Customer Reviews

Paul McCartney - Bass Master - Playing the Great Beatles Basslines (Softcover/Tab)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This wonderful book is beautifully written and beautifully produced. The authors Tony Bacon and Gareth Morgan have done a superb job of presenting McCartney's music and showing just why it works so well. All Beatles fans, all fans of the bass guitar, and indeed all pop fans everywhere should buy this book.

Tony Bacon & Gareth Morgan, England, October 2007.
Firstly, thanks a lot for the review, Rodrigo. We had great fun putting the book together - the story of Macca's bass playing and the transcriptions - and did a lot a lot of hard work on it. In answer to your regret concerning the wonderful 'Something', in fact we did prepare a transcription that was originally in the book, but permission to reproduce it was declined by the licensor, Harrisongs. We agree with Rodrigo and say so in the book: it is McCartney's finest hour with the Fab Four. The dynamics, phrasing, melodic content and feel (or groove) of what he plays is simply sensational. We hope the book also underlines some of PM's other great work with The Beatles.

Great book if you are looking for info on one of the most influencial bass players of the last century. However, if you interested in learning his basslines, you would be better off with with "The Beatles 67-70 Bass Recorded Versions", and "The Beatles 62-66 Bass Recorded Versions".

I've been a fan of the Beatles since I was fourteen especially Paul Mccartney. Like him,I am also a bass player and it was his style that inspired me to be one. There are a lot of flamboyant bassist in the world but it's Macca's simple but original style that makes him unique. I was happy to have bought the Bass Master book because all the featured songs there have nice bass lines, but am a bit disappointed that the song SOMETHING was not included. To me this was Macca's greatest bass riff.

The transcriptions are fine, but most of all: this book is brilliantly well written, a delicious reading, and it's clear and deep analysis of Paul's bass lines (along with a lot of background information about recordings, instruments etc) will open your ears for one of the most important features in the never-ending beauty of The Beatles' music. Great job!

a criminally underrated musician , who handles bass lines as an integral part of the song, and at the same time makes them memorable.
no matter what instrument you play, you can benefit a lot from any of the in depth song studies in this book. this is what bass playing is all about, power, melody and fun!.

This is a fascinating book, because it's more musucally aware than 99% of the hundreds of books on music I've read. It's not just anecdotes and instruments, but some very detailed discussion of what choices were made, what technical elements went into the effect, and how the bassline shapes the song. It's not just helpful transcription, but intelligent analysis. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

This is a great book. It wont give you every McCartney bassline, but its a great read. If you want to know more about the "Guvnor," well this is a great place to start. If you're looking for a book full of tabs/scores, then check out other books. However, if what you want is a historical overview from a musicians point of view, then this will work out nicely. I rate these type books by whether I walked away learning something from the subject and this book delivers in a big way. I read this along with Beatles Gear and its a great top level analysis of the man behind some of the most beautiful basslines in pop music.

Written with wit and verve, this book finally gives McCartney's extraordinary bass-playing its due. By analyzing each Beatles album through the lens of McCartney's bass lines, Bacon and Morgan give us a chance to hear these extraodinary recordings with fresh ears. My only quibble is with their choice of "Something" as "the best piece of bass playing he's evr committed to record." Better than "Rain"? Better than "The Word?" Better than "Taxman"? Better than "It's Getting Better All the Time"? C'mon, guys!

I felt this book was average at best. Could have used a lot more bass riffs of his more famous songs and although excellent as an introduction it lacked the detail I expected. This guy, without a doubt, is the number one bass player in the world; even surpassing Jamerson of Motown fame as far as I'm concerned. Mr. McCartney is an original and he's the most lyrical and melodic of all bass players.