While Paul McCartney primarily plays the bass, there isn’t a conventional instrument that he cannot play to a professional standard. McCartney has successfully made classic records without hiring a mass amount of session musicians, proving there’s significantly more to his musicianship than his songwriting, bass playing and vocals.
Everybody within the band knew their role within The Beatles, and McCartney was comfortable with his allotted position. They each had their own strengths, and the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. However, this meant that McCartney could not fulfil his artistic needs as this desire grew for him to play other instruments.
After they split, McCartney could finally flex his creative muscles in a new way on his eponymous debut solo offering. He explained to Rolling Stone at the time of release: “I play all the instruments myself. From very early on, when our bass player died, I have been lumbered with the bass,” he said. “All the time, however, what I really wanted to do was play guitar and play lead, so that’s what I’ve done on the new LP.”
He continued: “And I’ve played all those things I’ve always wanted to play. I played bass, drums, guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, bongos, and rhythms and things — there aren’t many more instruments than that. If you ask if I play violins and balalaikas, the answer is nay.”
Although McCartney later formed Wings and began to work democratically once again, he occasionally allowed himself to play other instruments with the band. Most notably, stepping behind the drum kit for their Band on the Run album, impressing Keith Moon in the process.
During an interview with Record Collector in 1997, McCartney revealed: “People often say we want to hear YOU on a record. We don’t want to hear you and lots of other people. I thought, well, great, I’ll do that, I’ll drum then. As you say, I did it on those other albums. One of my great compliments was from Keith Moon, when he and John and others were going through that manic lost weekend episode.”
“I went out to see them. Keith Moon asked me who drummed on Band on the Run. I said it was me. Keith said, “fucking great!”. Coming from Keith, that was high praise for me,” McCartney added.
McCartney’s passion for drumming was clear for all to see during his tenure with The Beatles. He occasionally deputised for Ringo Starr on the instrument, including on ‘Back in the U.S.S.R.’, ‘Dear Prudence’, and ‘The Ballad of John and Yono’.
Earning the praise of Moon was no easy feat, and his positive comments speak volumes about McCartney’s ability as a drummer. If he had chosen to follow that path permanently, McCartney might have become one of the most highly-regarded drummers of his generation. However, that would have been a seismic waste of his other talents.
