what are the best guitar solos from harrison or mccartney?

Reading the recent Lewisohn, it sounds like John was a dick since youth, and remained consistently dickish his entire life.

Elmore James has nothin' on John.

I think Lennon was a bigger dick to people outside the Beatles. McCartney was probably the bigger dick to the Beatles themselves.

Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' engineer, would subsequently claim this was the last song the band recorded that featured a team dynamic with enthusiasm from every member. He also praised the performance in his book Here, There, Everywhere, saying "Paul's bass line was probably the most inventive of any he'd done since Pepper, and it was really well played. Harrison's solo was sparkling, too--one of the few times that he nailed it right away. His amp was turned up really loud, and he used one of his new fuzz boxes, which made his guitar absolutely scream."

― tylerw, Monday, February 23, 2015 4:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permali

Misread this to think you were talking about Here, There, and Everywhere. "I don't remember a bitchin' fuzz solo. Hmmm, better go check that out."

Still, though. I'd have said it's a good description of "The End".

John was a dick to everyone, Beatle or no. By Lewisohn's account, he is shockingly consistent in this regard, like a non-stop barrage of hazing ritual behavior and making fun of disabilities. Pretty standard issue insecure lashing out. Paul, for his part, consistently aims to please, even at a young age. Even early on he was drawn to sappy love songs and musical numbers. Not sure where one would get the impression that Paul was a dick to anyone in the Beatles aside from Let It Be, and let's be frank, by then George could not give half a shit and John was doped out of his mind.

the Paul-George feud went on the Beatles for years though (1967-1970).

Well, George always felt left out of the Paul-John partnership. But it was Paul who brought him into the Beatles, so I bet that's why there may have been some resentment.

Harrison and Ringo both indicated over the years that they would play in a band again w/Lennon - not so much w/McCartney. Also, all those accounts on how the guys in Wings were treated are pretty atrocious. Based on what I've read, Lennon could be less abrasive once you existed inside his tribe.

At the end of the day, I bet Ringo was the most fun to hang out with.

from Harrison's expressions every time he had to share camera time with McCartney in 1995, it remained an ordeal.

Yeah, every time Paul starts talking, George gets this look on his face like, "Can you believe this guy?"

I've always liked 'And Your Bird Can Sing' which is George and Paul playing the same guitar part.

But what makes it cool is that they're playing in harmony. There's some story about a famous guitarist -- which one is escaping me at the moment -- who learned the whole thing on one guitar because it didn't occur to him that it was two people playing.

It was Joe Walsh. I remember him telling the story about when he first met George, and saying, "Hey, one of the first songs I learned was 'And Your Bird Can Sing'!" George said, "How'd you do that?!"

He asked George that. George said "Two of us did it" and Joe was "Man! No wonder I couldn't do it!"

At the end of the day, I bet Ringo was the most fun to hang out with.

― Darin, Tuesday, February 24, 2015 12:34 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He seems like the only one, to be fair.

Who does the gnarly little one in "Happiness is a Warm gun" that gives a preview of the "I need a fix..." vocal? I like that.

I think my favorite George solo might actually be "Old Brown Shoe."

Crippled Inside solo is great altho technically I guess that's not a guitar...?

wait who played guitar on blackbird, it wasn't paul, was it? i confess i have no idea when paul is playing guitar! i never even think of him playing guitar.

cuz if paul did play the guitar on blackbird he must be one of my favorite guitarists and i didn't even know it.

Who does the gnarly little one in "Happiness is a Warm gun" that gives a preview of the "I need a fix..." vocal? I like that.

+1

wait who played guitar on blackbird, it wasn't paul, was it? i confess i have no idea when paul is playing guitar! i never even think of him playing guitar.

Pretty sure that's Paul.

i mean i had no idea he did the solo in taxman. that's like one of the best rock solos ever.

it's funny when you hear people try to play blackbird and they never really get it just right? it's the coolest guitar part to me. would be in any top ten beatles guitar moments that i had.

yeah, that's def paul

Yeah, he tells the story of him and George basing it on ... Bach? Something like that.

"Helter Skelter" is a weird division of labor song, with I think Paul and George on guitar and John on bass, or at least one of those Fender VI guitar-y basses.

Gnarly guitar in "Happiness" is George, guitar on "Blackbird" is Paul.

I think that's George on "And I Love Her." According to Paul in the Scorsese doc, George also came up with the four-note figure that he plays throughout (which you'd think would warrant cowriting credit, but apparently not).

there are many songs for which you (and george) could make the same argument.

the politics and business of assigning songwriting credits in bands in general would make for a great book. someone should write that.

well, you're our fact checking cuz!

Paul even said in the doc, after singing the "And I Love Her" figure, "That's the song!"

(fwiw, I think McCartney should be co-credited on "Taxman" for the bassline and guitar solo)

Well, that's just it: the give and take of the process

I always thought R.E.M. got the credits thing right: credit everyone equally, regardless of who contributed what (or how much).

FWIW, some prominent bands that share(d) credits include U2, Coldplay, Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Keeps a band together. Obv. REM did it this way, too, which is another reason Berry leaving messed the balance up.

Harrison and Ringo both indicated over the years that they would play in a band again w/Lennon - not so much w/McCartney. Also, all those accounts on how the guys in Wings were treated are pretty atrocious.

― Darin, Tuesday, February 24, 2015 5:34 PM (6 hours ago)

yeah, and paul's pretty conspicuous by his absence from most of the post-breakup collaborations, at least through the '80s:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborations_between_ex-Beatles

i think the "lennon is a dick" stories mostly date from the early days, which are also the most-covered in the books. by most accounts lennon wasn't a bad dude to hang out with by the '70s.

cept when he put tampons on his head

and I speak as a guy charmed and, who knows, hoodwinked by those last 1980 interviews. The guy was so ebullient and forthright about his music and opinions that I would've loved to have had him poking fun at "Ebony and Ivory."

yeah, he's quite charming and engaging in those interviews, even though i've never known how seriously to take the hagiographic perfect-husband-and-dad stuff. i guess only yoko knows for sure.

um, I believe there are indications that that stuff was not in fact quite so simple.

I've read the stories that she was back on smack, which sound true.

yeah, and paul's pretty conspicuous by his absence from most of the post-breakup collaborations, at least through the '80s:

I think this has as much to do with Paul's dickishness during the breakup (although history proved Paul right in terms of who they should've hired as their lawyer/manager) as with his dickishness in the studio.