McCartney’s bass playing can be categorized as before Pet Sounds and after Pet Sounds. Let’s give credit where credit is due – primarily to Carol Kaye, part the LA-based studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, under the direction of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.
McCartney’s playing, although melodic and ground-breaking, changed significantly after hearing Carol’s playing on Pet Sounds.
For example, on The Beach Boys’ song, Here Today, Carol employs a picking technique and upper-register playing on her Fender P bass to create a unique and percussive sound.
You can hear echoes of her playing on With A Little Help From My Friends – specifically McCartney spends a lot of time in the upper register of his Rickenbacker bass in a similar percussive manner.
The bass on Pet Sounds was largely attributed to employing two different bass players on most tracks – Carol Kaye on electric bass and Lyle Ritz on the upright.
John Lennon, a fan of American R & B bands complained to George Martin that he could hear the bass more clearly on Motown recordings, and that the bass was mixed down in The Beatles recordings.
Sgt. Pepper was the first Beatles album where the bass was featured in the mix rather than buried inside of it. Additionally, this is the first album where McCartney’s bass playing is so clearly influenced by another great bassist – Carol Kaye.
The Beatles were influenced by many other artists, including pioneers of Rock-n-Roll along with their contemporaries. However, they had a way of incorporating their influences and making those sounds their own.
And while much has been written about the rivalry between The Beatles and The Beach Boys, they repeatedly pushed each other to new creative heights – as evidenced most clearly on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
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