Premier Rock Forum

whose lot was making elementary
bass lines on naïve songs and by ear, not having the slightest
knowledge of music at all.

I wished i had the same problem with my bass playing.

big_dave wrote:Band on the Run is still the lowest common denominator of popular music.

My opinion is that both the song and album that are known as "Band On The Run" are excellent pieces of work.

I'm not so sure about that new iTunes commercial, though. What's up with the old man sing-song skip-step, Mr. McCartney?

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:

big_dave wrote:Band on the Run is still the lowest common denominator of popular music.

My opinion is that both the song and album that are known as "Band On The Run" are excellent pieces of work.

I agree.

John Lennon liked it as well.

Band on the Run is a great album. Wings is almost as conceptual a group as Plastic Ono Band. Plastic Ono was a conceptual group, meaning whoever was playing was the band. And Wings keeps changing all the time. It's conceptual. I mean, they're backup men for Paul. It doesn't matter who's playing. You can call them Wings, but it's Paul McCartney music. And it's good stuff. It's good Paul music and I don't really see the connection."

- 1975 Rolling Stone interview

Paul McCartney is an inveterate cheeseball.

fiery jack wrote:

space junk wrote:Taxman. Guitar solo. Shut the fuck up.

space junk
mister rogers
Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 267
Location: Liverpool

Yeah that's why I love the solo on I Wanna Be Your Dog, too. Being from Liverpool etc. My location also neatly explains my love of Phil Harris.

Josef K wrote:Oh! so it's down to guitar solos is it?

Boredom. Pete Shelley. You shut the fuck up.

What does Pete Shelley have to do with this, you faulty minded beast?

fiery jack wrote:the guitar solo argument is somewhat akin to
"say what you like about his later work with the Jews, but at least the trains ran on time, shut the fuck up"

No, this just makes you look like a knob.

I didn't mention the Taxman guitar solo to start some puerile pissing contest. I mentioned it because it distils, in under ten furious seconds, McCartney's controlled aggression and effortless grasp of melody while ferociously spitting out his band's newly found eastern influences. It prefigures Neil Young's soloing style, and was probably a big influence on it. Only a prick could listen to the guitar solo in Taxman and not recognise it as being splendid.

I could have mentioned any number of examples. Like, oh, nearly every bass part he played between 1965 and 1970. But maybe you're just not listening. I mean, how else would someone who appreciates good music not enjoy some of the most inventive and beautiful bass playing in all of pop music? For great rock/pop bass playing, I think of John Entwistle, Carol Kaye, Herbie Flowers, Bernard Edwards and Paul McCartney. I don't know where the other four are from and I don't care.

Good luck with the Hitler references.

In the interests of fairness (and because I feel a bit bad about the hitlering) I went and listened to taxman again before replying. Manfully resisting the urge to turn the thing off as soon as they started singing, I listened to the guitar solo.

He's no Yngwie Malmsteen.

space junk, your arguments are soft-headed and you are an ass.

fiery jack wrote:In the interests of fairness (and because I feel a bit bad about the hitlering) I went and listened to taxman again before replying. Manfully resisting the urge to turn the thing off as soon as they started singing, I listened to the guitar solo.

He's no Yngwie Malmsteen.

The plot fucking thickens, my friend. Even if you say this as a joke, you have thickened the fucking plot here indeed.

space junk, your arguments are soft-headed and you are an ass.

My argument, such as it is, amounts to little more than this: Paul McCartney played some of the most beautiful and distinctive bass parts in all of pop music, and probably redefined the instrument. Sure, I think he wrote some cracking songs, too, such as She's Leaving Home. But take away everything else, and you're still left with all that untouchable bass playing. And the Taxman guitar solo.

If you're honestly saying you do not appreciate this man's work on the electric bass guitar, and that is your educated position on it, say it clearly so I can understand. If this is the case, the last thing I want to be discussing with you is music.

Uhm...

Ultracrap!

space junk wrote:The plot fucking thickens, my friend. Even if you say this as a joke, you have thickened the fucking plot here indeed.

my feeling on the plot issue was that it was thickest at this point:

space junk wrote:Only a prick could listen to the guitar solo in Taxman and not recognise it as being splendid.

Alas, I do not give fuck one for the guitar solo in Taxman, nor do I care for the "ghostly looking flat-faced senile ogre tyrant" responsible. I have not arrived at this position by deliberate contrariness. I. Don't. Go. For. The. Beatles.

space junk wrote:My argument, such as it is, amounts to little more than this:

As far as I can see, your argument is along the lines of "I like Paul McCartney's work with The Beatles very much indeed, particularly his electric bass work and the odd guitar solo. Anyone who disagrees with me is a prick" Can you spot the part that I take umbrage with?

Me being a knob aside, I've got no problem with you thinking he's/they're great, and I can see why many people would agree. I don't seek to debate McCartney's importance in the History of Pop, nor his musical ability, nor even his electric bass playing (of which my educated opinion is that I've never spared a moment's thought for it, never even noticed, and hey! I've got two degrees) I just think he's hokey and crap.

fiery jack wrote:I don't seek to debate McCartney's importance in the History of Pop, nor his musical ability, nor even his electric bass playing (of which my educated opinion is that I've never spared a moment's thought for it, never even noticed, and hey! I've got two degrees) I just think he's hokey and crap.

So your argument, such as it is, is that you don't want to enter into a discourse about Paul McCartney's importance in pop, his musical ability, or his electric bass playing. What criteria are you judging the bastard on? His choice in footwear? His height?

And all this while you state you've never really listened to his bass playing, which is as I suspected. That's all I needed to hear, man. Enjoy those degrees!