Log In
Register
Read the original blog post
10.01am
10 June 2013
Offline
Maybe Paul was over compensating for the loss of Geoff Emerick with all dat bass.
"P. P. P. P. S- L. P. Winner."
12.18pm
17 July 2016
Offline I also think if Ringo had been drumming he would have played a filll at the end of each verse. In the first verse right after Paul pauses after “You don’t know how lucky you are boy.” and sings “Back In The USSR ” there would have probably been a fill by Ringo. On the track Paul’s drums stop just before that part. Also at the end of the second verse when he repeats “Back in the US/Back in the US/Back In The USSR ” Ringo would have probably played a fill and at the remaining verses as well.
The following people thank Fastbak for this post:
Ahhh Girl1.30pm
9 March 2017
Offline I noticed while reading this post that you guys seem to think that Paul played bass on this song, I think otherwise and I have a legitimate source to back me up on this one. Read this from The Beatles Book Monthly issue 64 from November 1968, it heavily implies that it was just John and George on bass.
The following people thank Dark Overlord for this post:
BongoIf you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
1.49pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Or, another way of looking at it, is that it mentions the instruments they don’t usually play, and it doesn’t mention Paul on bass because that wasn’t unusual.
There are three bass parts.
On the 22 August they recorded the basic track in five takes with John playing bass, Paul on drums, and George playing lead guitar.
The following day they overdubbed another two bass parts, another two drum parts, and another two lead guitar parts (as well as piano, vocals, etc.).
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
4.14pm
9 March 2017
Offline As much as I believe that you’re smarter than me when it comes to this stuff, I have to disagree with you there.
First of all, there’s a line that reads “This time Paul did not provide the bass playing for all of the tracks on the new double album, John took over for Helter Skelter and Back In The U.S.S.R.”, this line suggests that Paul didn’t play bass on either track.
Next, if they were only mentioning who played what if it’s not typical for that Beatle to play that instrument, then why didn’t they mention that Paul played drums, there are only 7 songs in The Beatles canon where Paul plays drums (not counting bongos or tambourine or anything like that), that’s pretty uncommon.
Also, they occasionally mention instruments The Beatles commonly use, such as when they claim John used an acoustic guitar or when they claim George played lead guitar, those things happen all of the time in Beatleland. Also, the main reason people believe all 3 present Beatles played bass is because of Mark Lewisohn, who although is a quality professional on the subject and got the fortune of listening to the original multitracks, is also not an eyewitness and is just making an educated guess and sometimes educated guesses aren’t true.
Finally, this has nothing to do with it but George plays rhythm guitar on the backing track not lead, it’s actually just some choppy chord hits, the guitar part sounds similar to the one in Kung Fu Fighting or I Want You Back.
If you want to know what I think went on, I think this is the case:
Instrumentation:
Backing Track:
Paul McCartney : Drums
John Lennon : Fender Bass VI
George Harrison : Rhythm Guitar
Overdubs:
John Lennon and George Harrison : Bass Guitar
Paul McCartney and George Harrison : Lead Guitar
Paul McCartney : Lead Vocals
Paul McCartney , John Lennon , and George Harrison : Backing Vocals
Paul McCartney : Piano
Paul McCartney , John Lennon , and George Harrison : Handclaps
So I think that it was John and George who did the bass overdubs. If you think that George’s playing isn’t that good, remember that he did a pretty good job playing bass on Maxwell’s Silver Hammer .
Also, I was wondering how many takes The Beatles did before Ringo walked out, I forgot to ask it in the previous post.
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
4.34pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Equally, @Dark Overlord, I am able to quote Mark Lewisohn to you:
And the song was also a composite recording in other ways, with three bass guitar parts, played by John, Paul and George respectively, and both Paul and George playing lead guitar.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
4.58pm
9 March 2017
Offline I mentioned that in my article, I know Mark thinks that but like I said, he’s just making an educated guess and sometimes educated guesses can be wrong.
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
5.01pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Guesses, however educated, can always be wrong. My point is, your proof is no stronger than his, apart from him hearing the tapes.
Yes, he got things wrongs, but he also got most of it right.
The following people thank Ron Nasty for this post:
Dark Overlord"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
5.51pm
9 March 2017
Offline Good point, I can be right but he can be right as well, although it would be odd if 
said that Paul didn’t play bass on every track, John took over for Back In The USSR and Helter Skelter if Paul played bass on Back In The USSR .
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
6.28pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline 
Ringo walked out during rehearsals, Paul drummed on all proper takes.
There is a huge difference between an educated guess and providing evidence based on hearing the original tapes. Lewisohn making mistakes (which he admits) is conveniently stated whenever anyone disagrees with him and wants to push their own point. John C. Winn in ‘That Magic Feeling’, also has Paul playing bass.
For the five backing track takes, Paul filled in on drums, John took over on six-string bass, and George played electric guitar. Ringo remained absent the next night as the group added overdubs on take 5: Paul’s piano and George’s drums (erasing John’s bass track), and a track of electric guitar. This was all reduced to a single track as take 6. On two of the new tracks, Paul sang a lead vocal, backed by John and George, with all three adding handclaps. The fourth track was filled with Paul’s bass, George on six-string bass, and John whacking a snare drum, which meant every Beatle but Ringo ended up playing some drums on the song! One final touch was the sound of a Viscount jet plane, added during the sole mono mix that evening.
The following people thank meanmistermustard for this post:
The Hole Got Fixed, Dark Overlord, WeepingAtlasCedars"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
6.37pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Well, I was intending to be rather tongue-in-cheek.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
6.42pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Ron Nasty said
Well, I was intending to be rather tongue-in-cheek.
I was more speaking to Dark Lord.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
6.48pm
9 March 2017
Offline Nice to know, I always assumed George’s comment to Eric of “we spend little time rehearsing and most of our time in the studio” implied that The Beatles rarely rehearsed, I didn’t realize The Beatles did run thrus this late into their career.
As for John C Winn’s point of view, it’s interesting, I never realized that John’s bass part on the backing track was wiped, I always thought that it was the main bass part in the song. If John is right, that means that there’s only 2 bass parts in the song, which could either be John and George, John and Paul, George and Paul, both John, both George, or both Paul.
Also, as for the making an educated guess based of listening to the original master tapes, think of it this way. Let’s say 2 people get to listen to the original master tapes of Happiness Is A Warm Gun , one says it’s John who does the solo, the other says it’s George, different people hear different things, this is why no one can agree on who sang the ahhhs on A Day In The Life or who played the guitar solo on Hey Bulldog .
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
6.54pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Dark Overlord said
Nice to know, I always assumed George’s comment to Eric of “we spend little time rehearsing and most of our time in the studio” implied that The Beatles rarely rehearsed, I didn’t realize The Beatles did run thrus this late into their career.
The Beatles rehearsed a lot in the studio, normally the tapes didnt run but occassionally they did.
As for John C Winn’s point of view, it’s interesting, I never realized that John’s bass part on the backing track was wiped, I always thought that it was the main bass part in the song. If John is right, that means that there’s only 2 bass parts in the song, which could either be John and George, John and Paul, George and Paul, both John, both George, or both Paul.
Also, as for the making an educated guess based of listening to the original master tapes, think of it this way. Let’s say 2 people get to listen to the original master tapes of Happiness Is A Warm Gun , one says it’s John who does the solo, the other says it’s George, different people hear different things, this is why no one can agree on who sang the ahhhs on A Day In The Life or who played the guitar solo on Hey Bulldog .
You haven’t so the last sentence is pointless to this discussion.
The following people thank meanmistermustard for this post:
Dark Overlord"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
10.30am
9 March 2017
Offline I noticed that John C. Winn said that John’s bass on the backing track was wiped, is this true or did he make a mistake.
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
8.19pm
9 March 2017
Offline I noticed something interesting about this song, listen to the bass part on the released version, it sounds fluid like something Paul would do however listen to him perform the song live.
He’s not playing that bass line, it’s just a simple A D C D chug very simple, this suggests one of a few things:
1. Mal was right about Paul not playing bass on Back In The USSR .
2. Paul played bass on the backing track, with either John on guitar and George on drums or George on guitar and John on drums, or maybe even John and George on guitar and Ringo on drums although I doubt that would be the case.
3. Paul played the main bass part but for some reason doesn’t play it live on stage.
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
9.18pm
Moderators
27 November 2016
Offline Or 4. He’s playing a simplified bass line to make performing it live a bit easier.
The following people thank The Hole Got Fixed for this post:
Beatlebug, WeepingAtlasCedars#AppleHoley2024: Make America Great For The First Time
2016 awards: 
2017 awards: 
2018 awards:
2019 awards: 
2020 awards:
2021 awards:
12.48am
16 June 2017
Offline The Hole Got Fixed said
Or 4. He’s playing a simplified bass line to make performing it live a bit easier.
Yes, that was Dark Overlord’s third option. And this is probably the most likely, I don’t see why there would be a sudden confusion about the drum part when it’s pretty widely known Paul played the drums on the first two tracks. (I know the bass is what’s in question, but I bring that up to debunk the likelihood of the other 2 scenarios proposed.) Paul is still a killer bass player obviously, but we have to also remember this is almost 50 years later and he has had to change up some small details here and there (and everywhere
) to accomodate live performances of songs that the lads never played live back then.
The following people thank Pineapple Fields for this post:
Dark Overlord1.02am
Moderators
27 November 2016
Offline Pineapple Fields said
Yes, that was Dark Overlord’s third option. And this is probably the most likely, I don’t see why there would be a sudden confusion about the drum part when it’s pretty widely known Paul played the drums on the first two tracks. (I know the bass is what’s in question, but I bring that up to debunk the likelihood of the other 2 scenarios proposed.) Paul is still a killer bass player obviously, but we have to also remember this is almost 50 years later and he has had to change up some small details here and there (and everywhere
) to accomodate live performances of songs that the lads never played live back then.
Actually, I suggested that he does play the main bassline on stage, just a simplified version, as opposed to Dark Overlord’s option.
#AppleHoley2024: Make America Great For The First Time
2016 awards: 2017 awards: 2018 awards: 2019 awards: 2020 awards: 2021 awards:
1.13am
16 June 2017
Offline The Hole Got Fixed said
Actually, I suggested that he does play the main bassline on stage, just a simplified version, as opposed to Dark Overlord’s option.
A simplified version does not equal the main bassline, even if it’s similar- Dark Overlord already addressed that it was different on stage, the question was why.
I don’t mean to sound rude, so my apologies if it came across that way. I’m trying to understand this all myself so if I’m misunderstanding this somehow let me know.
1 Guest(s)