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Paul's thumb and upstroke finger style is hard (for me) to cop, and really gives a unique sound. It's the only way to make 'Yesterday' sound right (that and tuning down a whole step).

Paul was the best guitarist in the band, well, at least in the earlier years, then George blossomed big time. They all had very unique and somewhat unorthodox styles that are harder to imitate than they sound.
Paul's solos in Drive My Car, Taxman, Hey Bulldog, Sgt. Pepper are stellar. John played some of my favorite solos too; Yer Blues, Get Back, his part in The End.......

zed wrote: But I agree with Tim. Paul was just the bass player... and that's it.

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It always surprised me that George let Eric Clapton play the guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. And kudos to Eric who actually played it like a Beatles track. I like that guitar track by Eric more than any of the ones he did with the Cream.

And back to an earlier discussion, I've also been chuckling about the Savoy Truffle line: You'll have to have them all pulled out after the Savoy Truffle. I had misunderstood the joke, previously. I had thought you had to have all the chocolates pulled out of the box... but no, no... it's your teeth.

zed wrote:It always surprised me that George let Eric Clapton play the guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. And kudos to Eric who actually played it like a Beatles track. I like that guitar track by Eric more than any of the ones he did with the Cream.

It was the least he could for the friend who would take his wife.

Hey I have that book... or do I??

Mine is almost the same, with the same title, author and mention of an Introductory Interview with Paul McCartney, but the tag line reads: "The Official Story of the Abbey Road years 1962-1970", and the pictures are different.

I suspect it is the same book but a different edition. Mine was printed in 1988. That one is probably a later printing.

It mentions some of who played what, but is not often thorough.

Tim wrote: Paul was the best guitarist in the band, well, at least in the earlier years, then George blossomed big time. They all had very unique and somewhat unorthodox styles that are harder to imitate than they sound.
Paul's solos in Drive My Car, Taxman, Hey Bulldog, Sgt. Pepper are stellar. John played some of my favorite solos too; Yer Blues, Get Back, his part in The End.......

Oh, man. I wholly agree. And have you seen the "Back In The US" concert video? Or the Anthology? Paul's guitar playing is truly formidable and deceptively difficult. The ease at which he pulls off his comps while singing at the same time blows me away. Certainly, that's nothing against John or George, but Paul's reputation as a bassist often obscures his mastery of the guitar. He, in fact, was a reluctant bassist-- preferring to play guitar in the early days. That's a lot to set aside, but he did it admirably.

As for the book-- I was partially jonesing for more Beatlely chat and was truly seeking anything out there beyond the Complete Scores for further insights to the play styles. I can't figure out how some things were even played by any of them! Finding the notes is easy enough-- but the technique at times baffles me.

I've been studying the movies as well as the concert footage to get some insights, but it seems that if there is ever to be a respectable book on their styles of picking and fingering that WE are going to have to write it!

zed wrote:Hey I have that book... or do I??

Mine is almost the same, with the same title, author and mention of an Introductory Interview with Paul McCartney, but the tag line reads: "The Official Story of the Abbey Road years 1962-1970", and the pictures are different.

I suspect it is the same book but a different edition. Mine was printed in 1988. That one is probably a later printing.

It mentions some of who played what, but is not often thorough.

I must find my box of Beatle books, including the Lewisohn and the Emerick books!

Hi,
You guys have got to run and see the new film "Across the Universe"
I saw it tonight and I have to say it might have been the most enjoyable movie i have ever seen. Granted the Beatle songs and my love of them is primarily responsible for thisbut what a movie..Joe Cocker does a version of "Come Together" that was astounding...and just yesterday i was listening to the Beatle's masterpiece marveling at how simple perfect and powerful it was. I didn't think there were any other possibilities after that but you have to hear the one in this movie . The visuals are so psychedelic and use modern techniques to achieve their result. I was hit so hard by the impact of the music that I was in tears two or three times. The most powerful was a gospel "Let It Be" set against 60's unrest and vietNam. Surprisingly amazing stuff. I had to let all of my fellow Beatle
lovers know about this movie. I think it will be a huge hit although I hadn't heard anything about it before I saw it . Enjoy!!!!
J

jayhirsh.com

I recall seeing a preview about it over the summer and wanted to see it. Walked by the soundtrack CD in the store just yesterday while looking for a suitable new hard drive.

Thanks for the reminder!

zed wrote:But I agree with Tim. Paul was just the bass player... and that's it.
But he also played piano. I wonder who played bass in those songs?? Hmmmmm. Methinks we need that book.

Oh, I think Paul was more than just a bass player. None of them were extraordinary keyboardists, but they showed themselves quite versatile elsewhere.

John is quoted as saying that he himself played bass on "Back In The USSR" using the six-string Fender VI. Still trying to find the link...

Okay-- this should keep you reading for a while.

Each album is listed, and within each album link, the Lads are quoted regarding each song. Some quotes include some info about who played what, but it's far from a session log. There's lots of incredible anecdotes and recollections by them covering some 20-30 years or more.

Okay-- the link is quirky with intersite linking, so I'm going to have to break it up here---

It's on geosites, so do the usual www and dot com thing, then add the following including the forward slashes, etc:

/~beatleboy1/dbsongs.html

Here's one for you, Mister Zed:

John Lennon wrote:1964: "I'd find it a drag to play rhythm all the time, so I always work myself out something interesting to play. The best example I can think of is like I did on 'You Can't Do That.' There really isn't a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist on that, because I feel the rhythm guitarist role sounds too thin for records. Anyway it drove me potty to play chunk-chunk rhythm all the time. I never play anything as lead guitarist that George couldn't do better. But I like playing lead sometimes, so I do it."

I'm not sure what John is implying here-- that he played the lead on this song instead of George? Hmm. Definitely two Rickies at work here-- a 12 string and a six string.

At least during the Melbourne concert it is indeed George playing the opening riff on his 360-12 with John on his 325. But lo and behold-- during the guitar solo this video from Melbourne, Australia doesn't show John-- but it shows George holding down the riff. So John IS playing the solo!!

(by the way-- they do "I Saw Her Standing There" first-- then "You Can't Do That". Decent quality video, too.)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FlvlIT1XNtw

Speaking of which-- here's an interesting find:

Outtake from the film "Hard Day's Night" end concert-- "You Can't Do That", which was not used in the final cut.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aLjIyaOZgQA

Frodo wrote:Okay-- this should keep you reading for a while.

Each album is listed, and within each album link, the Lads are quoted regarding each song. Some quotes include some info about who played what, but it's far from a session log. There's lots of incredible anecdotes and recollections by them covering some 20-30 years or more.

Great reference site, that. It's gonna be fun to play the albums and read through the quotes. I have bookmarked it and will gradually read through them all.

So Paul actually did play some guitar??!! Wow. I actually love his guitar work. And it shines through most of his 1970s solo output as well.

Great videos too. Still wish I could get that amp sound... is it more the VOX amps or more the guitars used? I dunno. Sounds great, anyway.

zed wrote:

Frodo wrote:Okay-- this should keep you reading for a while.

Each album is listed, and within each album link, the Lads are quoted regarding each song. Some quotes include some info about who played what, but it's far from a session log. There's lots of incredible anecdotes and recollections by them covering some 20-30 years or more.

Great reference site, that. It's gonna be fun to play the albums and read through the quotes. I have bookmarked it and will gradually read through them all.

Man-- I've been doing just that. I'd read a little bit and think, "Oh, really?". Then I'd pop a CD into iTunes and check out the tracks. Too bad the quotes weren't longer because I found myself skipping around the tracks for a while. Then, I'd go to YouTube to see if I could find a live version to see how they managed certain songs in performance.

zed wrote: So Paul actually did play some guitar??!! Wow. I actually love his guitar work. And it shines through most of his 1970s solo output as well.

Zed-- my friend! Paul kicks patudi on six string. I marvel a little things like "Yer Majesty". There are little fingering inflections going on with rather complex bass lines moving against chords. It's really a decelptive fistful.--- And have you ever tried to play Blackbird and play it well? Not at all easy to do.

Just for fun, I found a youtube video of a pretty good Beatle mimick group-- 1964 I think their name is. Anyway, the guy who plays t he roll of "George" actually does Paul's Casino solo in concert on "And Your Bird Can Sing" (on his Gretsch Gent). This is another fiendishly difficult double-note solo to pull off well. He does a great job, except he makes the same mistake twice in a row in exactly the same spot-- a very difficult spot, I might add. I then found a video of the Beatles themselves doing it with Harrison doing the double-stop solo, but the mimick group shows a pretty clear closeup of how the guy fingered it. That's going to be a very interesting study.

Speaking of Beatle mimick groups, I'm keen to find one in this general area to pick the brains of the guitarists if I have to pay them for their insights. Hmm.

zed wrote: Great videos too. Still wish I could get that amp sound... is it more the VOX amps or more the guitars used? I dunno. Sounds great, anyway.

Zed, I'm convinced that it was a combination of the Vox amps and the instruments. Where Geroge and John switched to Casinos in 1966, there was still a quality to the sound with a very recognizable variation in character from song to song that was faithful in spirit to the studio versions. Even through substandard audio on some of these youtube vids, there was just a "sound" that was always there.

Here's something for you-- Beatles at Wembley (1965)

Part 1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zw0KejCUahw

Part 2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cOh4WzN9HpY

The sound is pretty good as these things go-- but check out the amp sounds.

I was *this* close to getting the Fender Blues Deluxe, but I really think my first amp should be one of the Vox AC tubes just as a matter of principle.

Frodo wrote:I was *this* close to getting the Fender Blues Deluxe, but I really think my first amp should be one of the Vox AC tubes just as a matter of principle.

Word on the street is: If you're buying new, get the "CC" (custom classic) version with the Blue Alnico speakers.