Did John Lennon INTENTIONALLY Sabotage The Beatles With His Bass Playing?

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Of all the bass lines on all the Beatles records, there’s one that’s VERY contentious.

Some die-hard Beatles fans really don’t like it.

In fact, some people absolutely HATE it!

At the time, some critics thought it was SO bad, they called it *musical sabotage*.

And the funny thing is - it wasn’t even Paul McCartney playing bass on this particular song.

It was John Lennon.

So today, I want to kick of an entire Beatles SEASON by looking at the most contentious Beatles bass line and figuring out:

►► *Why* this bass line gets so much hate
►► Whether it *deserves* the hate it gets
►► What we can do to ‘fix’ the bass line

And of course, we’ll try to figure out if John was actually trying to sabotage the Beatles with his bass playing.

After you’ve checked it out, tell me what you think in the comments.

Was John out of line to play the way he did on that song?

Do you think he deliberately undermined the Beatles with his bass playing?

Or do you think people just blew it way out of proportion?

I’ll be in the comments of the video, reading and responding, so I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,

Luke

P.S. If you want the Lennon tabs, the ‘improved’ tabs (hopefully) that I made, plus the bass-less backing track, just head to this page:

Fill out the form there and I’ll send you everything for free.

[Chapters]

0:00 Did John Lennon Sabotage The Beatles INTENTIONALLY?
0:32 Why is this bass line so bad?
2:11 Issue #1: Wrong Notes
3:13 Issue #2: Notes Out Of Time
3:39 Issue #3: Inconsistent Note LENGTHS
4:28 Issue #4: Strange Choices
5:22 Disclaimer
5:33 Let’s Fix This Thing!
8:40 The Verdict: Did Lennon INTENTIONALLY Sabotage?

#beatles #johnlennon #basslesson

[BecomeABassist]

What do you think? Does this bass line actually deserve the hate it gets? Or do you think it’s not that bad?

[Supersony]

If you're listening to this song
You may think the chords are going wrong
But they're not, we just wrote it like that

[ownsaucee]

I wouldn't argue against the possibility that John was bored or even passive-aggressively not putting his best effort forward. But I always liked the bass on this track - it's minimal but I think the "strange" rhythm choices and sliding actually compliment the song really well to give it a bit of a lost feeling. The slides always caught my ear in a good way, and make me imagine footsteps disappearing into the darkness (just as it disappears into the piano dancing on some higher notes).

One other thought: I believe Paul was not shy at all during this time, and would have easily been coaching John while they learned the song, and giving feedback if he didn't like what he was hearing. And no matter how petty John was feeling, I think he would respect the long-standing working mode between him and Paul where the writer of the song got the final say in how it was performed. That's my understanding anyway.

[phila]

I actually think the notes are so burned into our consciousness now, they "work" in that the genius of the song survives even with musical "mistakes". If he was trying to sabotage the song, he didn't succeed!

[jackpatricklang]

The definitive LAWR for me will never be the Phil Spector version, with the over the top orchestra, but rather the version on "Let it be... Naked". A different take that is simply stunning. That version also features no mistakes from John, and is overall just a better arrangement IMO.

[o.__felixxx]

Ive been a Beatles fan since i was a little kid and this song was one of my early favorites. Always loved the pure emotion that it carries, and i also alwayys loved the wierd slides that John does on the bass on that exact moment, idk it brings a magic feel to the song.

[elementrypenguin]

There’s a scene in the “Get Back” docco where Paul is instructing John how to play the bass on LAWR. John didn’t seem dismissive or upset. Paul was just trying to help him on how to play bass notes on a song Paul had written.

[mars]

The 'take' used on the album is basically an early run through...it just happened to have a great McCartney vocal. Lennon wasn't too sure of the chord changes at this point so the bass is a bit uneven. Don't forget that those tapes were lying around for many months. During that time the Beatles split. The reason McCartney rerecorded the bass on Let It Be was because it was going to be their final single. McCartney was unhappy with the choice of take on TLAWR and the overdubs used on the album. He preferred the 31st January version as heard on Let It Be...Naked. The bass is fine on that version! Also there was a big argument about the release date of LIB and the McCartney Lp hence why he had little or no involvement in the albums creation.

[vyaj]

The mistakes and bizarre glissandos are part of the song to me. I love it as it is.

[jclequy]

Not being a musician, I don’t have the musical theory to figure out what it was, but now that you demonstrate it, i understand the musical discomfort I always had when listening to it.
The only “mistakes” that I like are the slides, which gave a distinctive style to this song, as it is never played like this anywhere, because McCartney would have never done it like that.

[SgtZaqq]

I had never heard this song before I started watching this video, but after listening to the original version I have to say the bass line sounds alright.

[mathuwhycough]

The bass never ruined the song for me. Maybe it contributes to it’s character. Taking it as is it adds a sorrowful nostalgia and almost angsty edge to a song I can image would strike Lennon as being potentially saccharine. Also, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t prefer a Phil Spector version of the Beatles.

[davidgriffith]

I imagine John never thought he had put down a satisfactory bass track. As I understand it, the project was abandoned, and was only released after Phil Spector got a hold of the tapes.

[craigcavaliere]

Good video. Don't fret. The song went to #1 and all of us non-musicians don't notice it.

[GregMcNeish]

I'm a guitar player beginning to pick up bass, and I think this stands as a great example of how guitar & bass are different instruments. Sure, they look the same, and mechanically they're pretty similar, but the musicianship that goes into each calls upon different sensibilities. Lennon was a good guitarist (and obviously brilliant musician in general), but he wasn't a bassist, and this showed it. Not the sloppiness, which as you illustrate was just a product of a not-great take, but the choices. I like the subtle changes you make, because it's taking the same general musical ideas and not just playing them like a bassist but INTERPRETTING them like a bassist. You show the little contrasts that make up how to THINK like a bassist.

Great video. I'll definitely be checking out more of your channel.

[irisfromparis]

The Naked version of the song is just perfect. Phil Spector just choose the wrong take as usual. Nothing was ok in his version of this masterpiece. I hated most part of Let It Be but with the Naked version it became one of my favorite Beatles album. It's just perfect!

[westfield]

I found it interesting that both McCartney and Spector didn’t overdub the bass prior to the release. McCartney did go back into the studio with Harrison and Linda and re-recorded the backing vocals, some piano and organ, limited orchestra and of course bass onto Let it Be so I’m nor sure why he didn’t do the same for Long and Winding Road. As for me I felt the bass was dubbed quite low in the mix and didn’t notice the timing or off notes but rather thought it was a nice subtle bass line which actually fit the song. All I picked out was the slides to the notes and the long slides which I liked and felt added to the song.

[Hammerman]

Paul could easily have overdubbed his own bass line…..but he didn’t. End of. I suspect John thought that Paul would be doing it so he didn’t worry about it. It was just jamming on his part.

[bobwoolerOriGinal]

Don't think John knew or thought this would be the master take. He was struggling simply because he hadn't learned the chord progressions by heart yet. That's how I see it anyway. Or do we know this wasn't the case?

[accam]

Funny, since John accused Paul of subconsciously sabotaging his songs.