Basses

hi everyone

here are some credits i have always been curious about -

Back In The U.S.S.R. {McCartney} (2:43)
Recorded: August 22, 1968 at Abbey Road, London, England
with overdubs added August 23, 1968

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - 6-string bass, background vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, lead guitar, piano, drums, background vocal
George Harrison - jazz bass, background vocal

Martha My Dear {McCartney} (2:29)
Recorded: October 4, 1968 at Trident Studios, London, England
with overdubs added October 5, 1968

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - bass guitar, hand-claps
Paul McCartney - double-tracked lead vocal, piano, hand-claps
George Harrison - electric guitar, hand-claps
Ringo Starr - drums
session musicians - strings, brass

Rocky Raccoon {McCartney} (3:41)
Recorded: August 15, 1968 at Abbey Road, London, England

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - harmonica, harmonium, background vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, acoustic guitar
George Harrison - bass guitar, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
George Martin - honky-tonk piano

Birthday {McCartney/Lennon} (2:43)
Recorded: September 18, 1968 at Abbey Road, London, England

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead guitar, background and occasional lead vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
George Harrison - bass guitar, tambourine, lead guitar
Ringo Starr - drums, hand-claps
Yoko Ono, Patti Harrison - chorus
Mal Evans - hand-claps

Helter Skelter {McCartney} (4:30)
Recorded: September 9, 1968 at Abbey Road, London, England
with an overdub added September 10, 1968

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - 6-string bass guitar, lead guitar, saxophone, background vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, lead guitar, background vocal
George Harrison - rhythm guitar, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
Mal Evans - trumpet

Honey Pie {McCartney} (2:41)
Recorded: October 1, 1968 at Trident Studios, London, England
with overdubs added October 2, 1968 and October 4, 1968

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead guitar
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
George Harrison - bass guitar
Ringo Starr - drums
fifteen session musicians - brass

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window {McCartney} (1:57)
Recorded: July 25, 1969 (with "Polythene Pam" as one song)
at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added July 28, 1969
and July 30, 1969

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - acoustic guitar, background vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, harmony vocal, lead guitar, background vocal
George Harrison - bass guitar, tambourine, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, maracas

Carry That Weight {McCartney} (1:37)
Recorded: July 2, 1969 (with "Golden Slumbers" as one song)
at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added July 3, 4, 30
and 31, 1969 and August 15, 1969

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - bass guitar, chorus vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, harmony vocal, piano, chorus vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar, chorus vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, chorus vocal
session musicians - strings, brass

Dig It {Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey} (0:50)
Recorded: January 26, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney - piano
George Harrison - bass guitar
Ringo Starr - drums
Billy Preston - organ

Let It Be {McCartney} (4:03)
Recorded: January 31, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England
with overdubs added April 30, 1969 and January 4, 1970.
Re-produced and remixed by Phil Spector in March, 1970

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - bass guitar, harmony vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
George Harrison - lead guitar, harmony vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, maracas
Billy Preston - organ, electric piano
session musicians - orchestra (overdubbed by Phil Spector)

Maggie Mae {public domain} (0:41)
Recorded: January 24, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney - acoustic guitar, harmony vocal
George Harrison - 6-string bass guitar
Ringo Starr - drums

The Long And Winding Road {McCartney} (3:38)
Recorded: January 31, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England.
Re-produced and remixed by Phil Spector on April 1, 1970

Instrumentation:
John Lennon - bass guitar
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
session musicians - choir, strings, harp, drums (overdubbed by Phil
Spector)

here's what i want to find out -
does anyone have pictures or has ever seen pictures on the 'net or elswhere of these basses?
the 6-string basses that are mentioned and the basses that John and George played on the songs that report they played such on?

i have searched for websites on such but i only see pics of John and George with guitars. never saw a 6-string bass with them or any of the other basses they mention in these credits.
also, in footage of some of these songs(such as in Let it Be film footage), no bass guitar(of any kind) is shown being played by John or George(where indicated). we only see John with his guitar and George also.

it is also interesting how they used a 6-string bass as well as jazz bass in one song(Back in the USSR), John and George playing them respectively.
anyone ever seen these instruments and/or see them being played or have pics of such?

i only ever saw one still of George with a 4-string bass and that was in 'the compleat Beatles' documentary film (the song playing at that point in the film was 'here comes the sun' even though George stuck to his guitars and Paul stuck to his bass on that song as we all know).

i hope that someone out there has what i am looking for

thank you

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[size="1"][ May 11, 2003, 07:23 AM: Message Edited By: simplyrahil ][/size]

Yeah, if you check the video for Hey Jude on the anthology you can see george playing the Fender 6 string bass. John can also be seen playing it on the Let It Be scene in the anthology. It looks exactly like a normal guitar except it it has thicker bass strings. It`s sometimes called a Barritone guitar I think. This Bass was often used by John+George. Check that footage again, and look at the thickness of the bottom strings. When George is playing before Hey Jude, The Beatles on David frost-theme they are playing, the sound coming from Georges guitar is that of a Bass guitar. Thanks

and as far as I know, none of The other Beatles played on Martha My Dear apart from paul.

and if it says there is two basses on a track, it probably means that john or George did a rough Bass line on the original live backing take, but was then removed later on and replaced by a snazzy, clever Mccartney bassline.

Hey BeatleJoe,

thanx for your info

i know how a bass guitar sounds, i'm a singer, songwriter, musician thank you
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the thing is that you hardly see John playing it even though he has it in his arms in the Let it Be footage, like during 'Let it Be' itself.
it looks so much like his normal electric guitar.
amazing that since then those 6-string basses were around. you know usually these days those 6-string basses really stand out to the eye.

also on 'Hey Jude' you also hardly see George touching his 'guitar'.

i haven't seen the piece you speak of with the david frost theme, but if i could get to see it or caps of it it would be great.

btw, why do you think that the basslines played by John and George would be done away with and replaced with Paul's even though the track credits say what should be final?

thanx again for your info and hear more from you soon

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I think the bass-lines that were done by John or George would be erased because they were probably sloppy, rough bass parts, which Mccartney in his infinite wisdom(god bless em`), knew he could do better. Either that or there is two bass parts going at once. Sorry, I wasn`t meaning patronise you when i ssaid listen to the bass at the start of hey Jude. I do know for a fact that that guitar is a bass, `cos I`ve read an article about it. I`ll try and find some info on the net for you, but try reading Revolution In the Head, if you haven`t already, `cos it`s a holy grail for Beatles recording facts. thanks

thanx for the info again BeatleJoe

i hope i did not seem rude when i reacted

i don't have that book though

all those guys doubled up on guitars. . . basses and what not.

john and george trade that fender 6 bass all over 'let it be', and you can hear a bass on the session tapes while it is definitly p. playing pianny. . . .
check the books, like lewisohn's recording sessions, when you listen to the tapes it all comes clear . . .
it is easy to think that paul played all the bass but that just wasn't the case . . . and i don't think paul had the time or the will to redo the bass parts in 'let it be'. . .
be that as it may, i believe that john and george are adequate bass players in their own right, well that is my take.

[size="1"][ May 14, 2003, 08:09 PM: Message Edited By: sleepybomb ][/size]

[i]Hey Man what ya up too? Paul McCartney is getting a divorce. I'm sure you read it. Is CC-gal[P] Kimnnic still here.

The bassline on "She came in through the bathroom window" sounds very much like Paul to me! Actually Paul had a left-handed Fender Jazz Bass and used it on some tracks, and they had one right-handed JB which was used by George and sometimes John (e.g. in "Golden Slumbers" by George)

Greets, Christoph

Originally Posted by **DONOTDELETE**

amazing that since then those 6-string basses were around. you know usually these days those 6-string basses really stand out to the eye.

And they've been around even longer than that. A Danelectro 6-string bass was used in a lot of Ritchie Valens recordings. The 6-string bass plays the intro to "La Bamba," for years, I wondered what it was, as I knew it wasn't an ordinary guitar!

The difference between those 6-strings and the "modern" 6-strings is that in those days a six-string Bass was tuned like a guitar (one octave below), E-A-D-G-B-E.
Today a six-string is tuned B-E-A-D-G-C, this makes it easier to play chords or solos on the top strings and deep bassnotes on the lowest.
Anyway the Fender Bass VI was a cool instrument, although it would have a been a much better Baritone guitar than a bass.

Glad that Paul didn´t need so many strings, he even got the most amazing basslines out of four strings! (But he also was a good 5-string player: He used his fivestring Wal-Bass on "Free as a bird" and made clever use of the low "C" at the beginning of the slide-solo)

Greets, Christoph

George is visibly (in the movie) carrying the bassline in "Two of Us," but I always assumed he was doing it on an ordinary guitar. Is he playing a six string bass? I would swear its the same guitar he plays on "Let it Be."

Tony

On "Two of us" George uses his Fender Rosewood Telecaster, the same guitar he used on the roof and on "Let it be" and "The long and winding road".