Brian Ray has spent the last 23 years as a member of Paul McCartney’s band, playing bass and guitar — so who better to assess Macca’s musicianship?
In the new issue of Guitar World magazine, Ray discusses his approach to playing McCartney’s bass parts in concert, and how he and fellow guitarist Rusty Anderson share guitar solos.
As primarily a guitar player, Ray says he had to work hard in preparation when he joined McCartney’s band in his dual role.
“I raced home and prepared for five weeks straight so I could be ready for the first band rehearsal,” he recalls.
“Truth is, I never concentrated on bass-playing. I played bass on my own demos and other people’s demos, so getting ready to play in Paul’s band was challenging.
“Thankfully, Paul’s basslines, while they’re iconic and memorable and musical, they’re not really technically challenging. They’re just so good.
"Because they’re so listenable, they’re easy to understand. Let’s face it — they’re in our bloodstreams. Even if you’re not a bass player, you know these parts. They’re in your head.”
Ray also reveals how he and Rusty Anderson work out their guitar parts
“Rusty plays the lion’s share of the solos. He was the first guitar player hired, so that’s how that went.
“As time has gone on, Paul has asked me to do more and more solos.
“We just naturally fall into who plays what, though sometimes we talk about it: ‘Why don’t you play the lower part here?’ or ‘You want to play the higher part?’”
Ray describes how he and Anderson are joined by McCartney on third guitar for the Beatles’ classic The End.
“At the end of the show, we do the guitar shoot-out on The End with Paul, Rusty and me doing solos.
“I come in last, so I do the John Lennon parts.
“It just keeps going around and around as long as Paul feels like it. Sometimes it’s short, sometimes it’s long. For the first sequence, we start off kind of note-for-note, and then we do whatever we want.”
McCartney himself discussed his approach to bass in a 1994 interview, in which he admitted: “Because some of these parts were independent melodic parts, it became much more difficult to sing.”
In 2024, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea hailed McCartney as the “greatest rock bassist”. Speaking on Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Flea stated: “Paul’s bass playing is so lyrical and melodic, and it’s just so beautiful.”
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