Lennon/McCartney song from Rubber Soul  in 1965. This song was actually recorded for the previous album, Help! , but was left unfinished. It was resurrected for Rubber Soul  in November 1965 when the band realized they were one song short of their typical 14-song album length. McCartney almost certainly played his Hofner 500/1 on the recording, as the backing track was recorded June 17, 1965, the final day of recording for the  Help!  album. McCartney didn't begin recording with the Rickenbacker until the Rubber Soul  sessions. I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney