What Beatles songs did George Harrison play bass on?

It's possible the session tape has a 1966 Beatles version of Stairway to Heaven with George Martin and Pete Best on kazoo. I haven't heard it so I can't say it doesn't. I do know all 3 takes of She Said She Said have drums/bass on track 1 and two guitars on track 2 so I'll deduce it ended up that way because they played simultaneously.

 

But you DON'T KNOW that- you've read that- it's not a subtle difference, it's pretty obvious. You keep saying you KNOW that's how it is on the tape BUT not having heard it I say you BELIEVE that is what is on the tape. But, and this may cause stress; it MAY NOT be the case. Only the session tape knows, and we haven't heard it.
And because you are clearly struggling with this, let me assure you that it is NOT possible that the session tape has a 1966 Beatles version of Stairway to Heaven with George Martin and Pete Best on kazoo. That's called a diversionary tactic, i believe.

 

Come on, Chris don't let me have the last word!

 

I guess we'll just throw out all the info on track layouts in RTB since the authors didn't hear all the session tapes.

 

Chris, I'm not trying to be argumentative for that sake alone, but how do we know (beside the Recording Sheet documentation) that TWO guitars are on track 2? To be honest, they weren't typically recording two guitars for many backing tracks in 1966. As for documentation being the final word...what about Phil McDonald's handwritten documentation concerning Paperback Writer? He lists George as playing guitar, on the basic track AND the overdub, yet Paul is generally considered to be playing guitar on it. It's definitely not George on bass, so what's the truth? At least in this example we have the instrumental take 1 to listen and offer an educated opinion. McDonald's notes were written during the session, what accounts for the discrepancy? He was there! My point is simple. Mistakes happened at times. I understand someone (Martin, Emerick?) documented that TWO guitars occupy track 2 of the basic take, but we don't know this for certain. Dealing in absolutes seems folly at this time...if the session tapes ever come out (or maybe the Rockband remix) we may get the final answer. Ron

 

With all due respect, did Kevin and Brian hear ANY session tapes that we have not? Just asking.... Ron

 

So it's all just educated guesswork anyway. That's what we're doing.

 

I just like to clear one thing, it was Paul on 'Many Years From Now' that said he didn't played Bass on 'She Said She Said'. George never said he played Bass on it!

Here's Paul about it:
'Very much John. It's a nice one. I like the title "She Said She Said", which I think was made up on the session. John brought it in pretty much finished, I think. I'm not sure but I think it was one of the only Beatle records I never played on. I think we'd had a barney or something and I said, "Oh, **** you!" and they said, "Well, we'll do it." I think George played bass.'

 

I don't have the magazines with me a towrk, but George DID say on several occasions that he played bass on She Said, She Said. No question about it. I believe he and Paul even discussed this during the Get Back sessions in January 1969 as captured by the ever-running Nagra tapes from those sessions. Paul has also stated he didn't play bass on it many times, not just in Many Years From Now. Ron

 

Anyway I believe we already covered this:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=4838066&postcount=148
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=4838091&postcount=149

 

All I have is the RTB documentation. How do we know there are three takes of Tomorrow Never Knows? How do we know the tape loops are on track 2 of the 4 track? We don't have that session tape but no one doubts that.

I think a track layout on a tape box or recording sheet would be more accurate than handwritten notes. IIRC Phil McDonald's notes detail the 5 overdub attempts for Paperback Writer (the unused jangle box piano, organ, et al).

 

Indeed we have

 

Becaue it doesn't matter. No one is querying it. It doesn't make any difference to anyone if the loops are on track 1, track 2, track 3 or track 4. we know they're on the record, so they must be on the tape somewhere.
You're not convincing me!

 

I don't know...there's a "she saaaid" late in the song that sure sounds like George. I've always thought it was him.

 

It's not always clear who sings what- they did sound uncannily alike at times. But it just doesn't sound sufficiently like George; there are only two vocals on it, they both sound almost identical. Unfortunately it's a very murky-sounding track, too.
We really, really need to hear the session tapes for this one!
Anybody know anybody with the keys?

 

I'm not the keymaster, but...

We don't need the session tapes for this one. It's John and George on vocals. You can hear George's voice very easily on the tag at the end when John and George are trading the "She said" parts. I agree however that during the song it sounds like two John's, but John had a very dominant voice and Paul and George on harmony vocals frecuently seemed to have mimicked John's voice.

 

You'll have to show me, then!
I have in my hard drive countless interviews of the Beatles, but I never read one where George says he played Bass on 'She Said She Said'!

I think George played Bass on it, but what Chris says, makes sense too!

 

Can't you hear George answering John's lines on the end of the Song?!
It's so clear!

 

Nope. Obviously not 'so' clear then! I don't hear anything on there that sounds like George at all. But then: Is Come Together Paul on harmony? Is I'll Follow the Sun John on harmony? Is I Don't Want to Spoil the Party Paul on low harmony? (rhetorical by the way, don't lets get into THESE) Not so clear after all...

 

Yes there are two vocals, but they´re double tracked! So we have 4 voices in total on this track. There would be no vacant track for John to record 4 voices himself.
Plus, George´s voice is so evident during the outro. John sings "She Saaaaid" double tracked! and George answers "She Saaaaid" (double tracked).
At 2:32 when George repeats "I know what it´s like to be dead" (it´s the very ending almost faded out), turn the volume up and you´ll hear George´s distinct timbre on the word "like".

 

^^^^
Oh come on, John and George are definitely trading the lines during the fade out. This is very clear to hear as they don't harmonize but just sing it by themselves this time around.

 

Concerning the bass playing: is it possible for the bass we hear on the record to be a provisorily played line by McCartney? As She Said She Said was the last song recorded for Revolver and McCartney had begun already to dub his lines on their own for other songs, this is a possibility. Maybe Lennon vetoed the idea of a more typical 'busy' bass line, and after Paul left they didn't bother to tape a new one, so they just kept that first line. This could explain McCartney's 'I'm not sure' explanation. Only solution for me in the case of Paul playing, cause as a finished record, it simply doesn't have the quality or any characteristics of something McCartney would have delivered.

 

It's obviously NOT clear to hear! It doesn't sound like George AT ALL.
It may be him, but as John does his own harmony throughout the song, there's no need for anyone else to then sing the overlapping lines at the end.

 

Not me. I also don't hear four voices. That sounds like ADT.
Mentioning George's "timbre" is a complete red herring because we're all informed that it's definitely John's timbre on the low harmony of I Don't Want to Spoil The Party, that it's George's timbre on Eight Days a Week, it's John's timbre doing the "double track" lead vocal on I Want to Hold Your Hand, Every Little Thing, etc. they really could sound like each other, but that cuts both ways.

 

It IS obviously clear

Ok, facts. It´s NOT ADT. There are imperfections that only manual double tracking can cause, not the automatic. Example 2:24 George doesn´t hit the note on the word "dead" perfectly during the double tracking causing sound like out of tune chorus effect. No ADT!!!