Top Five Paul McCartney Bass Lines

Paul McCartney will always be known as one of the driving creative forces behind one of the most influential rock and roll bands of all time. And though he will always be remembered predominately for his songwriting capabilities (Yesterday), I think this sometimes overshadows his incredible talents as a bass player. Lest we overlook his accomplishments as a bass player, I've compiled a list of my five favorite bass lines Paul wrote for The Beatles.

5. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
This controversial song written by John Lennon is famous for it's drug addled lyrics, and psychedelic guitar, but the climbing bass line carries it the whole way.

4. All My Lovin
This is the only song penned by McCartney that is on my list. It also comes from one my least favored Beatles albums, their sophomore 1963 release, With The Beatles. This is a good song, it moves at a good pace and the bass bounces around nicely between Lennon and Harrison's hard hitting guitars.

3. Dear Prudence
Another John Lennon song. The bass follows a similar pattern used on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, but it's in more control of the song in here, marching along with Lennon's ballad nicely.

2. Taxman
McCartney and Lennon both helped Harrison with this, his first song written for The Beatles. McCartney's bass licks in this song are wild! The verse hops and skips along at a great speedy rhythmic pace, unabashedly throwing in fills wherever he likes, but when he hits the bridge he goes into overdrive. Fun Fact: McCartney also played the lead guitar for this song.

1. Rain
What can I say about this song? Lennon wrote a song with a strong guitar chord structure, allowing the bass to just crawl all over the place. There's a lot going on in this song, including the best drumming you'll ever hear in a Beatles song, but when you listen to it all you hear is that beautiful bass.