Recently, we rediscovered a classic Paul McCartney interview from the MusicRadar archive. Originally conducted by Tony Bacon back in our then-sister title Bass Magazine, the chat with Paul took place way back in 1994 as part of Tony's research for the first edition of his well-regarded The Bass Book.
The interview with the Beatles’ legend - which we first republished in full in 2023 - honed in specifically on McCartney’s bass-playing evolution across his time in the Beatles and through to his work with Wings. Macca talked of the specific instruments he used, pivotal playing style influences and how his role as the bass player shifted from being initially something that he resented, to the realisation that being able to direct the low end put him in a powerful position…
“From the word go, once I got over the fact that I was lumbered with the bass [laughs], I did get quite proud to be a bass player, quite proud of the idea. Once you realised the control you had over the band, you were in control. They can’t go anywhere, man. Ha! Power!” Paul told us.
One of the most fascinating - and funny - recollections however, was Paul remembering when the band, then at the height of Beatlemania, met Elvis Presley at his Los Angeles mansion in the summer of 1965.
“I then started to identify with other bass players, to talk bass with the guys in the band. In fact, when we met Elvis, he was trying to learn bass, so I was like, ‘You’re trying to learn bass, are you … son? Sit down, let me show you a few things’. So I was very proud of being the bass player.”
Paul elaborated further on this meeting of musical greats in The Beatles Anthology;
“Suddenly he was a mate. It was a great conversation piece for me: I could actually talk about the bass, and we sat around and just enjoyed ourselves. He was great – talkative and friendly, and a little bit shy. But that was his image: we expected that; we hoped for that.
This historic meeting between music's most revered icons was the result of constant efforts from the Beatles’ inner circle, for the young Liverpool lads to finally meet their hero. Eventually Presley’s ever-shrewd manager, Colonel Tom Parker invited the group round to Elvis’s Bel Air HQ - then being co-shared by 10 road managers and their respective wives…
Although the meet-up was a little bit stilted at first - and John Lennon would later regard it as something of a damp squib - by all accounts McCartney had a thoroughly enjoyable time with Presley, particularly during a spontaneous jam wherein an Elvis/Beatles-supergroup knocked out a rendition of I Feel Fine.
“It was one of the great meetings of my life. I think he liked us,” Paul said in The Beatles Anthology. “I think at that time he may have felt a little bit threatened, but he didn’t say anything. We certainly didn’t feel any antagonism.
“I only met him that once, and then I think the success of our career started to push him out a little; which we were very sad about, because we wanted to co-exist with him. He was our greatest idol, but the styles were changing in favour of us. He was a pretty powerful image to British people.”
Read the 1994 interview with Paul McCartney, republished in full, here.
