The influential musician Paul McCartney called “my hero”
Former Beatles member Paul McCartney is one of the most influential bassists of all time. Taking the bass in a new direction through his melodic and dynamic work, the bass wasn’t just a side gig anymore; it was an exciting instrument that went toe-to-toe with the guitar and drums in rock music. As McCartney asserted, when done correctly, it could exert dominance over a group and dictate the direction of play.
Speaking to Tony Bacon in 1994, McCartney explained how he learned to love the four-string. Notably, in his earliest work, his basslines were more rigid and root note-based, but as the years went on, he developed until the gloves were off, and innovation was had. McCartney said: “From the word go, once I got over the fact that I was lumbered with the bass [laughs], I did get quite proud to be a bass player, quite proud of the idea. Once you realised the control you had over the band, you were in control. They can’t go anywhere, man. Ha! Power!”
“Paul is one of the most innovative bass players,” Beatles frontman John Lennon told David Sheff of his old partner’s ability in 1980. “Half the stuff that’s going on now is directly ripped off from his Beatles period. He’s an egomaniac about everything else, but his bass playing he’d always been a bit coy about.”
Whilst McCartney has noted the brilliance of a range of different bass players who impacted his own style, there is only one he describes as his “hero”. This is Motown legend James Jamerson, the artist who played on classic tracks like The Supremes’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, The Temptations’ ‘My Girl’, and Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, a song he was kidnapped to play on.
During a 2013 Q&A session with fans on his website, McCartney was asked: “Who was the biggest influence upon your bass playing?” to which he replied definitively: “The biggest influence on my bass playing was James Jamerson, who played on many of my favourite Motown releases.”
This was not the first time that McCartney outlined Jamerson’s effect on his own creative vision. In the same 1994 interview with Tony Bacon, McCartney openly described how the Motown icon changed bass playing and opened him up to a whole new world of rhythmic yet melodic excellence. The former Beatles man even confessed to “nicking a lot off him”.
“[Bass playing] became a bit more skilful, yeah,” he said. “I wouldn’t personally credit myself, but thanks for that. But part of it, I think James Jamerson, him and me, I’d share the credit there. I was nicking a lot off him.”
Despite being his “hero”, Jamerson was a faceless force for McCartney for years, as with many other listeners. He recalled: “James Jamerson became just my hero, really. I didn’t actually know his name until quite recently. James was very melodic, and that got me more interested.”
Watch James Jamerson in action below.
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