The first Beatles song with Paul McCartney on lead guitar
Paul McCartney was a man of many talents, and it's surprising that it managed to take him this long to have his first appearance on lead guitar in The Beatles.
(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Music » From The Vault
Sun 2 February 2025 1:00, UK
He might have been best known as the bass guitarist with The Beatles, but Paul McCartney was probably the most talented multi-instrumentalist within the group. Turning his hand to guitar, piano, and even deputising on drums in Ringo Starrâs absence on some studio recordings, Maccaâs talents were integral to the band, and while his melodic basslines often brought tracks to life, he would offer the occasional flourish on other instruments with equal levels of panache.
The bass guitar wasnât even his primary instrument, and he only assumed the position as chief of the four-string following the tragic passing of pre-fame Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe in 1962. Volunteering himself as the replacement rather than drawing the (disputably) short straw, McCartney spent the remainder of his time with the Fab Four, applying himself to the rhythm section.
However, in his role as one of the bandâs principal songwriters, he continued to write songs on guitar and piano throughout due to the technical constraints of writing on the bass. Surprisingly, however, he wouldnât actually make an appearance on the instrument on a Beatles record until âIâll Follow the Sunâ was released on their fourth album, Beatles For Sale. At the time, he and the rest of the band were wary of alternating the strictly imposed roles within the group, but the further into the bandâs discography you delve, the more common the swapping becomes.
By the time they came to recording Help!, the band were frequently allowing McCartney to hop onto the guitar, not to dethrone George Harrison and John Lennon or reprieve them of their duties, but to offer his own flair to the songs that he had written for the band in the first place. It was on this record that he assumed the role of lead guitarist on a number of tracks for the first time, with âThe Night Beforeâ and âAnother Girlâ both having McCartney on lead vocals and lead guitar.
However, while âTicket to Rideâ is a Lennon-McCartney composition largely attributed to Lennon, McCartney makes a turn on lead guitar in the songâs outro, jamming along with Harrison as he offers a countermelody on the 12-string guitar. In no way is this an example of McCartney trying to outshine or step on Harrisonâs toes, but itâs instead an embellishment that bolsters the songâs freakout climax. The band were clearly stepping up their arrangements on Help!, and âTicket to Rideâ is a prime example of the Beatles in exceptional form.
While not performing alone on lead guitar, âTicket to Rideâ, which was recorded on February 15th 1965, marks the first occasion where McCartney played lead guitar on a Beatles track, while âAnother Girlâ was recorded over two days during the same sessions and features McCartney as the sole lead guitarist.
Over the course of the band, McCartney would play guitar on several more Beatles songs, but 10 of them feature his lead guitar playing. While not all of them are his compositions, with tracks such as âStrawberry Fields Foreverâ and âBeing For The Benefit of Mr. Kiteâ being two examples of Lennonâs songs where McCartney took the lead, other songs of his own such as âHelter Skelterâ and âSgt. Pepperâs Lonely Hearts Club Bandâ see him shed the bass and shred the guitar with just as much flair as Lennon or Harrison. Some might call this showing off, but the truth is that McCartney was just supremely talented at everything he did.
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Paul McCartneyThe Beatles
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