Did John Lennon INTENTIONALLY Sabotage The Beatles With His Bass Playing?

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Of all the bass lines on all the Beatles records, there’s one that’s VERY contentious.
Some die-hard Beatles fans really don’t like it.
In fact, some people absolutely HATE it!
At the time, some critics thought it was SO bad, they called it *musical sabotage*.
And the funny thing is - it wasn’t even Paul McCartney playing bass on this particular song.
It was John Lennon.
So today, I want to kick of an entire Beatles SEASON by looking at the most contentious Beatles bass line and figuring out:
►► Why this bass line gets so much hate
►► Whether it deserves the hate it gets
►► What we can do to ‘fix’ the bass line
And of course, we’ll try to figure out if John was actually trying to sabotage the Beatles with his bass playing.
After you’ve checked it out, tell me what you think in the comments.
Was John out of line to play the way he did on that song?
Do you think he deliberately undermined the Beatles with his bass playing?
Or do you think people just blew it way out of proportion?
I’ll be in the comments of the video, reading and responding, so I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!
Cheers,
Luke
P.S. If you want the Lennon tabs, the ‘improved’ tabs (hopefully) that I made, plus the bass-less backing track, just head to this page:
becomeabassist.com/did-john-l...
Fill out the form there and I’ll send you everything for free.
[Chapters]
0:00 Did John Lennon Sabotage The Beatles INTENTIONALLY?
0:32 Why is this bass line so bad?
2:11 Issue #1: Wrong Notes
3:13 Issue #2: Notes Out Of Time
3:39 Issue #3: Inconsistent Note LENGTHS
4:28 Issue #4: Strange Choices
5:22 Disclaimer
5:33 Let’s Fix This Thing!
8:40 The Verdict: Did Lennon INTENTIONALLY Sabotage?
#beatles #johnlennon #basslesson

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24 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 2,3 тыс.

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

What do you think? Does this bass line actually deserve the hate it gets? Or do you think it’s not that bad?

@reddederre4290 2 года назад

Its a good bass line

@oe1freak 2 года назад

John´s Bass is in Tune, your´s is not, sorry...

@unclemick-synths 2 года назад

The bassline doesn't bother me but the vocal is so dominant in the mix that unusually for me I don't pay any attention to the bass at all.

@KariKauree 2 года назад

It is very sloppy but it never affected my enjoyment of the song. My preferred version is the one on Anthology 3 - same take as the released version, minus all the overdubs. Beautiful, despite John's sloppiness.

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

@Helmuth Schulz - John's bass was definitely out of tune in the original recording. Have a look at the 2:44 mark for proof. I tried to emulate the 'amount' of intonation issues, but perhaps I went too far.

@ownsaucee Год назад

I wouldn't argue against the possibility that John was bored or even passive-aggressively not putting his best effort forward. But I always liked the bass on this track - it's minimal but I think the "strange" rhythm choices and sliding actually compliment the song really well to give it a bit of a lost feeling. The slides always caught my ear in a good way, and make me imagine footsteps disappearing into the darkness (just as it disappears into the piano dancing on some higher notes). One other thought: I believe Paul was not shy at all during this time, and would have easily been coaching John while they learned the song, and giving feedback if he didn't like what he was hearing. And no matter how petty John was feeling, I think he would respect the long-standing working mode between him and Paul where the writer of the song got the final say in how it was performed. That's my understanding anyway.

@G8GT364CI Год назад

I don't mind the slides but probably because I've heard it a thousand times in my life but I do hate the terrible out of time notes, early and late. This is horrible bass playing, I think he was high.

@Kooky_Duzzfutz Год назад

Obviously Paul approved of the bass line or he would have done it himself.

@carlitobrigante330 Год назад

Bored, or even passive-aggressively not putting his best effort forward, is precisely how I would put it. Anyone who thinks the Beatles were operating as a well-oiled machine at this point is being somewhat naïve.

@G8GT364CI Год назад

@@carlitobrigante330 He was a junkie at that point and I would be willing to bet that he was high as a kite. The proof is in the pudding though, that's one of my favorite albums, I'm 69 so grew up with them.

@carlitobrigante330 Год назад

@@G8GT364CI Quite possible, yes.

@Supersony92 Год назад

If you're listening to this song You may think the chords are going wrong But they're not, we just wrote it like that

@atomicwedgie8176 Год назад

I wrote the bass line, perfection! -Yoko Ono

@RuudVanDrijver Год назад

Well, it’s only a northern song after all..

@jeremyallenglover6831 Год назад

It doesn’t really matter what chords I play, what words I say or time of day it is

@TomMillerArtist Год назад

Best answer.

@Photologistic Год назад

Thanks, George

@o.__felixxx Год назад

Ive been a Beatles fan since i was a little kid and this song was one of my early favorites. Always loved the pure emotion that it carries, and i also alwayys loved the wierd slides that John does on the bass on that exact moment, idk it brings a magic feel to the song.

@dreamitable Год назад

I never noticed but I think you are right.

@MichaelSotoCE 4 месяца назад

The slides are like little Beatle-y snippets that remind you of their Beatle DNA Reminds me of the bass riffing on dig a pony

@jackdaffin Год назад

The definitive LAWR for me will never be the Phil Spector version, with the over the top orchestra, but rather the version on "Let it be... Naked". A different take that is simply stunning. That version also features no mistakes from John, and is overall just a better arrangement IMO.

@BecomeABassist Год назад

@Jack Patrick - I agree. It seems like John just knew the song a little better by that point.

@quark10051005 Год назад

@@BecomeABassist I think on Naked they digitally fixed the bass line

@BecomeABassist Год назад

@quark10051005 - I don't believe that's the case based on what I've found: web.archive.org/web/20100131010312/mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_naked_truth_beatles/ web.archive.org/web/20031205205124/www.jp.dk/kultur/advsog/artikel:aid=2118846:fid=9828/ It was just a later take, and likely the last/final time the band ran through the song.

@johnmichaelson9173 Месяц назад

@@BecomeABassist Trust me they fixed bits & bobs on pro tools.

@davidgriffith3938 Год назад

I imagine John never thought he had put down a satisfactory bass track. As I understand it, the project was abandoned, and was only released after Phil Spector got a hold of the tapes.

@elementrypenguin3116 Год назад

There’s a scene in the “Get Back” docco where Paul is instructing John how to play the bass on LAWR. John didn’t seem dismissive or upset. Paul was just trying to help him on how to play bass notes on a song Paul had written.

@SBNewMe Год назад

Yeah, it's a great scene. And let's not assume that for one minute, Paul the perfectionist, or George Martin would have let it pass if they weren't happy with it. I imagine it was quirkiness, if it's scene as 'off' bass playing by anyone else.

@tikvision Год назад

"Play Like me" what a great input

@SBNewMe Год назад

@@tikvision with a shit-hot bass player like Paul, indeed. He'd have played it himself if he could.

@2DanTube Год назад

I suspect John Lennon was suffering from a malcontent personality - typical of many creative types and frustrated want-a-be. His own lyric "I'm just a jealous guy." John's malcontent behaviors grew more intense towards the break-up. Thus Paul became happier on his own - and was glad not to be working with John anymore - though he toyed with the idea of one more gig reunion. But as the years went by - Pual discovered he no longer needed the Beatles. And in December 1980 any chance was over. John started the Beatles and John's malcontent attitude ended the Beatles - Chapman simply was the nail in the coffin. But for "Real Love" & "Free as a Bird."

@SBNewMe Год назад

@@2DanTube Nicely put - it was a great dynamic which worked well until they all outgrew each other. John is barely recognisable in the Get Back clips, so gaunt and lacking the physical and creative robustness and confidence of the earlier years. Still made some cracking tunes though, even though George and Paul were on a roll. What's fascinating was how he seemed to spring to life when they were on the roof - it was quite a transformation.

@jclequy Год назад

Not being a musician, I don’t have the musical theory to figure out what it was, but now that you demonstrate it, i understand the musical discomfort I always had when listening to it. The only “mistakes” that I like are the slides, which gave a distinctive style to this song, as it is never played like this anywhere, because McCartney would have never done it like that.

@greycatturtle7132 Год назад

Same

@karaamundson3964 Год назад

Not sure why Mr. Genius McCartney accepted this version!

@robkurtzman7113 Год назад

John was very into 'slide' at the time having just done the excellent slide guitar solo and fills on George's "For You Blue". It makes sense that he might just have been curious about what he could get away with, sliding into bass notes (given that rare opportunity play the instrument)

@danielplainview2584 Год назад

McCartney does slides a lot, especially on the White Album and Dear Prudence in particular.

@mathuwhycough6591 Год назад

The bass never ruined the song for me. Maybe it contributes to it’s character. Taking it as is it adds a sorrowful nostalgia and almost angsty edge to a song I can image would strike Lennon as being potentially saccharine. Also, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t prefer a Phil Spector version of the Beatles.

@havable Год назад

I see the Beatles as being clever in as many ways as they can and trying not to repeat the same cleverness. This may have been purposeful dischord, which there are fans of (like me).

@TheDylandProductions Год назад

As good of a producer (and musical contributer!) as George Martin was, just listen to the Tony Sheridan stuff. It's night and day sonic difference. I might not prefer it, but I'd be interested to peak into what an alternate "Spector-ized" Beatles would've been like! (We kinda get that anyway on George's solo ATMP, and I love that album!)

@greatsilentwatcher Год назад

I always thought the bass line was inventive and made a great contribution to a wonderful song.

@mathuwhycough6591 Год назад

also, the argument about the notes that ‘rub’ is really theoretical. It’s not like the potentially dissonant pitches are sustained in the same octave for long enough to bug most listeners.

@phila3884 Год назад

My thoughts are similar. I've spent way too much time on this question. This song has that "the dream is over" quality. What was probably just a studio demo that Paul had John play on, because he couldn't play piano and bass at the same time, ended up good enough to make it on the album. He may have been less than thrilled with the song, but I don't think John is phoning it in- it sounds like he was really trying to play well, but the missed notes now sound perfect, if unintentional.

@phila3884 Год назад

I actually think the notes are so burned into our consciousness now, they "work" in that the genius of the song survives even with musical "mistakes". If he was trying to sabotage the song, he didn't succeed!

@BecomeABassist Год назад

This is a *phenomenal* point @phila3884.

@jobiazgarza9571 Год назад

this is my thought as well. I am used to the take as it exists, and it sounds correct to me.

@G8GT364CI Год назад

Yes, it sucks bigtime but would stick out like a sore thumb if it was changed.

@carlitobrigante330 Год назад

Yep. And only musicians (at best) even care.

@G8GT364CI Год назад

@@carlitobrigante330 What's your point? Of course only musicians care, no one else could even pick that out. It still sucks though. 🤣

@craigcavaliere6744 Год назад

Good video. Don't fret. The song went to #1 and all of us non-musicians don't notice it.

@tahquameken Год назад

The Beatles never did anything the "right" way, did they? That might be why they were so good and considered musical geniuses.

@GregMcNeish Год назад

I'm a guitar player beginning to pick up bass, and I think this stands as a great example of how guitar & bass are different instruments. Sure, they look the same, and mechanically they're pretty similar, but the musicianship that goes into each calls upon different sensibilities. Lennon was a good guitarist (and obviously brilliant musician in general), but he wasn't a bassist, and this showed it. Not the sloppiness, which as you illustrate was just a product of a not-great take, but the choices. I like the subtle changes you make, because it's taking the same general musical ideas and not just playing them like a bassist but INTERPRETTING them like a bassist. You show the little contrasts that make up how to THINK like a bassist. Great video. I'll definitely be checking out more of your channel.

@SgtZaqq Год назад

I had never heard this song before I started watching this video, but after listening to the original version I have to say the bass line sounds alright.

@mars7934 Год назад

The 'take' used on the album is basically an early run through...it just happened to have a great McCartney vocal. Lennon wasn't too sure of the chord changes at this point so the bass is a bit uneven. Don't forget that those tapes were lying around for many months. During that time the Beatles split. The reason McCartney rerecorded the bass on Let It Be was because it was going to be their final single. McCartney was unhappy with the choice of take on TLAWR and the overdubs used on the album. He preferred the 31st January version as heard on Let It Be...Naked. The bass is fine on that version! Also there was a big argument about the release date of LIB and the McCartney Lp hence why he had little or no involvement in the albums creation.

@scottscottsdale7868 Год назад

What so I need to listen to the original release version?

@tillingspoon1592 Год назад

I don’t know man, they rehearsed songs a long time before trying to do a take, I doubt they even made a take before they at least learned it.

@a.m.son222 Год назад

@@tillingspoon1592 That’s only half correct. Yes, they did do lots and lots of takes of these songs in rehearsals, but the version heard on Let It Be is a “rehearsal” version. It wasn’t being played in the moment with the intention of “this is a potential take for a record”.

@bobwoolerOriGinal Год назад

@@a.m.son222 Exactly.

@SamHarrisonMusic Год назад

Well, this is clearly the truth... so often an earlier take thats a better take is let down by one of the band who isnt quite there with the changes yet lol!

@vyaj Год назад

The mistakes and bizarre glissandos are part of the song to me. I love it as it is.

@davidmason7765 Год назад

Agree. But also, kids, don't think bass is easy enough that taking heroin won't matter ...

@Larrymh07 Год назад

I agree. It lends itself to the sadness of the he song.

@vyaj Год назад

@@Larrymh07 great way to put it

@Larrymh07 Год назад

@@vyaj Thank you, Tim!

@Larrymh07 Год назад

@@davidmason7765 As a bass player I represent that statement! 😃

@lglg64 8 месяцев назад

I just discovered your channel, it's amazing! I just have to ask, what strings are you using?

@Watch3rOfTheSkies 7 месяцев назад

I love all the “mistakes” in Beatles songs. That’s just how the songs go. I like it so much better than music that’s overly produced until it’s “perfect”. In particular, I love the bass slides in Long and Winding Road, I would miss them if they were gone.

@thomasfioriglio 2 года назад

Oh, I liked this!! What a great video and lesson Luke. I'm wasn't that familiar with the song to notice this before so thanks for putting this together. Great lesson for any bassist and your tweaks certainly do make it a better bass line. I would cool with it if you did more of these. As for my take on what happened, you'd have to look how it was recorded. It sounds like John was still trying to figure out what to play. And it would be the producer's job to catch that. I'm thinking it was either recorded live and McCartney did such a great take they decided to leave the bass line, or maybe John was high on some kind of drugs

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

It could also be ALL of those things @Thomas Fioriglio. On the one hand, it still baffles me that this was OK-ed by so many people for release, but when you look at everything that was going on at the time with the band, I guess it's not so shocking.

@susanndiaye2180 2 года назад

Exactly - that's what I thought. He was high on drugs and he didn't care if the notes wasn't right. The Beatles must have agreed on this since they didn't changed it and made a new recording.

@kristopherguilbault5428 Год назад

I don't think there's many more of these type of videos to do with the Beatles lol they were perfectionists! Especially Paul.. which baffles me about why if he didn't like this bassline why he would just overdub a proper one in? 🤔🤔🤔

@Katya_Lastochka Год назад

I think its a nice change for their more polished sound.

@westfield90 Год назад

I found it interesting that both McCartney and Spector didn’t overdub the bass prior to the release. McCartney did go back into the studio with Harrison and Linda and re-recorded the backing vocals, some piano and organ, limited orchestra and of course bass onto Let it Be so I’m nor sure why he didn’t do the same for Long and Winding Road. As for me I felt the bass was dubbed quite low in the mix and didn’t notice the timing or off notes but rather thought it was a nice subtle bass line which actually fit the song. All I picked out was the slides to the notes and the long slides which I liked and felt added to the song.

@streamofconsciousness5826 Год назад

We Quantize the mistakes after a few listens. Cross over knowledge from learning about Mixing. Their example was Drum Fills, "it's a bit off but I'll fix it later", to eventually thinking, and I paraphrase you "didn’t notice the timing or off beats but rather thought it was a nice subtle fill which actually fit the song. All I picked out was the "moment later" hits and the real lazy ones which I liked and felt added to the song". Cheers! 🍁

@TheRagingPlatypus Год назад

These are good points. The overdubbing...no clue why that wasn't done. On the not noticing, years ago, yeah. Listen to it now with headphones...hard to miss.

@kingboagart899 Год назад

@@TheRagingPlatypus If you're sitting in a studio with the artists, the producer, and the inevitable Cadre of professional hangers-on, there's nothing getting by that crowd, except sometimes when Clapton shows up to see if he can steal your females. That could have taken their minds off of the subject at hand.

@colinmcdonald2499 Год назад

It was a very bad song. A very f-in bad song in 1970. Seriously a Tom Jones cover would have been better. I think if they cared they would have left it unreleased. Phone-it-in.

@johnsain Год назад

Who would dare overdub what the Beatles did?....Spector was taking enough liberties by adding a wall of sound to block out Lennon's mess.

@accam6734 Год назад

Funny, since John accused Paul of subconsciously sabotaging his songs.

@irisfromparis15 7 месяцев назад

The Naked version of the song is just perfect. Phil Spector just choose the wrong take as usual. Nothing was ok in his version of this masterpiece. I hated most part of Let It Be but with the Naked version it became one of my favorite Beatles album. It's just perfect!

@ksinghldn 6 месяцев назад

this seems like the most likely explanation

@ChuckBoris3 Год назад

I love those slides up the neck to nowhere in the song. Without it it sounds like something is missing

@RicardoMartinez-oh9sq Год назад

If you listen to contemporary bands like Finland's Nightwish, Let it Be sounds an amateurish album.

@ChuckBoris3 Год назад

@@RicardoMartinez-oh9sq shut up nerd.

@bobwoolerOriGinal Год назад

Don't think John knew or thought this would be the master take. He was struggling simply because he hadn't learned the chord progressions by heart yet. That's how I see it anyway. Or do we know this wasn't the case?

@evertvdb000 7 месяцев назад

You are correct

@carlcushmanhybels8159 7 месяцев назад

Luke, yours is much smoother, and supports the song, instead of waffling through it. I especially like your change (and Paul's example you borrowed) where instead of half ass slides, you did ascending melodic bass notes in steps, with a descending bass slide for the end of the phrase.

@titmusspaultpaul5 Год назад

Love your videos. Entertaining but also a lesson that I remember and use for my own songs (I play guitar but my bass is not quite there. I tend to follow the drums more but now I feel confident to branch out a bit.... make things interesting). Thanks.

@glicmathan1771 Год назад

This was seriously enlightening! I LOVE your revised baseline!

@Hammerman48 Год назад

Paul could easily have overdubbed his own bass line…..but he didn’t. End of. I suspect John thought that Paul would be doing it so he didn’t worry about it. It was just jamming on his part.

@johnapp Год назад

I thought that too. Then maybe they wanted to record every song basically live on this album. Just throwing that out there. Kind of like 1st album.

@Hammerman48 Год назад

@@abcxyz53 I meant he WOULD have overdubbed his own bass if he KNEW it was going to be released......

@keefer88 Год назад

This. You cant tell me they didn't make the song EXACTLY how they wanted it, like all their other songs.

@Hammerman48 Год назад

@@keefer88 I think they just moved on from the Get Back project and made Abbey Road.....they were never ones to look backwards. That's why Phil Spector got the tapes and made a mess

@snoosnoo7054 Год назад

Spectre had complete control over the release - how could he have included John's bass and then complain about its quality. Its pretty clear it was complete-nut-case Spectre deliberately fouling things up, famously releasing Paul's early LIB version behind his back if I remember correctly. Either way, John sabotaging the Beatles is utterly ridiculous, he knew the band would collapse if (and eventually when) he decided to walk away. Good click-bait title, very weak case though, and for the record the song still sounds brilliant.

@jeffschwartz4t.o.council-j132 Год назад

@2:45 - Luke isolates a very short segment of a track and uses software to analyze exactly what notes were being played at that time. What software is required in order to analyze a sound segment in this way, and what is the name of the function or command you need to use in order to analyze and determine which notes are being played?

@samhall5212 Год назад

Hello! Can someone tell me the name of the software shown at 2:44 ? Thank you.

@kwt7667g 2 года назад

A fascinating analysis. Who can say what was going on during that session? It was towards the end the Beatles road. Just mailing it in? The question that kept forming in my mind was, "How did the song get out of studio in that state?"

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

It's pretty much all speculation, but my best guess is that when Phil Spector was sent the tapes, he picked the performance with the 'best' vocal take (since that's what 99% of people will focus on) even if it meant releasing a bass line that wasn't great. Like I mention in the video, the takes from a few days later had WAY better performances from John.

@wyrdstone85 Год назад

You’d have to ask “What kind of state was Lennon in at the time”?

@ChromeDestiny Год назад

I'm surprised that Paul didn't have John play guitar and George play bass.

@newusernamehere4772 Год назад

John's guitar style would've sounded even stranger on this song than the bass, I think ultimately they were just pressed for time

@thibaultjn Год назад

Good video! Just a quick question. What's the tool you show at 2:44 which extracts the notes out of a wave file ? Thanks ;)

@BecomeABassist Год назад

It's called Transcribe! @Bricabrac - I highly recommend it, and they offer a 30 day trial here: bit.ly/2GQb8dT

@musicpages Год назад

Does anyone know what app/plugin Luke is using at 2:45 to show the notes from the audio on a keyboard? That's really cool!

@BecomeABassist Год назад

It's an app called Transcribe! @Robert McKean, by a company called Seventh String.

@jamesfelizardo9515 2 года назад

Great video Luke.... this might only be the 3rd time I've listened to the song since about 30 plus years... back then it didnt make sense to me and thought Lennon just wanted to be different. Whenever I get to jam this song, I just follow the guitarist's chords just to be safe. Thanks to you, I've now got a better reference how to play the bass notes better ♥

@Bella-nt7ec Год назад

the 3rd time!

@magneto7930 Год назад

I actually think John had a few good ideas for the bass line. These were live takes for which he probably didn't prepare himself enough for. You have to figure each take was a full band playing so any member could have messed up. Paul hit that sour note on the piano on Let it Be and they left it in the mix, although fixed on Let it Be...Naked. The same thing happened at the end of Two of Us when Paul hit a sour note on the acoustic guitar, for the release they used an alternate take ending.

@Byzantinian Год назад

Actually, it was John who made that guitar error on Two of Us. There's no denying Paul was easily the better musician. You're comparing one unnoticed note on a #1 hit (while singing a flawless vocal) to a much-ridiculed performance of the easiest instrument to play.

@magneto7930 Год назад

@@Byzantinian Paul played the main lead guitar riff on Two of Us, that was the part that was messed up. I'm not pointing it out to show his flaws or make comparisons. I'm just saying it in general. I've been a Beatles fan since the '60s, as well as a fan of their solo years, I'm certainly not putting them down.

@Byzantinian Год назад

@@magneto7930 @MAGNETO You're wrong. It wasn't the lead riff... it was John's strumming. I implore you to look it up as there are many sources supporting this. You're the first person I've seen attribute this to Paul.

@magneto7930 Год назад

@@Byzantinian if it was John then I apologize. I always thought it was Paul because he was playing the riff.

@raebees2976 Год назад

@@magneto7930 it was Paul.

@StoryPaul Год назад

As always great content, Luke! I doubt John had any ill intent. But I love the bass work on the 1984 version from the "Give My Regards to Broadstreet" soundtrack.

@Mansardian Год назад

Just subscribed. I'm not a bass player. I'm writing my own songs and for the bass lines I use the vast variety of sampled basses out there. This really helps to get a better understanding what bass lines should be like! This is my third video in a row.

@Bedroomfloorguitarist 2 года назад

I’m sorry but this man is one of the only RU-vidrs who can actually teach bass. Luke your absolutely amazing

@mattlawson714 Год назад

Many can play bass very well. Few can teach it this well.

@eranzilberberg341 Год назад

John brings his soul to this bass line. "There are no wrong notes" - Miles Davis

@LFrench Год назад

What’s that app you used to identify the notes?

@BecomeABassist Год назад

It’s called Transcribe! @L French. It’s from a company called Seventh String. I’m highly recommend it and from memory, there's a free trial of it here: bit.ly/2GQb8dT

@michaelblaney4461 Год назад

If it was recorded on a bass VI and is harder to get a nice bass tone out of then any standard basses. The design of the bass makes it hard to get good intonation and the strings are much lighter also.

@johncongerton7046 Год назад

Especially on the E string

@michaelblaney4461 Год назад

I just got some la Bella strings for my Bass VI and it has a .95 for the low E string and its 100% better then the previous set with a .84 😁

@jfmilone63 Год назад

i first heard the song 52 years ago in 1970 and it still sounds great to me now in 2022

@benjati 7 месяцев назад

Hi, I like it when somebody shares his point of view on matters regarding The Beatles. I Think the D might better have been a Db, but the rest of it is a very nice, supporting bassline. (that's me thinking as a bassplayer). The slides sound to me like a very nice embellishment, especially if you keep in mind the close bandwith John had to deal with, in other words how Paul told him to play. But in the end it's all a matter of taste. I would however keep in mind to listen to it as a total. I like the original bass line, perhaps even because its capriciousness.

@iesusdesus5704 Год назад

2:44 what’s this software?

@1960taylor Год назад

John knew exactly what he was doing…..I preferred his version.

@chickenmuffin Год назад

Right? I think the dissonance and rough edges add to the music.

@humanchannel7825 Год назад

@@chickenmuffin that’s just lazy.

@kevinmichael9482 Год назад

Fans obviously loved it! "The Long and Winding Road" was the Beatles 20th and last number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100.

@humanchannel7825 Год назад

@@kevinmichael9482 that’s because they could barely hear the bass because it was so low on the mix.

@kevinmichael9482 Год назад

@@humanchannel7825 Yeah, some of the great producers say they'd get excited when 'mistakes' occurred. Oftentimes, it'd add something special, unique to the mix and they'd end up keeping it.

@FranciscoBravoCabrera Год назад

Interesting, but as a bassist myself, I must say that I never felt annoyed at John's bass on The Long and Winding Road, but I thought he could have done a better job on Fixing a Hole. Great vid!

@EltonoutoftheclosetOfficial Год назад

The bass parts in 'The Long And Winding Road' that are usually described as errors are *not* errors. John plays the same pattern *exactly* at the same three locations in the song (bar eight of each verse). Which proves that the pattern was pre-meditated and executed according to John's intent.

@healingministry223 19 дней назад

I have the slides in my head and it just doesn't sound complete without them. But thanks for the details!

@davebowden4010 Год назад

Don't know of this is one of those instances but sometimes bands leave mistakes in due to the entire tracks vibe being spot on despite those mistakes. If you listen closely to some zeppelin tracks, even JPJ makes tiny errors here and there. But they stayed . And cover bands even add them in when they perform the tracks. Loving your vids mate. Ive studied McCartney for many years and learnt so many songs and every one surprises, inspires, and amazes me even after 100 plays

@bryanleigh6497 Год назад

Yes, Squire's isolated bass on Roundabout is a bit scrappy, but great energy

@victoroliveira9713 Год назад

Thank you very much Paul McCartney for releasing the clean version of this song on Let It Be Naked.

@mdfacp 4 месяца назад

Link?

@scottistrad Год назад

In all fairness, the take that was chosen for the album was not supposed to be the final album take. That was recorded on January 31 but not used until the “Naked” album

@jayall00 Год назад

I listened to the let it be-Naked version and the bass line is hands down fantastic, compliments the song greatly. I listened to the normal remastered version and couldn't hear any bass at all so I think that's also great. Am I missing something?

@BecomeABassist Год назад

Possibly @Jay Dawg. Did you know that they're different takes of the same song? The Naked version was recorded 5 days _after_ the original album version (when it seems like John knew the song a bit better). And part of the reason you're struggling to hear any bass on the original version is because Phil Spector produced that song with the specific intent to 'cover up the mistakes', hence the huge orchestration and the low mixing of the bass.

@wimmeininger7688 2 года назад

I think he did it on purpose and I think that mr. McCartney approved. When he’d played the notes as it should, it would’ve been a slick love(sick) song. But with all the “mistakes” it gives the song more intensity. So in my opinion it’s more about the feeling the song transfers and note about what should or shouldn’t.

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

I'm not sure Sir Paul _did_ approve - at least of the song as a whole @Wim Meininger. Between citing this song as one of the reasons the Beatles broke up, and him releasing the Naked project (which used a different take of LAWR), it seems like Paul has done an awful lot to distance himself from the original recording.

@Klaus80804 Год назад

I agree - these "wrong" notes build a certain tension and makes the song even better. So Luke, this is your lesson here, never question a genius :-) !

@wimmeininger7688 Год назад

@@BecomeABassist Hi Luke, I apologise, you're right. I checked the biography and Sir Paul was pissed about the remix Phil Spector had made from an originally mostly acoustic song. There already was a sale argument between Paul en John about John's bass playing and him playing the wrong notes. So wouldn't be surprised when the wrong bass notes ended up in the released version. Nevertheless, I still feel the wrong notes belong to the song and give it a kind of edge. But that's probably a personal thing.

@kennethbarber438 Год назад

kind of like the people who say Dylan can't sing. Misses the point.

@AdamCharlton Год назад

Very interesting video. I think it's really cool. I've never heard any of the Beatles comment about the bass in this song. But my guess is John was probably just feeling it out and intended to change it later or didn't think that was going to be the take and didn't give 100%

@jiddyup 7 месяцев назад

I remember as a child really liking this bass line, maybe Paul hit a few imperfect note vocals too, I really liked them, they stood out to me, may it's dissonance, counter point from the sub conscious or deliberate, I'll never know

@SpaveFrostKing Год назад

From a songwriting perspective, I'd say the best way to "fix" the Long and Winding Road bass is to see how Paul McCartney played it as a solo act (or with Wings). I'd say that's the way it "should" be played. I'd be curious if Paul's changed it at all over the decades; the longer he's been around, the more he's embraced the Beatles nostalgia, so my naive guess is these days it'd be pretty close to the original, while perhaps in the 70s/80s he spiced it up a bit.

@BecomeABassist Год назад

Here's a live version Paul playing this song: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JFNaOm6U5n8.html The issues I mention in the video are completely absent from this performance, which seems telling to me.

@Wayne_Robinson Год назад

The song seems to have garnered quite a few plays over the years in spite of this which might also demonstrate something. Illuminated with a bright spotlight those do seem like defects although I'd never fixated on them before. To me the bassline sounds fine as a experiment with varying some attributes and having a bit too much fun with careless glisses like we all might during a rehearsal. Maybe they just focused limited resources on other issues that would have invited even greater scorn a few generations hence but I appreciate your exploration of this topic and promise to be more careful with glissandos in the future.

@ScoochCubing Год назад

You definitely cleaned it up well. I kind of liked how it was a bit messy though. If there’s anything John wasn’t, it’s being straight forward. And that’s what made him great

@PhantomDetectivesLLC 7 месяцев назад

John was also using a Fender Bass VI on the original recording

@BecomeABassist 7 месяцев назад

Absolutely @PhantomDetectivesLLC - I point that out at the 0:52 mark.

@alexhicks5889 Год назад

Never thought of this as sabotage, but have thought about John's harmony in the last few notes of Yellow Submarine chorus as a hilarious bit of sabotage.

@Bubdiddly Год назад

Oh my god FINALLY someone mentions this I first noticed that awhile back and cannot I hear it

@AngeloFonta Год назад

Which harmony?

@Bubdiddly Год назад

@@AngeloFonta I’m not sure of the note but John’s harmony goes downwards to some weird low note on the “ine” part of submarine

@AngeloFonta Год назад

@@Bubdiddly are you talking about the Revolver version?

@Bubdiddly Год назад

@@AngeloFonta probably. I’d have to check

@alecrodriguez5037 Год назад

Ive always loved every component of this song. It is strange; it is unique, but that’s the Beatles

@lewisf9266 Год назад

Was it corrected on Let It Be Naked

@BecomeABassist Год назад

It largely was @Lewis F - no dodgy notes, timing is a lot cleaner, although there's still some things that I'm not _personally_ a fan of (the stabby slides still somewhat remain)

@ericsguitar0 Год назад

Nice job! Good analysis also. People underestimate the craftsmanship required to play really good bass lines.

@dreamarcher4018 Год назад

If you look at the song metaphorically “A Long and Winding Road” is a journey of ups and downs and is sometime discordant hence the choice of baseline which is sort of in most listeners’ subconscious. I have never thought it sounded bad and I sing an symphony choir and hear violins out of tune!

@thedogwoods5716 Год назад

I always assumed Paul went back and recorded it himself for the album

@Bella-nt7ec Год назад

same

@Mansion416 Год назад

Luke what kind of bass is that it look so cool

@johnvice4066 Год назад

@Luke - Regarding your "Issue #3" and the length of notes. Twice, you refer to Lennon playing "whole notes" and then eighth notes. I don't know why you used the term "whole note" when you're clearly referring to quarter notes. It happens at around 4:10 into the video.

@BecomeABassist Год назад

Ah - you're totally right @John Vice. That was definitely a slip of the tongue. The space that the notes occupy is *half* note, (starting his notes on beats 1 and 3) although sometimes he cuts them short to 8ths, quarters or dotted quarters. My apologies!

@7colliemac Год назад

John said in an interview he hated Long and Winding Road .. thought it was too indulgent.. but I doubt he sabotaged it .. but probably very nonchalant about his playing .. who knows. I do wonder why Paul didn’t fix it before it’s release, maybe he didn’t want to insult John? But George’s bass on Two Of Us is brilliant..

@lonmaness6222 Год назад

It sounds fine to me. It did go to #1 on the U.S. Billboard. 👍🎸🎹

Год назад

Very nice take on the bass line. Being a bass player myself - jazz and swing mostly, I personally have big problem with John´s bass - not only in this song (well ... to be honest, I have my reservations to most of his production. But I keep in mind, what a great musician he was ). Although I consider myself Beatles lover (most of them I have on vynyl), there are few songs, which seem out of "Beatles tune" for me ... Long and winding road is one of them. I tried some variations to your - well done - line and most apetizing for my ears was when I used smooth nickel plated strings and threw away the pick - to get nice warm and round sound. I tried to make your part more "Abbey Road-ish", added few ornaments and also played around with adding some flageolets ... I slipped almost into fusion of Something and Dear Prudence. Which definitely suits my "jazzy" attitude and my feeling from the song. As for "correcting John" - I would not be afraid too much. Music is a creative field and one can definitely try to improve/correct or change great musicians work. As long as he does it with respect. Idolizing great ones and and making them untouchable can lead to catarsis and bias.

@dhpbear2 Год назад

I went to listen to the original track. John's bass-clams don't occur until later in the song. I DID hear a couple of clams from the brass section! Just after "has left a pool of tears" ( at around 1:04) and just after 'let me know the way" (at around 1:23).

@gumbycat5226 Год назад

In his last interview about the Beatles (Playboy, 1980), John accused Paul of "subconscious sabotage," naming a number of songs. It's bizarre because this is the only incident in the Beatles where sabotage seems to have been the order of the day. Paul wrote four major songs for the LP and John wrote a ditty (Dig A Pony), having to resurrect Across The Universe from 11 months earlier. John also said (1970, Rolling Stone) that he was "stoned on H all the time and didn't give a s***" which is indicated on the 14 Jan "two junkies" interview that immediately preceded the session - he must have taken something potent to perform as we see him in Get Back. The terrible bass guitar playing may just have been H lowering his capabilities. The reference version of Long And Winding Road was recorded on 26 Jan - Phil Spector chose the version with the best overall feel and best lyric, and then smothered it with orchestra and choir presumably to hide John. Let It Be Naked features a take from four days later, with no Spector elements, worse lyric but at least John is in order.

@chickenmuffin Год назад

Poor Paul. Imagine how successful he’d have been without this “sabotage.”

@moishe43 Год назад

I disagree, Paul wrote 5 major songs for the LP. Two of us, Let it be, Get back, I've got a feeling, LAWR. John had 'dig a pony' and that was it. Oh, and Don't let me down. One after 909 was from 1960. He wrote only the middle eight to IGAF and Across the universe a year earlier.

@TUSK1157 2 года назад

Was it payback for Hey Jude? Did he leave it bad to take a sad song and make it better? 🤔😁

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

Bahaha!!!

@marshillnewengland2027 Год назад

Maybe Paul was referring to him taking a song to John that was sad?

@raymondtayag4230 Год назад

How about the let it be...naked album? Which of John's bass playing on the long and wnding road is much better?

@raymondtayag4230 Год назад

I prefer the naked version much better...

@chiggermethod463 Год назад

I've always liked slides, and I wonder if this is where I got that from lol

@o.b.v.i.u.s Год назад

Fifty years later and _still_ we fight over their crumbs... The Long And Winding Road (another great work by the greatest band ever) is melodically so strong that it shines in spite of a weak bass performance. Next!

@deborahmagana5039 6 месяцев назад

No matter who sings it, in the future. It will always be a great song, please put your heart into it.

@charlieburns1385 7 месяцев назад

Very interesting 👍 Thanks

@regmunday8354 Год назад

Lennon said playing bass was like being kept behind after school to do homework. He obviously didn't enjoy it! But I like it because it has a little bit funky FRETLESS UPRIGHT BASS quality which I think Lennon has in mind when he recorded TLAWR. Finally, if you deconstruct their recordings there is sourness and offkey musicianship in almost everything the Beatles recorded ie Rubber Soul album. I don't care about any of that because the songs and arrangements are so amazing!

@bryanleigh6497 Год назад

I find it often seems like their timing was off somehow.

@christopherheckman7957 Год назад

Glissandos sound much better on fretlesses than fretted basses. Maybe Lennon wasn't able to lay his hands on one when they were recording TLAWR. (It might be interesting to re-record the original bassline using a fretless, and using Luke's improvement.)

@pibroch Год назад

@@christopherheckman7957 In general I think glissandos are infinitely better on fretted basses, and so do other bass players who prefer playing fretless but not when they know they'll be doing a gliss.

@BecomeABassist Год назад

SCAMMER ALERT: There's an account that calls themselves "𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦👉Luke_From_Become_A_Bassist" that's been leaving comments about winning a 'prize' on this video and others of mine. This person is *NOT* me, they are in no way affiliated with me and there is no prize. They are in fact a scammer, phishing for personal information. Please do not interact with them in any way other than to report, then block them. If you've been targeted by this account, I'm very sorry. I've deleted all their comments for now, but these people are like weeds - very hard to get rid of completely. I actually went on Telegram posing as a 'winner' (read: victim) to see what the scam was. I was hoping to waste a bunch of their time, but it turns out they're very lazy in their scamming, but still quite convincing. They use my profile picture from here and you would have no idea you weren't talking to me. Once again, my apologies!

@AlDunbar Год назад

Apologies? You did nothing wrong - someone else did! A good explanation and a good response to the situation

@PsyduckVideos Месяц назад

I’m such a John Lennon fan that just to spite you for insulting this bass line I’m gonna purposely get myself scammed from this fella. Take that Luke (I forgot your name and can’t be bothered to check it)

@santibass Год назад

As much as I respect your expertise (definitely bigger than mine) and I love your corrected bass version (beautiful, but..) I can't agree with you on a few aspects. To me the "Strange Choices" are what elevates this song to another level, I can hear the artistic soul there instead of just math and "this should be here", I can hear feelings there. John is not just playing bass for the sake of accenting notes, the bass is an organism on itself, those slides express soo much and paint the picture of the song so wonderfully. NOW, about those inconsistent notes - being a bassist myself I can see I'm doing the same on our rehearsals when I'm not prepared and I'm not sure what approach would work. That's when I experiment and the outcome is a little rubbish but it helps me find the best bassline. That rush and impro part would explain those inconsistencies, as they wrote this whole album in a month (I guess?) in front of the cameras. BTW check out "Naked" version of this CD

@JoergEisfeld Год назад

What happened on "Let It Be ... Naked"? It seems they fixed some of the issues?

@groundbeef662 Год назад

This is really interesting, and explained very well, thanks.. the thing is he majority of people are tone deaf non musicians like me so we just think it sounds great and never notice these mistakes.. whilst i wish i did have musical talent, sometimes i am glad i don't because i think i would hate to hear all the things wrong with all my favourite songs. Ignorance can be bliss.. but then i guess you can appreciate the truly genius bits more than me because you know how damn difficult they are.

@taborturtle Год назад

My wife says the same thing to me! She is tone deaf and I am a live sound engineer/studio engineer. I am always picking apart a song into its tiny pieces and listening to each part at the same time. And it's hard for me to enjoy a live concert if the sound isn't perfect. I'll even move close to the sound board because that is usually where the sound is perfect. She always asks me why I can't just enjoy the music. I usually tell her it takes nerds like us to make sure everyone else CAN enjoy it! Most people leave a show they didnt like thinking the band sucked, even when the band was great. And I know sometimes it's not the band at all but the mix that made the audience not enjoy it. The sound guy is the glue that holds it all together. But in my wife's case, ignorance is bliss!

@groundbeef662 Год назад

@@taborturtle Yes i understand that the sound guy is key, especially when he has local knowledge of the club etc, Band may want x but he knows only y will work.. Thanks

@RLWGWriters 2 года назад

Surely if that was not the intended bass line Paul (the perfectionist) would have insisted on adding the correct bass line...?

@BecomeABassist 2 года назад

He may have if he knew the Get Back tapes were being prepared for release, but John had sent them (without Paul's or regular producer, George Martin's knowledge) to Phil Spector for production.

@erkkinho Год назад

@@BecomeABassist Actually Paul was shocked with the end product.

@johncastleberry3404 Год назад

Great! Love your changes.

@LibertyWarrior68 7 месяцев назад

The melody is lovely.

@MyXxx77 Год назад

As a bassist myself, I never questioned it but you're right about everything you pointed out. Why did John play it that way and why did they leave it? I think Mars 79 has the explanation. Those tapes were lying around for months and most likely, the one that was chosen had the McCartney vocal Spector wanted on the same track as the bass so, he made an arbitrary decision and that was that.

@KariKauree 2 года назад

I do think you improved it without overdoing it.

@dontvoteforanybody3715 Год назад

In the remastered version, there are distinct ghost lyrics at 3:15.

@stevenhaisch8677 7 месяцев назад

I like the bass line the way it is, it's how I remember it, don't forget that the Beatles were breaking up at that time, Phil Spector was called in to Co-Produce the "Let It Be" album, and experimenting with musical signatures/and down beat timing such as the song "Drive My Car" was part of their creative genius, you may criticize, but when it was released as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatles broke up, it became the group's 20th and final number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

@BecomeABassist 7 месяцев назад

I think it reached #1 *despite* the questionable bass performance @stevenhaisch8677. I don't hear this bass line as 'experimenting' with musical elements like in Drive My Car. The ideas in that song are a very deliberate kind of thing, and the bass performance on TLAWR is definitely not. The take that ended up on the album was quite an early one and by the sounds of it, John just hadn't quite got his mind or his hands around the song yet. The take from Let It Be...Naked (which Paul selected rather than Spector) was recorded 5 days after the Spector version has a much cleaner bass performance. Plus you can actually hear it, rather than being buried behind Spector's wall of sound. Also, notably, a lot of the things I mention in this video (like the questionable tuning/note choices/timing) are absent from that take, which I think supports the idea that the inconsistencies in the Spector version are just mistakes/slips of the hands rather than conscious experimentation.

@jasonw6688 Год назад

I think Lennon's bass line gives this song an edge and a nice Beatles quality. You can dissect anything enough and find issues. But with this song, I wouldn't change a thing.

@StreetPreacherr Год назад

And I BET John WAS a bit BORED, and not exactly THRILLED to be paying bass on one of Paul's 'Grandma Songs'! Like in Radiohead's 'CREEP', where I've heard Johnny threw in that CRAZY ICONIC DISTORTED GUITAR 'noise' at the end of the first verse, because he thought the song was a bit 'boring' and he actually WAS getting frustrated during recording...

@jasonw6688 Год назад

@@StreetPreacherr totally agree. Ever since the white album, John was hating more and more of Paul's songs. So he didn't care but at the same time knew he had to have some level professionalism about him. Yea I've heard that about Radiohead's "Creep" as well.

@094340 Год назад

The bass is so understated in TLAWR that it's practically irrelevant. Paul's vocals and the orchestration clearly take center stage, the bass line is an afterthought. Moving on.

@thorstenwader4632 Год назад

Hi. I allways loved the slides. I think they fit in the song very well. And I think they follow your (very good) suggestions "Strategic busy-ness", "Countermelody" an "Conrast". I practised the slides for a while, to play them with different destination-notes in on or two songs of our band. Allthough our Songs are very different to "the long and winding road", a listening Beatles-Fan identiyfied my slides as quotes (man, was I proud). And even the "Slide to nowhere" 🙂 ist fine to me. Fortunately the bass is very much in the backround behind the "Spectorous Wall of Sound" - so the wrong notes don't matter. But maybe - just maybe - the confused bass-line is an interpretation of the confusion of a person, that ist expressed in the lyrics. A person searching the way and waiting at a door, wondering, if it is the right door, hoping to meet the searched person. a.s.o. If this is why Lennon played this way, then it is a genius interpretation and very much Lennon-like. What do you think?

@BecomeABassist Год назад

I *_don't_* think the 'confused' nature of the bass line was a deliberate artistic decision @Thorsten Wader. If it were, then you'd expect to hear those same decisions to show up in other takes of the song, but that's not what happens. If you listen to the 'Naked' version for example, which was recorded 5 days _after_ the album version, a lot of the things I talk about in this video aren't there. The out of tune/in-between notes are gone, John's rhythm is a lot more solid and the slides to nowhere aren't there. It's a much more solid bass performance overall. I think it's much more likely that John just didn't know the song that well on the take that was selected. It was an early take after all. I think that, plus him playing an instrument he wasn't as 'at home' on and in a key that wasn't super familiar to him makes the bass line sound 'confused' because John was very much out of his element on those early runs through the song.

@thorstenwader4632 Год назад

@@BecomeABassist ok. You're right. So my Brain tried to fix my confusion about the weird Bassline by believing, that Lennon had a genius Idea. ;-) 🥸

@ludens5129 Год назад

I love your version of the bassline so much. Amazing.

@theartfuldodger935 Год назад

John once complained that on John's songs, McCartney was always in experimentation mode, but with McCartney's he was very specific as to what he wanted. Maybe this is just John trying to get even a little bit.

@braemtes23 День назад

The songs Paul was experimental on are some of John's most revered songs. Two songs John mentioned are Tomorrow Never Knows and Strawberry Fields Forever.

@SpiritDK 2 года назад

guessing he was bord or high

@scottbubb2946 2 года назад

You know, I think you've hit the Occam's Razor on the head here. After reading several books about Lennon, that sounds exactly like the kind of thing he'd do. I can hear him saying, "There's no mystery, I was just bored and didn't care."

@Clevername22726 9 месяцев назад

Ive been listening to the beatles for years and heard this song many times and somehow I've never noticed this

@karlbaudoin Год назад

I'm quite surprised to read some very negative comments to your video as I sensed in your endeavor a true humility and desire to do things properly. That was an instructive, daring but very interesting video. Maybe you could even have "corrected" this bass line by playing it the way Paul would have, mixing fonction with beauty and using more countermelodies and stuff like Paul used to do. Thanks for you work.

@urwholefamilydied Год назад

4:32 with all the strings and everything going on, not only do I think it sounds appropriate , but until I saw this video, It never even occurred to me that the bass playing was "bad". And I'm not only a musician but I've heard this song probably 70 to 100 times. Never noticed the bass playing. John certainly wasn't taking the piss... he just doesn't know how to play bass, and if Mac didn't have an issue with it, control freak that he is... then he thought it was fine for one of his masterpieces.