December 2017

In 1978 – the year he joined Elvis Costello in The Attractions – bassist Bruce Thomas was personally selected by Paul McCartney to participate in the Rockestra – an all-star ensemble assembled for a pair of Back To The Egg tracks. The collective gathered onstage a year later as part of Wings’ finale at the Kampuchea benefit. But Bruce Thomas is more than an inventive bass player: he’s a veteran musician (with roots in Britain’s 60s Blues Boom) as well as an acclaimed author of fiction and non-fiction both. His newest project – a collaboration with Spencer Brown – includes a Beatles cover. Check out Back To The Start here: https://spencerbrownbrucethomas.bandcamp.com/releases Check out Bruce’s works here: https://www.brucethomas.co.uk/

John once observed that, in his opinion, Paul was “…an egomaniac about everything else about himself, but his bass playing” – which was as influential as it was innovative. It is therefore a delicious irony to report the same was true of John: while he touted his status as an artist (not to mention “genius”) at every opportunity, he could be surprisingly reserved / conflicted about his own technical abilities on his chief instrument. In this episode, I talk with musician/producer Ben Rowling, who breaks down John’s unsung contribution to The Beatles’ sound, as well as the impact he had on the rhythm guitarists that came after. With isolations and recreation, no one will ever again think of John’s instrumental Beatles work as “invisible.”