It’s hard to think of George, the ‘quiet Beatle’, ever being taken aback by one of Paul McCartney’s basslines. This is partly because Paul always approached the bass as a songwriter, and not as an instrumentalist. But when it came to record Something for 1969's Abbey Road, Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick reported that Paul was told to rein things in a bit.
"Paul started playing a bassline that was a little elaborate," Emerick said. "And George told him, 'No, I want it simple.’ There wasn't any disagreement about it, but I did think that such a thing would never have happened in years past. George telling Paul how to play the bass? Unthinkable! But Something was George's song, and everybody knew it was an instant classic."
