Paul McCartney Was Initially Reluctant to Play Bass for the Beatles and the “Stigma Attached to It”

The Beatles are one of the most universally loved bands in music history, with the iconic lineup of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Would the band be the same without John’s writing, Ringo’s drums, George’s guitar, or Paul’s bass? In an alternate timeline maybe we would have had a different Beatles lineup, as Paul McCartney was initially reluctant to takeover the bass guitar duties.

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The original Beatles lineup also included Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Paul Best on drums. Ringo Starr would join in 1962 after Best’s departure. In 1961, before the band returned to Hamburg (at the time in West Germany) for their second club residency, Sutcliffe decided to leave the band. He allegedly wanted to focus on his studies and his girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, as mentioned in the 1997 biography Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.

Sutcliffe later enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art and studied under graphic artist and sculptor Eduardo Paolazzi, one of the pioneers of pop art. As for the new empty space in the Beatles, someone had to step in to play bass. Paul McCartney had never played the instrument before, focusing instead on guitar and piano. However, he had to fill the role anyway.

“We couldn’t have three guitars and no bass,” McCartney wrote in his 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. “Nobody wanted to be the bass player in those days because it was always the fat guy playing bass,” adding, “There seemed to be some sort of stigma attached to it.”

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Paul McCartney Was Initially Unwilling to Switch to Bass Guitar, but Took to the Instrument Quickly

When Sutcliffe left the Beatles, he left behind his Höfner President bass guitar for Paul McCartney to use. His one stipulation was that McCartney not change the strings, so McCartney was forced to play with the strings backwards until he could afford his own left-handed bass. Eventually, McCartney bought a Höfner Violin bass guitar.

While McCartney was initially reluctant to play bass, he took to it quickly and expertly. He started out rough and rudimentary, but grew into a skilled player responsible for some iconic bass lines. In 1980, John Lennon praised McCartney for his playing.

“Paul is one of the most innovative bass players,” said Lennon, per a report from Far Out. “Half the stuff that’s going on now is directly ripped off from his Beatles period … He’s an egomaniac about everything else, but his bass playing he’d always been a bit coy about.”

Featured Image by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns