Early Beatles Bass + Drums stems

[bitflipper]

Isolated bass and drums from the With the Beatles album. I'd never noticed how often McCartney utilizes chords on bass. Or how tight the bass 'n drums were (listen to the kick and bass on Roll Over Beethoven). Drum sound is clear and present, despite only two mics on the kit. You can really hear the pumping 670 compression on the rides. Great engineering. Keep in mind that this was recorded on a 2-track machine, so most of it is essentially live. Also worth remembering that these guys were all pretty young and still relatively inexperienced in the studio; McCartney would have been 20 or 21 years old at the time of these recordings.

 

[Bapu]

I stumbled onto that yesterday (no pun intended). Interesting listen.

[michaelhanson]

McCartney is the reason that I picked up the Bass.  His talent never ceases to amaze me.  All of the isolated tracks I’ve listened to between Mac and Richard prove how well the bass/ drum interplay was between the two.  

Edited September 17, 2022 by michaelhanson

[JohnG]

19 hours ago, michaelhanson said:

His talent never seizes ceases to amaze me.

FTFY!

(Curtesy of the speling polease.)

[Rain]

All those endless nights onstage in Hamburg before they hit the big time  must have paid off - although Ringo wasn't with them back them, he played there with with Rory and the Hurricanes (?) I believe . They really earned their chops.

That Live at the Star Club album was a goldmine - not only as a Beatles fan  but because like them, we often played long shifts in dance halls, and I had to come up with new stuff to play, so I learned a lot of those songs that they used to play in Germany but which never recorded onto their albums. 

Where else would I have heard Lend Me Your Comb or Red Sails in the Sunset...

Edited September 17, 2022 by Rain

[michaelhanson]

3 hours ago, JohnG said:

FTFY!

(Curtesy of the speling polease.)

?  Thank you!  I was speaking the comments into the iPhone and didn’t catch that.  

[Bapu]

37 minutes ago, michaelhanson said:

?  Thank you!  I was speaking the comments into the iFone and didn’t catch that.  

Fixed for you. ? 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Bapu

[craigb]

So these were done with Paul, not Faul, ya? ?

[Bapu]

2 hours ago, craigb said:

So these were done with Paul, not Faul, ya? ?

Ta

[Glenn Stanton]

in case anyone was interested in what the White Album played live would be like: 

 

[mark skinner]

 Yeah , that was one thing I Really noticed about how McCartney played bass. It was more like how you would play a 6 string ,  using a lot of chord passages. I've seen clips of him actually looking like he was strumming a regular guitar. I once mentioned that to my old bass player and he replied  , "I can't think that way" and couldn't make the gelling connection between the instruments,  and I can't either ..           ms

Edited September 17, 2022 by mark skinner

[Bapu]

1 hour ago, Glenn Stanton said:

in case anyone was interested in what the White Album played live would be like: 

 

I saw The Fab Faux (Will Lee and company) do the White Album live. It was fabulous and they do it with 5 guys instead of 7 or 8.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Bapu

[bitflipper]

15 hours ago, mark skinner said:

 Yeah , that was one thing I Really noticed about how McCartney played bass. It was more like how you would play a 6 string ,  using a lot of chord passages. I've seen clips of him actually looking like he was strumming a regular guitar. I once mentioned that to my old bass player and he replied  , "I can't think that way" and couldn't make the gelling connection between the instruments,  and I can't either ..           ms

I once had a bass player who loved playing chords. I hated it. Sounds like an amplified wet fart if you're not exceptionally proficient at it.

[Bapu]

5 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

I once had a bass player who loved playing chords. I hated it. Sounds like an amplified wet fart if you're not exceptionally proficient at it.

I've only ever played chords on the bass in a solo. One example is the bass solo in Tull's Bouree.

[bitflipper]

Yeh, if you're doing a solo there are no rules. Put a tambourine between your knees if you want. Hum the national anthem as counterpoint. Anything goes. Just take pity on the rest of us and don't try it on a fretless bass. And for the love of all that's good in the world, tune up first.

[Bapu]

3 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

Yeh, if you're doing a solo there are no rules. Put a tambourine between your knees if you want. Hum the national anthem as counterpoint. Anything goes. Just take pity on the rest of us and don't try it on a fretless bass. And for the love of all that's good in the world, tune up first.

Wow, TBH last night I actually though about trying the Bouree solo on my fretless. I guess I'll strike that off my bucket list.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Bapu

[bitflipper]

Please don't be offended, Ed. What you do in the privacy of your own basement is between you and your inflatable groupie, and none of my business.

[Glenn Stanton]

i like playing chords on the bass - not only strumming but also arpeggios as i walk the chords. i find that this is useful when there are only a few instruments playing (like dynamics drop in the midrange instruments during a verse or guitar solos). one trick i found (i seldom use a pick) is to strum downstrokes with the face of my fingernails (essentially back handed) and thumbnail (upstrokes) so it's a hard surface against the strings. best bet is round wound (on my precision it sounds almost like a piano), but also works on flats (my upright EDB - i even get some nice harmonics).