Billy Sheehan is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished bassists of the modern era; nonetheless, he is not sure who he considers to be the best bassist of all time. Sheehan voiced his support for the iconic Paul McCartney of The Beatles during an appearance on the Mistress Carrie Podcast, which can be listened to here. He stated that McCartney was “probably the greatest” bassist in the history of the instrument.
This is the reason why Billy Sheehan considers Paul McCartney to be the “greatest”
It did not take Sheehan very long to explain how he felt about the situation. It was the bassist who made the observation that “almost everything McCartney did is just brilliant.”
Sheehan is aware that McCartney may occasionally be ignored in discussions about the best bassist, but he is willing to take on the job of explaining his position.
Sometimes people just don’t understand it. Sheehan believes that if he gives himself enough time, he will be able to convince them to understand it. “There have been times when I’ve had the good fortune to sit down with someone, and they would describe a piece of music to me. After hearing it, I would say to myself, ‘Oh, I get it now.’ I was seated down by a friend of mine who introduced me to Stravinsky and told me that the piece was titled “The Rite of Spring.” This was such a contentious issue that it caused riots to break out in the streets of Paris when it was first introduced. I exclaimed, “Wow.” “Oh, I get it now,” I say to myself at that point. In the event that I had just heard it, my initial reaction would have been, “I don’t know.” I really don’t care for some of the classical music that’s being played. Therefore, there are instances when you need to explain.”
“I would be happy to explain to anyone why Paul McCartney is probably the greatest — really, just a really great, great player,” Sheehan responded to questions. “James Jamerson, of course; anything by The Temptations or any Motown [recordings] that he played on had a very similar sound to it. There was a lot of different bass in the mix. McCartney’s bass is all over the place, but it’s so musical and woven in so well with what’s going on with every other component of the song and the music, it’s quite amazing.”
Beatles bass played by Billy
Sheehan, the bassist for Mr. Big, also related a story about receiving an instrument from another bass legend that is connected to his love of McCartney and the Beatles. This narrative was a side story to Sheehan’s advocacy of McCartney.
“I don’t know if I’ve told the story in public, but a friend of mine worked with — I hesitate to say, ’cause I don’t want to blow his cover — AC/DC bass player Cliff Williams. And a friend of mine went to meet with him in order to conduct some business. His goal was to get rid of some outdated equipment. And I don’t know any of the AC/DC guys, and I’m the biggest AC/DC fan of all time. The band is one that I adore with every single fiber of my being.
“[My friend] came back to Nashville. He goes, ‘Bill, are you home?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘What’s going on? I gotta come over.’ ‘Oh, okay.’ He comes over and he brings a case. And I go, ‘What’s that?’ He goes, ‘Open it up.’ It’s a Höfner 1973 Beatle bass. And he said, ‘Cliff wanted you to have it.’ I had tears in my eyes. Just amazing. Apparently, [Cliff] knew that I was a big Beatles fan. I didn’t even know he knew who I was. It’s one of my most valued treasures ever to get a gift from that man. And he, as a bass player too — man, what a great, great player. AC/DC, the sound of those records and his bass playing on it, just so amazing. But you could have knocked me over with a feather. I had tears in my eyes.”
Sheehan says he later extended a thank you: “[My friend] was kind enough to give me [Cliff’s] number, so I thanked him in person. And what a wonderful guy and what an incredible player. And wow. I was completely blown away. [It was] one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me. And as I mentioned, I still float up to the moon — just the idea of it. And the thing is just perfect.”
The bassist concluded, “Playing McCartney on that is just so enriching and so cool. I will sit down with that bass, I think, on my next birthday and have a bottle of wine and put Sgt. Pepper’s on and play the whole thing on that bass. It’ll be so great.”
Billy Sheehan Guests on The Mistress Carrie Podcast
More on Billy Sheehan’s Love of Paul McCartney
Back in 2020, Sheehan spoke in our Loudwire Gear Factor series about some of the influences that made him want to pick up the bass. After initially shouting out The Yardbirds’ Paul Samwell-Smith, Sheehan turned his attention to McCartney.
“Paul McCartney from The Beatles, of course, was a huge thing for me. The song ‘Rain,’ a really great bass line,” he remarked, then adding, “And McCartney was quite an aggressive player too, he played a lot of notes, but that’s how pretty much I started and just came through and got into everybody and everything.”
Billy Sheehan and Bumblefoot Guest on Loudwire’s Gear Factor