Paul on Drums, George on Bass: 10 Great Beatles Instrument Swaps
A look back at Fab Four’s most intriguing instrumental switch-ups
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
Few late-period Beatles tunes have suffered the derision of Abbey Road‘s whimsical murder sing-along “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” in which the elusive title protagonist slays his victims with the household tool. Lennon, per usual at this late stage, wrote off the track as McCartney’s “granny music.” (According to legend, he even showed his displeasure by mooning the singer as he sang the lyric “so he waits behind.”) A pleasant but lightweight throwaway on an otherwise majestic send-off, “Maxwell” was actually a tease of future sonic possibilities: McCartney handles piano, guitars and a stormy Moog synthesizer, with Martin playing the organ, and either Ringo or assistant Mal Evans ”” depending on the source ”” clanging the death-knell anvil.
“She Said She Said”
McCartney’s melodic bass work is a signature of the Beatles’ oeuvre, but Harrison did a great job approximating it on the psychedelic Revolver meditation “She Said She Said” ”” one of the band’s only tracks not to feature Sir Paul. “I think we’d had a barney or something, and I said, ‘Oh, fuck you!’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it,'” McCartney told Barry Miles in the 1998 biography Many Years From Now.
The song was inspired by Lennon’s 1965 LSD trip with Byrds members Roger McGuinn and David Crosby, during which actor Peter Fonda told a frightened Harrison that he knew “what it’s like to be dead.” And the result plays like both a celebration and a mockery of the acid movement, driven by Harrison’s stoned guitar shrapnel and dextrous, Macca-styled bass runs.
“Another Girl”
There’s no better proof of the Beatles’ instrument-switching innovation than Help!, the band’s 1965 film. In one goofy scene, soundtracked by the country-rock jangle of “Another Girl,” McCartney strums the mid-section of a random, bikini-clad woman; meanwhile, a confused Harrison doodles on the bass, as Lennon smiles giddily behind Ringo’s drum kit.
The song itself is also revealing ”” though with more subtlety: Harrison attempted at least 10 takes on a tremolo-bar guitar lead, but McCartney’s jagged fill was used instead. Even mid-decade, the bassist was itching to expand his role ”” and, arguably, assert his authority.
