Vintage Interview: Paul Talks Bass and Guitar: "I Still Think Jimi Hendrix is Best"


Guitar Player
has posted a 1990 interview with Paul in which shares the oft-told story about how he got "lumbered" with playing bass in the Beatles after Stu Sutcliffe left the band, plus shares his view on playing bass and guitar generally. 

A couple of hightlights:

How did you react when, in the late '60s, a new breed of lead bassists such as Jack Bruce and John Entwistle emerged?

“I thought it was quite interesting. To me, it depends who you're talking about, and what record, but often I thought it was too busy. I often thought it was like the bass as lead guitar, and I don't think it makes as nice a noise as lead guitar.

“It's sort of like speed merchants. I've never been one. I remember reading where someone said that someone's the fastest bass player ever, and I thought, ‘Big deal.’

Any favorite bass players or guitarists today?

“I like Stanley Clarke. We only really met once, and just had a bit of fun in Montserrat. And he played on a couple of tracks.

“I admitted to him, ‘Hey, I'm trying to steal your licks, man!’ He said, ‘Oh, you've got licks of your own.’ So, we just had a bit of fun.

“I decided not to steal his licks after all; he was right. He's got his style; I've got my style. And he's a great guy.

“I like Eddie Van Halen as a player. He gets it right quite often. I like a lot of heavy metal guys because they wind it up. What I usually like in a heavy metal band is the guitar player. But when it's just miles of scales, I lose interest.

“I like some of the hot sounds. And I also like David Gilmour. I think Clapton is real good, particularly these days. But I still like Hendrix the best.”

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