Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea thinks Paul McCartney is the "greatest rock bass player"
13 August 2024, 10:18 | Updated: 13 August 2024, 10:20
The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist praised the legendary Beatle's "lyrical and melodic" style.
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Flea has talked about one of his favourite bass players in rock.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers rocker appeared on Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson's podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, where he discussed music, pastimes and touched upon the subject of fellow bassists.
"I think Paul’s the greatest rock bass player," he told the former Cheers actors. "He’s just great. I mean, there are so many guys that are great in different ways, but Paul’s bass playing is so lyrical and melodic, and it’s just so beautiful."
Flea | Where Everybody Knows Your Name
The 61-year-old funk rocker - whose real name is Michael Peter Balzary - went on: "One of the things I’ve heard is that he put the bass on after. A band like mine, the bass sometimes the song starts with bass lines, so coming first, or the music comes first."
He added" "Whereas I think [The Beatles] Paul and John and George, when they wrote songs and Paul would do the bass. And after multi-tracking came in, at the beginning of them, they just went and played live and would do it after, like ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’, the melody is already there.
"So then he’s doing, like a counter melody, so the bass is like a melody as opposed to just rhythm, and that’s amazing. He’s amazing.”
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Meanwhile, Flea and the Chili Peppers had a rather busy weekend, after they were part of the team that helped launch the 2028 LA Olympics with a special performance of their Can't Stop hit on Venice Beach.
The California veterans were joined by the likes of Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre to welcome in LA 28, while Tom Cruise jumped from the roof of the Stade de France in true Mission Impossible style.
Watch the Chili Peppers performance below:
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