Tony Bacon/Gareth Morgan

Paul McCartney is one of the best pop bass players in the world, and he was at a creative peak during the time he played with The Beatles. This is the first book to present a musical analysis of his consistently inventive and influential bass playing of the period. At the core of the work are full transcriptions (including Tab and chord names) of ten of McCartney's most revered bass parts: "You Won't See Me", "Drive My Car", "The Word", and "In My Life" from "Rubber Soul"; the classic b-side "Rain"; "Taxman" and "I'm Only Sleeping" from "Revolver"; "Lovely Rita" from "Sgt Pepper"; "Dear Prudence" from the "White Album"; and "Something" from "Abbey Road". Each of these ten key tracks is taken apart and examined in detail to show today's bassists how much we can still learn from McCartney's remarkable playing skills. How does his phrasing and choice of notes shape each bassline? What are McCartney's melodic sources, and how does this relate to his abilities as a songwriter and composer? The ten transcriptions are set in the context of McCartney's role as bass player in The Beatles from the first single, "Love Me Do" in 1962, to the last album, "Let It Be" in 1970. Drawing on an interview with McCartney, much of which has not been published before, the authors show how he started as a guitarist in the group but soon came to expand and transform bass playing, bringing new musical ideas and a fresh outlook on sound that virtually defined the role of the modern bassist in pop music. All bass players owe a debt to McCartney's groundbreaking and revolutionary work with The Beatles, and for the first time this book shows exactly why.