@Beatleaga I believe you are correct. It mentions that as well in Beatles Recording Session September 9, 1968. Helter Skelter remake takes 4-21 .. John played bass guitar and, of all things, a decidedly unskilled saxophone.
@pkgannon I'm a great Beatle fan, and with or without info, I know the way how Paul plays bass. However, I'd like have more info about those sessions, is pure gold.
@Beatleaga I have 20 some books on the Beatles. Probably my favorite is The Beatles Recording Sessions. It detail every day they were in the recording studio, what they recorded, who played what, takes...etc... It's very interesting.
John and George all played bass at some point during sessions later in the Beatles career, just like Paul played drums on some White Album tracks... hence why they had a right handed Fender Bass VI. Which is smaller than a normal bass and has 6 strings, essentially a baritone guitar with heavier gauge strings. I also think this song called for John's edgy, almost angry playing on bass... just an opinion coming from a huge Beatles fan
"Starting afresh on already-recorded songs during The White Album sessions was becoming commonplace, and on September 9th, a new attempt was made on Helter Skelter. ... The final version recorded on the 9th featured very heavily distorted electric guitars, drums and piano. ... The next day Lennon added bass using the Fender VI."
Works Cited: Babiuk, Andy, and Tony Bacon. "Revolution - All Change." Beatles Gear. San Francisco, Calif: Backbeat, 2001. 229. Print.
@TabiKnight its fuckin good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so hot and wild , like a stone . its heavy and knocking my ears heavily . it is a good feeling , Lennon did it well!!!
This is NOT McCartney. McCartney did often use a pick, but his sound was more refined. This is Lennon; it's raunchy, and frankly a bit sloppy. But it works with this kickass song.
@falica77 That's Ringo saying that. They had done 18 takes on the song, and it was originally 12 minutes long! He threw his drum sticks across the studio and made that yell!
@sgtelzilcho The session occurred in wild circumstances.. and indeed John did play bass on some Beatles tracks and possibly played during the original recording. But this is one of Lewisohn's mistakes like not being able to hear Ringo banging hammond organ during I'm Looking Through You! The bass is played too powerfully and nimbly to POSSIBLY be John Lennon. This is Paul McCartney who definitely overdubbed this performance which is typical of his style and sound.
it sounds nothing like Paul, it's no where near as melodic as Pauls stuff. Also it's so obviously a Bass VI and they didn't have a left handed one of those. It's not nimble, there's quite a few wrong notes and as for power Lennon used to bash his guitar, that's how he got his sound. I've listened to so many of Pauls bass lines and he was so much more in time than this. And remember he used Flatwounds, these are roundwounds far too buzzy to be Flats
@zachisaniceperson: It has a foam mute under the strings to deaden the decay. This was common back in the day. You hear it on a lot of Paul's tracks also.
This is definitely a lennon bass. It sounds more like his style, raw and unpolished and slightly bluesy. Its a bit rough around the edges but works perfectly for the song, great bass line. They always did it so that if paul was playing guitar or piano john would play bass.
@8down10 George says he played the bass on Old Brown Shoe. He also played on Back in the USSR and Two Of Us, probably Hey Jude, and probably Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight. I had heard Honey Pie too. Drive my Car is Paul.
When I was kid, we all thought it was JOHN shouting, "I've got blisters on my fingers!" Later information (e.g. Wikipedia "Helter Skelter (song)") states it was RINGO. However, if you compare THIS bass track to "The Beatles - Helter Skelter - Drum Track" here on Youtube--or indeed, if you sync the 2 together in a stereo audio track...easy to do--you clearly hear that the shout occurred on Lennon's bass track, NOT Ringo's drum track!
@FlingsPooAtTheZoo it's definitely Ringo shouting "blisters on my fingers". If I remember correctly that part was overdubbed later by Ringo. Check the books "The Beatles : Recording Sessions: The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes, 1962-1970" or "The Complete Beatles Chronicle" by Mark Lewisohn for reference.
Im sure is lennon you can hear the little ability....im a bass man....and not because you hear many musical scales is good...I know it's lennon ... but not everything he does is to boast
@chilibro In case it wasn't obvious from the video description, tags, the "Uploader Comments (bauersnarky)" and "Top Comments" section, and the Wikipedia entry for "Helter Skelter (song)," yes. It is.
@alexvenegas all of them played all the instruments, this was McCartneys song so he plays lead, George plays Rhythm and John plays bass on his Fender VI
"Starting afresh on already-recorded songs during The White Album sessions was becoming commonplace, and on September 9th [1968] a new attempt was made on Helter Skelter. ... The final version recorded on the 9th featured very heavily distorted electric guitars, drums and piano. ... The next day Lennon added bass using the Fender VI."
Works Cited: Babiuk, Andy, and Tony Bacon. "Revolution - All Change." Beatles Gear. San Francisco, Calif: Backbeat, 2001. 229. Print.
@bauersnarky All you need is ears.. the sound of a Fender VI can be heard on The Long And Winding Road.. there's no way that John Lennon could imitate Paul McCartney's driving style and trademarks on this track and no other. Lewisohn had some major boners in his book too. I'm sure Lennon might have done that overdub.. but McCartney at some decided that he needed to do this one over. Same on Let It Be.
@bauersnarky checked nearly every source given...should have trusted the video description to begin with!! You understand though, not too many trustworthy "uploaders" and what they claim to be genuine, let alone people like the RedArrow dude, who just ASSume or are to stubborn to admit when their wrong....good work!
@RedArrow73 No, it's John. I had read it was a Jazz bass, but it's not Paul and it's not a Rick. I thought it was also. Paul is playing guitar on this track, and John was playing bass. Paul is a more fluid player than this. It's a great and classic bass part however.
@DavidRavenMoon Paul is a very fluid player and can be smooth.. but he also has a real looseness especially when he's rocking. You can even hear some glaring errors in SOMETHING but it doesn't matter because he's so in the pocket! This is clearly Paul.. John lennon just didn't have the dexterity to move like this. Remember what McCartney says about Heler Skelter .. he wanted it more raucous than what the who was saying they were doing.typical of McCartney's early solo bass too.
@LBrilliante I agree. People like to ay that they weren't good on their instruments, but they are missing the point. They never tried to be virtuosos. They were a Rock n Roll band, and Paul loved that raw lose feeling. I'm sure they often said "fuck it, it's good enough" and moved on. Yeah, Paul wanted to write the heaviest song ever. I think he might have succeeded. He said it was because Pete Townshend said "I Can See for Miles" was the heaviest song ever written. That's my favorite Who song.
@cast390 That's not PM. That's John playing a Fender Bass VI. Paul is playing guitar on the track, and they played it live. Paul can't play too instruments at once! I also used to think it was Paul on a Ric, but Paul didn't use round wounds, and none of his bass tracks sound like this. Listen to Baby You're a Rich Man to hear his Ric.
@Raelsalmacis This is McCartney.. the Lennon reference comes from the Lewisohn book.. from the beginning you can tell it's McCartney.. Lennon plays bass on long and winding road .. but for songs like Let it Be or Helter Skelter Lennon might have played on the original sessions but McCartney overdubbed on both. Listen to the runs on the chorus.. the bass sounds the same as on Yer Blues.. it's McCartney!
@mobleym007 Find some clips from the the Let it Be film (including the actual song Let it Be.). On songs where Paul played piano or lead guitar he often had John or George play bass, and they generally used a the Fender Bass VI (these days it would be called a Baritone Guitar (EADGBE, rather than BEADGC of a standard 6 string)) the band was given by Fender, hoping Paul would give it the exposure the Höfner and Rickenbacker got. Helter Skelter is a confirmed instance of John playing the Bass VI.
I may be crazy but I think Paul takes over at 3:03 he says "C'mere son. I'll show you how to do that ya little bugger." and then the playing sounds more advanced after that. Either way Beatles are amazing.
this sounds really odd, but its so sick, and no one would really notice that it was john cause paul was always playing bass, but in the studio we never knew, its heard that they switched instruments alot, Ringo supposedly played bass on a song from what i heard
This playing just goes to show the power of creative sound mixing being used on Beatle recordings. Isolated, (and don't jump on me) the playing by John is not very good. Choppy, and sloppy describes it best. With that said, when mixed with the rest of the song, it sounds brilliant and is a perfect fit. This is an incredible find!
@dm3830 This is definitely the bassline you hear on the album, no doubt about it. Sounds strange isolated, but if you listen carefully to the record, this is it.
Dude - my sincere apologies. I accept the genuiness of your extraction and pay you maximum respect for your craft in extracting and generosity in sharing. My only excuse being that I get so pissed off with people posting fakes - and the bass playing sounds so rough - that i thought it was fake! While the roughness clearly works for this track I guess we can see why Lennon usually only worked his genius around the six strings of a regular guitar - still think he was the best singer in the group!
Everyone who has never mixed audio (and also thinks they are qualified in areas where they aren't) says that when they hear isolated tracks... Line it up with the album version in Reaper or another DAW and find out.
@dm3830 What you have to understand to is that the sound quality of the bass isn't going to be 100% great because when you isolate it, you are going to mess the sound up a tad bit.
Now that I'm hearing this in isolated form, I can completely agree that it's John Lennon. He's having real difficulty staying in time, among other issues.
sounds like this is someone playing it not the song.... OH WAIT it is.... you know it's not that hard to go in a turn up the bass on a song. Just get some software to turn everything down.
@TNTIV it aint THAT easy, because the clarity in this bassline has alot of higher end to it, which would be almost impossible to seperate from drums vocals etc..
PEOPLE!! this is not the actual bass track of helter skelter. this guy just played the song at low volume and played bass over it. this is sloppy, doesn't match the beatles recording. this just sucks.
it's supposed to sound like that; and in the track is gives the song a great pulse, because guitars are mostly almost drone-sounding. it appears to be recorded in one take maybe, because the mistakes are not edited out or re-recorded. the "bad" sound comes from playing with kinda hard picking, but also from the usage of Fender VI, on the White Album, several other songs have this characteristic bass sound.
@SuperMrMalibog "Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves."
@bauersnarky Im no bass player but this sounds very low level playing for the great Beatles. the tone goes off, the timing is not perfect by any means, its repetitous. and not very creative. Im shocked really that it this bad. I do how ever like the catchy sounding run the song is famous for.
Really you cant say this is good bass playing. Have a look at this vid and you will see how its done. Save yourself some time abd advance it to 2:00 into the song.
@SuperMrMalibog on one hand, it's meant to be dirty and gritty, on the other hand, almost any track (vocals, guitars, you name it) will sound kinda off when heard on its own. Alas, this is especially true of the Beatles. They were no virtuosos. Plus I think they didn't have tuners back in the day or something, cause they regularly sound off tune.
It takes lots of experience to understand what kind of playing will suit a brilliant song best. Read about this song and take it into context of the time when you're old enough to understand.
@SuperMrMalibog This was Paul's song, and he CHOSE not to play bass. If he "didint [sic]" want to play lead guitar and play bass instead, he obviously could have. Paul said in an interview that he wanted Helter Skelter to have "the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, etc." So don't you think that within the tonal context of the guitars, vocals, and drums that a dirty bass line would fit the song better than a clean one? Stop making an ass of yourself and pretending to know more than a Beatle.
clearly, the player isn't Paul, must be John
Beatleaga 1 week ago
@Beatleaga I believe you are correct. It mentions that as well in Beatles Recording Session September 9, 1968. Helter Skelter remake takes 4-21 .. John played bass guitar and, of all things, a decidedly unskilled saxophone.
pkgannon 1 week ago
@pkgannon I'm a great Beatle fan, and with or without info, I know the way how Paul plays bass. However, I'd like have more info about those sessions, is pure gold.
Beatleaga 1 week ago
@Beatleaga I have 20 some books on the Beatles. Probably my favorite is The Beatles Recording Sessions. It detail every day they were in the recording studio, what they recorded, who played what, takes...etc... It's very interesting.
pkgannon 1 week ago
@pkganno if they mysteriously disappear, you know who is the guilty, LOL
Beatleaga 6 days ago
At 3:03 , Scouser Paul !
ChurchillCigar 2 weeks ago
This is John playing a Fender VI baritone Guitar.
They are more robust guitar,just search google. Paul did the guitar in this track.
Redding28 3 weeks ago
No second top comment, this is my chance! ARMPIT HAIR?!?!
superslycooper78 4 weeks ago
@superslycooper78 You fail good sir!
gamers209 2 weeks ago
@gamers209 I'm so sorry!
superslycooper78 2 weeks ago
John and George all played bass at some point during sessions later in the Beatles career, just like Paul played drums on some White Album tracks... hence why they had a right handed Fender Bass VI. Which is smaller than a normal bass and has 6 strings, essentially a baritone guitar with heavier gauge strings. I also think this song called for John's edgy, almost angry playing on bass... just an opinion coming from a huge Beatles fan
SacTownStudios 4 weeks ago
Lennon also played bass on another Beatles' song... get over it... he made this bass track...
zeromant80 4 weeks ago
Paul did the bass on Helter Skelter- case closed! Bit of a messy bassline here.
KuruContinuum 1 month ago
@KuruContinuum No. Paul didn't.
"Starting afresh on already-recorded songs during The White Album sessions was becoming commonplace, and on September 9th, a new attempt was made on Helter Skelter. ... The final version recorded on the 9th featured very heavily distorted electric guitars, drums and piano. ... The next day Lennon added bass using the Fender VI."
Works Cited: Babiuk, Andy, and Tony Bacon. "Revolution - All Change." Beatles Gear. San Francisco, Calif: Backbeat, 2001. 229. Print.
bauersnarky 3 weeks ago 11
@KuruContinuum John Lennon played on it.
danielpbb 2 weeks ago
@KuruContinuum Nope, sorry, That's John playing bass on Helter Skelter, not Paul.
jimfocus69 5 days ago
Lennon playing bass? that must be why the bass part sounds like ass
TabiKnight 1 month ago
@TabiKnight its fuckin good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so hot and wild , like a stone . its heavy and knocking my ears heavily . it is a good feeling , Lennon did it well!!!
phreaker92 3 weeks ago
I love the beatles but Lennon sucks playing bass >.<
RoadhouseSkelter 1 month ago
vanguard bassist
TheBeatlesTheDoors 1 month ago 2
Jesus thats some bad fret buzz. They really should have gotten a lpf for that.
hojima 1 month ago
@hojima I'm sure they wanted it to sound the way it did lol
ShaggyOtis 4 weeks ago
John Lennon played bass on Helter Skelter... If you don't believe, read some Beatles history book...
govnorazred 1 month ago
This is amazing. Never actually enjoyed listening to a singled out bassline before. It's so menacing.
akeel456 1 month ago
i you look the fender bass vi review on youtube you will see why this is played by lennon
moize2008 1 month ago
This is NOT McCartney. McCartney did often use a pick, but his sound was more refined. This is Lennon; it's raunchy, and frankly a bit sloppy. But it works with this kickass song.
zatan130 1 month ago 3
Teddy Boy John was absolutley beautiful. <3
PaulSaysShezam 1 month ago
This was Pauls' song. It is a great post but I doubt Lennon had anything to do with it.
alexandermorison 1 month ago
Paul doesn't play with a pick, this bass track clearly is being played with a pick. And RedArrow73 could NOT have been pwned any harder.
MOHaraProductions 1 month ago
@MOHaraProductions paul always plays with a pick
rmdppqmo 1 month ago
John is a freaking genius, i heard (read somewhere) that john actually just hooked up some bass strings to the fender, pretty cool huh?
btw, something i just noticed were the WHO WHO WHO WHO WHOs at 2:30 hahaha
WillPoleVault4Food 1 month ago
@WillPoleVault4Food I know what the Lewisohn book says but this is NOT John Lennon..
He may have played bass on the original tracking session but this is Paul McCartney doing an overdub just as he did on Let It Be!
LBrilliante 1 month ago
@LBrilliante can i get a source?
WillPoleVault4Food 1 month ago
@WillPoleVault4Food, no John played a Fender Bass VI that Fender had given the Beatles. They used it on a few things like Back in the USSR.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
@WillPoleVault4Food it is not john .it is paul
wings4ever 1 month ago
Lennon just kicks ass no matter what he's doin!! lmfaoo
Beatlesfan5295 1 month ago
Sid Vicious in the bass?This is not a Rickenbaker.
clubedorei78 1 month ago
@clubedorei78
Trocando em miúdos (portuguese).
Puta cara chato...kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
clubedorei78 1 month ago
It definitely is John playing a Fender VI......and he's got BLISTERS ON HIS FINGERS!!!
falica77 1 month ago
Comment removed
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
Comment removed
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@falica77 That's Ringo saying that. They had done 18 takes on the song, and it was originally 12 minutes long! He threw his drum sticks across the studio and made that yell!
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
3:04 WTF!?!?!?!?
zachisaniceperson 2 months ago
Why does the Bass have a kinda weird sound (I still love the bassline) (P.S. Im new to the bass)
zachisaniceperson 2 months ago
@zachisaniceperson
It's a Fender Bass VI a 6 string bass with a shorter scale and Stratocaster/Jaguar pickups.
sgtelzilcho 1 month ago
@sgtelzilcho The session occurred in wild circumstances.. and indeed John did play bass on some Beatles tracks and possibly played during the original recording. But this is one of Lewisohn's mistakes like not being able to hear Ringo banging hammond organ during I'm Looking Through You! The bass is played too powerfully and nimbly to POSSIBLY be John Lennon. This is Paul McCartney who definitely overdubbed this performance which is typical of his style and sound.
LBrilliante 1 month ago
@LBrilliante
it sounds nothing like Paul, it's no where near as melodic as Pauls stuff. Also it's so obviously a Bass VI and they didn't have a left handed one of those. It's not nimble, there's quite a few wrong notes and as for power Lennon used to bash his guitar, that's how he got his sound. I've listened to so many of Pauls bass lines and he was so much more in time than this. And remember he used Flatwounds, these are roundwounds far too buzzy to be Flats
sgtelzilcho 1 month ago
@zachisaniceperson: It has a foam mute under the strings to deaden the decay. This was common back in the day. You hear it on a lot of Paul's tracks also.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
@t69gto Billy Shears? You mean what Ringo was called on the album sgt. Peppers lonely hearts club band?
izzyguy98 2 months ago
The part at 1:28 is simple, but so perfectly placed. The same for the riff starting at 3:25
JP5466 2 months ago
Can't unhear that base, and I'm glad for it.
xhunter94s 2 months ago
so paul was on lead guitar?
wonder why he doesn't play guitar on live versions
turtlliwdnifuoyehthr 2 months ago
@turtlliwdnifuoyehthr Yes, Paul on lead guitar including the solos.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
This is definitely a lennon bass. It sounds more like his style, raw and unpolished and slightly bluesy. Its a bit rough around the edges but works perfectly for the song, great bass line. They always did it so that if paul was playing guitar or piano john would play bass.
Paracetamoljunkie 2 months ago
@Paracetamoljunkie didn't George play a couple of bass lines like Old brown shoe and Drive my car
8down10 1 month ago
@8down10 George says he played the bass on Old Brown Shoe. He also played on Back in the USSR and Two Of Us, probably Hey Jude, and probably Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight. I had heard Honey Pie too. Drive my Car is Paul.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
Lennon also played bass on "Let It Be". He used the Fender VI on that track as well.
JP5466 2 months ago
Wow after all these years i tought it was paul on bass
lceb91 2 months ago
nasty bass. fits the song's feel
BassFever74 2 months ago
Are you sure this isn't Billy Shears.
t69gto 2 months ago 2
i dont rly like it its nasty
paulftw4life 3 months ago
Dude, this bass line is epic... pretty much everything the beatles does, just epic....
zeromant80 3 months ago 12
<3
SDCParrot 3 months ago
Wonderfully wicked playing from John!
But now I'm confused!
When I was kid, we all thought it was JOHN shouting, "I've got blisters on my fingers!" Later information (e.g. Wikipedia "Helter Skelter (song)") states it was RINGO. However, if you compare THIS bass track to "The Beatles - Helter Skelter - Drum Track" here on Youtube--or indeed, if you sync the 2 together in a stereo audio track...easy to do--you clearly hear that the shout occurred on Lennon's bass track, NOT Ringo's drum track!
FlingsPooAtTheZoo 3 months ago 2
@FlingsPooAtTheZoo it's definitely Ringo shouting "blisters on my fingers". If I remember correctly that part was overdubbed later by Ringo. Check the books "The Beatles : Recording Sessions: The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes, 1962-1970" or "The Complete Beatles Chronicle" by Mark Lewisohn for reference.
StringPickinTommy 3 months ago
@FlingsPooAtTheZoo George Martin said in an interview that Ringo said it. And it's kinda obvious since you can tell it's his voice.
RuberHammer 3 months ago
Im sure is lennon you can hear the little ability....im a bass man....and not because you hear many musical scales is good...I know it's lennon ... but not everything he does is to boast
danieljimenez551 3 months ago
this sounds not very good :|
SgtZaqq 3 months ago
I don't care who played bass on this track.This was god damn brilliant
CaptBlackwood 3 months ago 10
It's not a bass guitar is John on that terrible Fender baritone guitar.
Ilmuto94 3 months ago
@Ilmuto94 wrong, it's a fender VI bass, which is a bass guitar...so yeah
FUUCCKKKAAYOU
calummcmillan1 3 months ago
so this is john on bass or what?
chilibro 3 months ago
@chilibro In case it wasn't obvious from the video description, tags, the "Uploader Comments (bauersnarky)" and "Top Comments" section, and the Wikipedia entry for "Helter Skelter (song)," yes. It is.
bauersnarky 3 months ago 11
@bauersnarky Yes it is, it's true ;)
TheBartov 2 months ago
i thought McCartney played the bass
alexvenegas 3 months ago
@alexvenegas all of them played all the instruments, this was McCartneys song so he plays lead, George plays Rhythm and John plays bass on his Fender VI
animepwn3r 3 months ago
@alexvenegas Hey, this the Beatles, no roles were fixed!
teveve31 2 months ago
Funny, sounds like a Rick being played better than John would have played it.
panchobehrmann 4 months ago
reALLY LENNON PLAYED THE BASS??
chris48able 4 months ago
No, it's not. It's PM on his Rick. I nail this on my 4001C64.
The lennon bit is a cyberlegend.
RedArrow73 4 months ago
@RedArrow73 No, it's not.
"Starting afresh on already-recorded songs during The White Album sessions was becoming commonplace, and on September 9th [1968] a new attempt was made on Helter Skelter. ... The final version recorded on the 9th featured very heavily distorted electric guitars, drums and piano. ... The next day Lennon added bass using the Fender VI."
Works Cited: Babiuk, Andy, and Tony Bacon. "Revolution - All Change." Beatles Gear. San Francisco, Calif: Backbeat, 2001. 229. Print.
bauersnarky 4 months ago 10
@bauersnarky All you need is ears.. the sound of a Fender VI can be heard on The Long And Winding Road.. there's no way that John Lennon could imitate Paul McCartney's driving style and trademarks on this track and no other. Lewisohn had some major boners in his book too. I'm sure Lennon might have done that overdub.. but McCartney at some decided that he needed to do this one over. Same on Let It Be.
LBrilliante 1 month ago
@bauersnarky checked nearly every source given...should have trusted the video description to begin with!! You understand though, not too many trustworthy "uploaders" and what they claim to be genuine, let alone people like the RedArrow dude, who just ASSume or are to stubborn to admit when their wrong....good work!
mherrenschmidt 1 month ago 2
@RedArrow73 It's not a legend; it's John.
appmanga 2 months ago
@RedArrow73 No, it's John. I had read it was a Jazz bass, but it's not Paul and it's not a Rick. I thought it was also. Paul is playing guitar on this track, and John was playing bass. Paul is a more fluid player than this. It's a great and classic bass part however.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
@DavidRavenMoon Paul is a very fluid player and can be smooth.. but he also has a real looseness especially when he's rocking. You can even hear some glaring errors in SOMETHING but it doesn't matter because he's so in the pocket! This is clearly Paul.. John lennon just didn't have the dexterity to move like this. Remember what McCartney says about Heler Skelter .. he wanted it more raucous than what the who was saying they were doing.typical of McCartney's early solo bass too.
LBrilliante 1 month ago
@LBrilliante I agree. People like to ay that they weren't good on their instruments, but they are missing the point. They never tried to be virtuosos. They were a Rock n Roll band, and Paul loved that raw lose feeling. I'm sure they often said "fuck it, it's good enough" and moved on. Yeah, Paul wanted to write the heaviest song ever. I think he might have succeeded. He said it was because Pete Townshend said "I Can See for Miles" was the heaviest song ever written. That's my favorite Who song.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
@RedArrow73 Agreed,nothing sounds like a Ric...Thats PM no doubt about it.
cast390 1 month ago
@cast390 That's not PM. That's John playing a Fender Bass VI. Paul is playing guitar on the track, and they played it live. Paul can't play too instruments at once! I also used to think it was Paul on a Ric, but Paul didn't use round wounds, and none of his bass tracks sound like this. Listen to Baby You're a Rich Man to hear his Ric.
DavidRavenMoon 1 month ago
Wimple?? x.x
teekagarcia 4 months ago
I'm a McCartney fan, but this bass track is one of the most fuckin' amazing bass lines in Beatles' history.
Raelsalmacis 4 months ago 32
@Raelsalmacis Same here Im also a PAUL MCCARTNEY FAN but this isolated bass track is fucking AMAZING I know and John Lennon was BEAST for this song.
PaulMcCartne009 4 months ago in playlist bass
@Raelsalmacis This is McCartney.. the Lennon reference comes from the Lewisohn book.. from the beginning you can tell it's McCartney.. Lennon plays bass on long and winding road .. but for songs like Let it Be or Helter Skelter Lennon might have played on the original sessions but McCartney overdubbed on both. Listen to the runs on the chorus.. the bass sounds the same as on Yer Blues.. it's McCartney!
LBrilliante 1 month ago
Groovy shit
reneperezz 4 months ago
I never knew Lennon played bass on this. It was primarily McCartney's song, and I figured he played the bass on it.
(you learn something new every day)
5jerry1 4 months ago
@mobleym007 What?
AndrewGFRamsey 4 months ago
@mobleym007 Find some clips from the the Let it Be film (including the actual song Let it Be.). On songs where Paul played piano or lead guitar he often had John or George play bass, and they generally used a the Fender Bass VI (these days it would be called a Baritone Guitar (EADGBE, rather than BEADGC of a standard 6 string)) the band was given by Fender, hoping Paul would give it the exposure the Höfner and Rickenbacker got. Helter Skelter is a confirmed instance of John playing the Bass VI.
andrewlwatts 4 months ago
I may be crazy but I think Paul takes over at 3:03 he says "C'mere son. I'll show you how to do that ya little bugger." and then the playing sounds more advanced after that. Either way Beatles are amazing.
rockhard2112 4 months ago
@rockhard2112 Damn , your so right about the switch in styles
rmdppqmo 4 months ago
this sounds really odd, but its so sick, and no one would really notice that it was john cause paul was always playing bass, but in the studio we never knew, its heard that they switched instruments alot, Ringo supposedly played bass on a song from what i heard
Radicalrich34 4 months ago
sounds so weird
SgtZaqq 5 months ago
this bass track is so SIIIIIIIIIICKKKKKKKKK!!! That's John Lennon 'nuff said.
zeromant80 5 months ago
This playing just goes to show the power of creative sound mixing being used on Beatle recordings. Isolated, (and don't jump on me) the playing by John is not very good. Choppy, and sloppy describes it best. With that said, when mixed with the rest of the song, it sounds brilliant and is a perfect fit. This is an incredible find!
109ace 5 months ago
@109ace that's was the point... 'cartnet wanted that song like that and thats why he let lennon to play bass.
zeromant80 5 months ago
wow, 40 some years thinking it was Paul playing a Fender Jazz Bass. Now it comes clear. Thanks for posting this.
109ace 5 months ago
sounds like Beastie Boys
vinorama58 5 months ago
The bass from 3:23 to 4:03 is EPIC!!!!! Lennon literally bounces the six-stringed bass !!!! \m/ B-)
metrockpop 5 months ago
this is sick.
pro2go95 5 months ago
@pro2go95 Sick in rubbish or awesome?
roccosthom 5 months ago
Simple but great.
SgtOBrien 5 months ago
@SgtOBrien It's not that simple as you may think...
TeamMastaPr2 5 months ago
@dm3830 This is definitely the bassline you hear on the album, no doubt about it. Sounds strange isolated, but if you listen carefully to the record, this is it.
polchinw 5 months ago
yeah this is def the real take peoples :)
SuperEmcg 5 months ago
One great thing about the beatles is that they always used a pick on the bass so you could hear every single note.
armstrongbrosband 5 months ago
no way is this genuine - dont waste people's time
stevemarson 5 months ago
Dude - my sincere apologies. I accept the genuiness of your extraction and pay you maximum respect for your craft in extracting and generosity in sharing. My only excuse being that I get so pissed off with people posting fakes - and the bass playing sounds so rough - that i thought it was fake! While the roughness clearly works for this track I guess we can see why Lennon usually only worked his genius around the six strings of a regular guitar - still think he was the best singer in the group!
stevemarson 5 months ago
@stevemarson It is listen to it in stereo using headphones you can hear it.
Cwall96 5 months ago
@stevemarson
Everyone who has never mixed audio (and also thinks they are qualified in areas where they aren't) says that when they hear isolated tracks... Line it up with the album version in Reaper or another DAW and find out.
1612HavenhurstDrive 5 months ago
Is the same bass guitar that John lennon used on Let it be?
zeromant80 5 months ago
This song is the only one on Beatles rockband I haven't gotten all 5 stars on bass. Fucking John you could play bass.
Ybanez893 5 months ago
I'm possessed. This bassline just takes a hold and won't let go. Paul is the best bassist, ever. Period.
Chicagokrzy 6 months ago
@Chicagokrzy John Lennon was playing bass on that song.
yetimichael 6 months ago
@Chicagokrzy paul is, but john played this one
Deel73 6 months ago
@dm3830 What you have to understand to is that the sound quality of the bass isn't going to be 100% great because when you isolate it, you are going to mess the sound up a tad bit.
Marshallsg 6 months ago
wow when you isolate pauls mic you can here him talking!!!!
*_*
beatlebabe1969 6 months ago
I didn't know John did the bass track for this song...
zeromant80 6 months ago
Would love to hear the 27 minute version of this song..
mydozer 6 months ago
you all got it wrong. it's actually richard nixon playing using JFK's fingers. who cares. please post more. thank you.
bassstudent4life 6 months ago 2
Hofner basses are complete crap! Sorry Paul.
lmw289 7 months ago
@lmw289 too bad this was John playing a fender VI bass dipshit
animepwn3r 6 months ago
Now that I'm hearing this in isolated form, I can completely agree that it's John Lennon. He's having real difficulty staying in time, among other issues.
zootyzoot 7 months ago
I get your "Wimple" Lennon reference ;)
electrocuteanna 8 months ago
how did John get the bass to sound like that? gnarly :D
jamestarx 8 months ago
@jamestarx
Don't change your strings and lower your action so they buzz against the frets
bobbitchin71 6 months ago
john lennon is playing the fender VI....
MrIvanEvil111 9 months ago
sounds like this is someone playing it not the song.... OH WAIT it is.... you know it's not that hard to go in a turn up the bass on a song. Just get some software to turn everything down.
TNTIV 9 months ago
@TNTIV it aint THAT easy, because the clarity in this bassline has alot of higher end to it, which would be almost impossible to seperate from drums vocals etc..
27dedrummer 8 months ago
but paul played bass as well on helter skelter.... i checked this up
OlaNaTungee6 9 months ago
Wow, John played bass instead of Paul? Interesting. Gotta say, it rocks.
fifiesponja07 10 months ago
i think you mean fender VI bass
Apemopo 10 months ago
No surprise he got those blisters on his fingers
JonnyKasabian 10 months ago
@JonnyKasabian according to engineer geoff emerick, it was ringo who complained about blisters
boychutney 10 months ago
@JonnyKasabian But that was Ringo, isn't it...?
55Beatles 9 months ago
@55Beatles Ringo said it but john also had it
JonnyKasabian 9 months ago 2
@JonnyKasabian Yeah, just hear at this... "blistering"...
55Beatles 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
PEOPLE!! this is not the actual bass track of helter skelter. this guy just played the song at low volume and played bass over it. this is sloppy, doesn't match the beatles recording. this just sucks.
boutiquetheband 10 months ago
@boutiquetheband
this is isolated bass of helter skelter.. check if u have 5.1 sound mute all speaker only bass on and that's is :)
g33kL 8 months ago
It fits the song perfectly
8000cheese 10 months ago 2
this bassline is amazing, i like that heaviness that it has, just fits the song perfectly
animepwn3r 10 months ago
it's supposed to sound like that; and in the track is gives the song a great pulse, because guitars are mostly almost drone-sounding. it appears to be recorded in one take maybe, because the mistakes are not edited out or re-recorded. the "bad" sound comes from playing with kinda hard picking, but also from the usage of Fender VI, on the White Album, several other songs have this characteristic bass sound.
gilassp 11 months ago
And for years I was told it was Paul using his Ricky in stereon (rickosound) mode. Learned something new
capitolemiproducer 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
not really so good....kinda almost sucks
SuperMrMalibog 11 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog "Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves."
bauersnarky 11 months ago 33
@bauersnarky Im no bass player but this sounds very low level playing for the great Beatles. the tone goes off, the timing is not perfect by any means, its repetitous. and not very creative. Im shocked really that it this bad. I do how ever like the catchy sounding run the song is famous for.
Really you cant say this is good bass playing. Have a look at this vid and you will see how its done. Save yourself some time abd advance it to 2:00 into the song.
SuperMrMalibog 11 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog the song wasn't supposed to be beautifully produced. it was supposed to be loud.
LordKakumei 11 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog on one hand, it's meant to be dirty and gritty, on the other hand, almost any track (vocals, guitars, you name it) will sound kinda off when heard on its own. Alas, this is especially true of the Beatles. They were no virtuosos. Plus I think they didn't have tuners back in the day or something, cause they regularly sound off tune.
Bassfully 11 months ago
@Bassfully It dont sound just "kinda off" it sounds like a 11 year old kid messing around with his dads guitar. Its very un creative crap.
SuperMrMalibog 11 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog
It takes lots of experience to understand what kind of playing will suit a brilliant song best. Read about this song and take it into context of the time when you're old enough to understand.
BrxSmith 10 months ago
@bauersnarky great quote. who said that?
smithhedgehog 7 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog bass guitar wasn't John's greatest ability
chuylen 10 months ago
@chuylen Seems so, why didint they let paul plays this?
SuperMrMalibog 10 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog This was Paul's song, and he CHOSE not to play bass. If he "didint [sic]" want to play lead guitar and play bass instead, he obviously could have. Paul said in an interview that he wanted Helter Skelter to have "the most raucous vocal, the loudest drums, etc." So don't you think that within the tonal context of the guitars, vocals, and drums that a dirty bass line would fit the song better than a clean one? Stop making an ass of yourself and pretending to know more than a Beatle.
bauersnarky 10 months ago 10
@bauersnarky No mater what you say it wont change the fact that its shit playing. plain and simple it sucks.
SuperMrMalibog 10 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog It fits Helter Skelter PERFECTLY - LENNON RULES
DayTripper12880 6 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog got to remember johns a rhythm guitarist not a bass player.
scarface12347 9 months ago
@SuperMrMalibog Listen this with headphones and you will realize this bass lane is perfect for the song.
Cwall96 8 months ago
Had no idea Lennon played bass on this!
tarnopol 11 months ago
Pure awesomeness.
MonkeySeeism 11 months ago
John invents the "Paranoid" riff at 2:43!
MrBILLYSEQUINS 1 year ago 2
@MrBILLYSEQUINS I've just heard that myself well spotted!
johnbarry1965 11 months ago
It's ironic that my favorite Beatles tone and bass line was played by John Lennon! Awesome
gustavito7 1 year ago 3