Listen Carefully To George On Anthology

[Mellow Yellow]

I noticed when George was talking about the early days of the Beatles, at one particular gig John had no guitar and George said

"Paul was left handed......... and I was right handed.... and still am"

[D3adKl0wn]

implying that paul "was".. as in past tense? but paul is right handed and plays lefty guitar, isn't he?

[revolver]

d3adkl0wn said:

implying that paul "was".. as in past tense? but paul is right handed and plays lefty guitar, isn't he?

The original Paul was definitely left handed. His replacement was probably right handed and learned to play left. Is that what you're asking? They hinted at that in the Penny Lane video. Bill was handed a guitar and half turned it around to hold it right-handed before he stopped himself.

[-Wings-]

Another thing that adds credibility to the theory is that you never see the replacement actually play a guitar until a few years into the role. Sure, he holds them, but even in videos he's not actually strumming it.

It probably took extensive training to play left-handed.

[revolver]

Didn't I read somewhere that post-beatle Bill would sometimes record the bass as a separate track when the rest of the band wasn't around? Can't remember if I read that on this forum or somewhere else. But anyway, that might indicate a lack of confidence in his left-handed playing ability, and/or that he was secretly recording it right handed.

[TotalInformation]

... or that someone else entirely was playing.

[yellomattercustard]

revolver said:

Didn't I read somewhere that post-beatle Bill would sometimes record the bass as a separate track when the rest of the band wasn't around? Can't remember if I read that on this forum or somewhere else. But anyway, that might indicate a lack of confidence in his left-handed playing ability, and/or that he was secretly recording it right handed.

Yes, this was pointed out over at TKIN, and I was quite taken aback because, in the recording process, the drums and bass are the first things to go on. More often than not, everything else gets erased and replaced after that.

They'll usually have a full band record together, and just keep the bass and drum tracks. After they spruce that up, fixing any bum notes or whatever, then they'll have the rest of the musicians come in, sometimes one at a time, and overdub their part in. Vocals go on last.

Now to be fair, I've been in recording situations where we started with the drums and rhythm guitar, adding the bass later, but that is quite rare. And for Paul to NEVER play bass on the basic tracks?!? That's just unheard of!

[Doc]

yellomattercustard said:

revolver said:

Didn't I read somewhere that post-beatle Bill would sometimes record the bass as a separate track when the rest of the band wasn't around? Can't remember if I read that on this forum or somewhere else. But anyway, that might indicate a lack of confidence in his left-handed playing ability, and/or that he was secretly recording it right handed.

Yes, this was pointed out over at TKIN, and I was quite taken aback because, in the recording process, the drums and bass are the first things to go on. More often than not, everything else gets erased and replaced after that.

They'll usually have a full band record together, and just keep the bass and drum tracks. After they spruce that up, fixing any bum notes or whatever, then they'll have the rest of the musicians come in, sometimes one at a time, and overdub their part in. Vocals go on last.

Now to be fair, I've been in recording situations where we started with the drums and rhythm guitar, adding the bass later, but that is quite rare. And for Paul to NEVER play bass on the basic tracks?!? That's just unheard of!

I always feel like the bass drum, snare, hi-hat, need to be recorded simultaneously with the bass---they form the undergirding of all the rhythm.

The groove is in the locked in mechanism of the foundation, the lowest tones, and the "pocket" that a strong "2" and "4" set up together.
A guitarist and keyboard can come in on top of those trax if they are
solidly grooving.

Drums and bass are all that you really need to create groove.

I know that drum solos can groove, and the bass can groove alone, but if the bass and the drums AREN'T grooving together on some initial tracks, laying it down solid, then everything else you build on top will suffer.

Strings and brass are sometimes a little behind, sometimes piano and keys rush a tad (no good, but it happens), but if the bass and drums are anchored slap jam up solid, then the whole finished track has a greater chance at rhythmic cohesion. They must lock in together.

Sometimes a bass player can come back and groove to just a drum track.
Seems like it is more efficient and in the interests of saving time for those two to lock it down at the get-go.

Really, best to have drums/bass/rhythm guitar/rhythm keys/ altogether for the first pass.

You can usually be safe with tambourine, latin perc., lead guitar, organ, assorted percussion, coming in another day to layer. Horns and strings last.
Well, all if this is a tune that is anchored by a rhythm section.
There are times for conducting and using a click track.

With a click track, though it is possible to go one musician at a time, though I think the results can be mechanical or sometimes "kind of steady but in search of a groove."

It's so much better for rhythm players to interrelate to one another at the same time.

But, today, with ProTools and such things, it can all be fixed in the editing.