The one bassist Geddy Lee said was better than Paul McCartney: “My final choice”
Paul McCartney’s greatness as a songwriter renders him somewhat underrated when it comes to bass playing. Rarely is his mastery of the instrument mentioned in the discourse of his undying greatness; instead, it’s only brought up as a sort of suffix to confirm just how mindblowing his music was. Not only is he one of music’s greatest ever songwriters, but one of the best bassists, too.
Ultimately, though, I think that pleases McCartney. He would be the first to admit that songwriting represented a large part of his interest, and his decision to play bass, rather than guitar in The Beatles, was largely driven by his ability as a multi-instrumentalist.
Nevertheless, he laid down some crucial basslines that helped shape the legacy of the band and quietly put him forward as one of the most influential bassists of all time. ‘Taxman’ and ‘Come Together’ display the very best of McCartney’s ability and helped shape the style of a young Geddy Lee.
His genius in that regard provoked a passionate defence from Lee, who insisted that He “gets overlooked as a bassist.” He added, “But as a pop bassist goes, he’s such a melodic player. And you’re talking about a guy who wasn’t originally the bass player for the band. He adapted, of course, and he picked it up. I just find his story really interesting, as a bass player. So he comes at the instrument from a much more melodic place, and you really hear that in a lot of Beatle music.”
But Lee knows something that McCartney himself would be willing to admit. While he formed much of the groundwork for modern pop bass playing, it was built off the back of a Motown great who paved the way for much of McCartney’s work. In fact, Lee is keen to stress that many other rock and roll legends can be bundled into a class with McCartney, following the teachings of this one icon.
“But it’s important to remember John Paul Jones wouldn’t have played like that if it wasn’t for James Jamerson” Lee admits, adding “So apologies to Victor Wooten and all the other great musicians, including Paul McCartney, but my final choice could only belong to James Jamerson.”
McCartney would willingly accept that take, for he, too, as mentioned Jamerson’s name in a similar regard, once stating, “The biggest influence on my bass playing was James Jamerson, who played on many of my favourite Motown releases.” He continued, “I saw the movie Standing In The Shadows of Motown and became utterly obsessed with [bass player] James Jamerson. I started obsessively listening to his basslines.”
While Jamerson’s bass playing could be heard over a collection of Motown classics, his finest work was perhaps found on the seminal Marvin Gaye record What’s Going On that came after McCartney’s time in The Beatles, in 1971.
This perfectly executed concept album boasted the very best of Gaye’s vocal timing and melodic arrangement, but it was Jamerson’s bass was the through line, steering the soul legend into timeless musical territory and proving himself as one of the greatest bassists of all time.
