“I never got around to it”: The Beatles song Paul McCartney thought he couldn’t play
Once upon a time, while interviewing an up-and-coming band in the smoky confines of a pub smoking area, I got talking to them about a specific piano sequence they introduced in the reprise of a song… It was equal parts fun and hypnotic, almost like you were trapped on an endless fairground ride. I asked about the influence of one great band in the making of it, and they swiftly replied, “Of course, we borrowed that from The Beatles; they invented everything.”
Everything is certainly a stretch, particularly if you’re inclined to look even further back in the history books and start bringing up legends of the classical era. But in popular music, he’s not far off, for The Fab Four took the blues rock formula that was being celebrated in the 1950s, and injected it with an appropriate amount of ‘60s colour.
They were unrelenting in their pursuit of innovation during that decade, trying different musical styles in albums that reinvented the studio recording model. Within that, it often felt like each member could do anything, particularly John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who, as the premier songwriters of the group, seemed to transcend the idea of their own instrument.
McCartney, in particular, extended beyond the usual realms of a bass player and became known as a master musician, rather than a bastion of timekeeping. But as the general public got lost in the magic of his creative style, they looked past what he thought was a fundamental flaw in his musicianship.
He explained, “A lot of people think I can do proper finger style, but when you see me up close, you realise I can’t. John [Lennon] and I particularly wanted to learn the formal style of fingerpicking, but I never got around to it.”
He continued, explaining how a song in particular highlighted the gap in skill between the pair, one he was quickly keen to rectify with a later classic of his own: “He [Lennon] did, and he used it on ‘Julia’ and some other things. I never got into it, but I love the sound of it so much, I just figured out my own way of doing it; that’s really how I learned every instrument I play. On things like ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Blackbird’ I just hit the bass string and sort of flick the high strings.”
‘Blackbird’ in particular is more than just the sound of McCartney muddying his way through a playing style he hadn’t yet mastered. It’s a deeply melodic and skilful piece that showcases the very best of him as a guitar player. And while he’s keen to downplay any brilliance within it, the musician he regarded as the influence of the composition just goes to show what sort of level McCartney was operating on.
Concluding, “You know how when you’re a kid, you learn these little show-off pieces? Well, George [Harrison] and I learned ‘Bach’s Bourrée’ in E minor. Actually, we just heard it a few times and bastardised it. I sort of borrowed its approach in ‘Blackbird’, those kinds of intervals, and just made it up as it led on. It was the only time we ever got vaguely classical.”
OK, Paul, sure, ‘Blackbird’ was the only time you guys got classical. Perhaps in the midst of churning out unrelenting greatness, McCartney has forgotten just how wide the scope of the band’s influence really was.
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