“Teddy Boy,” from McCartney, is an exception. There are no strong counter-melodies, and little in the way of rhythmic variation. Immediately after the Beatles’ break up, Paul’s bass lines, like the songs themselves, are fairly simple. And while casual fans may have been surprised that Paul played virtually every note on his first solo album, (his wife, Linda, sang a few background vocals), Beatles insiders knew of his multi-instrumental abilities – the singular guitar solo on George Harrison’s “Taxman” and the wonderfully inventive drums on “Dear Prudence” as just two examples of his one-man band abilities. Lyrically, both albums also focus mostly on optimistic themes: domestic life, love, and contentedness. Without Lennon to ground him, both albums have a much lighter feeling than later-era Beatles recordings, due to their predominantly major-key tonalities and straightforward, airy melodies. This approach is evident on McCartney’s first two albums released after the public announcement of the breakup: McCartney (1970) and Ram (1971). Instead, we would see a return to McCartney’s original approach to his bass playing, which is more aligned with the traditional role of bass in a song: keep time and outline the chords. In many ways, this is how he had mainly approached the bass, but we would see no more songs like “Come Together,” a song basically built around a unique bass line. From here on out, his bass lines would serve the song and its vocals, not the other way around. In examining his post-Beatles bass work, it is clear that he saw himself similarly, and focused his efforts accordingly. The post-breakup change in his songwriting approach is reflected in his bass playing as well. McCartney’s basslines after the breakupįor most, Paul McCartney is known as a singer/songwriter first, and a bassist second.
McCartney had grown into an upbeat, meticulous songsmith, whose melodies were instantly hummable, while Lennon pondered the deeper meanings of life, addressing drugs, loss, depression, and loneliness, favoring wild experimentation in the studio.
McCartney and Lennon had shared a yin-yang relationship as creative partners since the mid-’50s when they met and started to write songs together. The breakup certainly had an effect on Paul. They would break up less than a year later, an event that would end one of the most brilliant chapters of pop music history.
The previous article left off discussing selections from the Abbey Road, the final album on which the Beatles collaborated in a manner similar to their earlier records. Now, let’s take a look at his post-Beatles years. As the group evolved, McCartney became renowned for crafting bass lines that would come to define the sound of the Beatles’ later years.
We explored his humble beginnings as a traditional bass player mostly concerned with keeping time and outlining chords, and listened as he fully realized the power he wielded with his instrument. In “ The genius of Paul McCartney’s basslines,” we documented Paul McCartney’s bass playing and its development during his years with the Beatles. The genius of Paul McCartney’s basslines never wavered, but his choices as a bass player post-Beatles show his focus was ever more on the song and serving the vocal melody.
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