How innovative a handclapper was Paul?

For starters, because it's AWESOME.

 

Oh boy, not this hot potato again....

 

Because he was left handed I think his claps resonated a little more with people via the radio. We tend to use our strong hand to clap into the weaker one. With the left doing that it was different sounding if you will than most right handed clappers. When you hear it on the radio you really are noticing it but it's more of a sub conscious thing.

 

Agreed. My "What if John Lennon had quit the Beatles in 1968 and been replaced by Freddie Garrity?" thread was shut down the same day

 

Lennon always get kudos for his handclapping, but he lived in the suburbs where the acoustics were very dry; Paul lived in central London where his handclaps bounced off concrete and steel, resulting in a more innovative resonance.

 

Well...as long as the truth has been hinted at here...

The real reason the Beatles broke up was because John insisted that Yoko be allowed to clap along on "Birthday."

Paul, who thought he had been generous enough letting "the little troll" sing backup on the song, would have none of it. According to several eyewitnesses, it actually escalated into fisticuffs between John and Paul in the back of EMI Studios, culminating with John grabbing a half grapefruit that Yoko was munching on and squeezing some juice into Paul's eyes. The two warring Beatles eventually began speaking to one another several weeks later, but the magic had obviously been snubbed out.

 

I suggest treading lightly lest one ruffle the feathers of sensitive types...and be found guilty of threadclapping.

 

This whole thread is absolutely killing me, I can't believe it's even still open. Absolutely genius. somebody deserves a round of applause for coming up with this one

 

I'm now noticing this thread for the first time. And it makes me curious if there are maybe some songs out there which feature a handclapping solo. But dare I really open a thread on that when I cannot come up with an example for it by myself?

 

He was fab at it ....

 

first time i noticed this thread:

and

this just may be the single most ridiculous thread the paul mccartney admiration society has ever had, and that is saying quite a lot.

seriously.....handclapping?

you guys have some real serious issues.........please, go to spotify and just try to listen to something, or someone, else....there is a whole lot of good music out there for you to discover.

 

I hope this post is a parody (just like this thread).

 

if the thread is a parody, then so is the post.....if it is a serious thread (which i cannot dismiss) then the post is also quite serious.

 

Genius thread!!! It wouldn't be nearly as funny if there wasn't a bit of truth in it.

 

If you read through the thread, you'll quickly realise it's a parody. I know there are a lot of Beatles obsessives in the forum (I am one of them), but I don't think anyone is quite that obsessed.

 

hmmmmmmmm...........i hope you are right, but there have been some unbelievable things that have come out of that camp in the last few months.

 

they should listen to "cinnamon girl" if they want to hear real handclaps.

 

I realize that the OP wanted to focus on the sheer musicality of Paul's handclaps, but anyway, on a related note: I have it on good authority (from a source that shall remain anonymous) that it was actually Paul who first pointed out to Maureen Cleave that The Beatles got more applause from the audience at Shea Stadium than Jesus after the sermon of the mount. John further elaborated the point and, well, you know the rest.

 

This thread also got me wondering: was Paul ever auditioned to do the handclapping for the Wrecking Crew, or was that idea nixed by the resident bass player? Was she afraid of going down in history as the Clapping Clique?

 

Amazing how many people can't discern blatantly obvious thigh slapping from hand clapping. Sheesh.

 

Handclapping is an essential weapon to have in your arsenal when making upbeat records.
Ask any Northern Soul lover for a start.

If a drummer is already on the Ride Cymbal there's not a lot of ways to lift that even
further, but handclapping does that.

As a drummer I love the percussive aspect of clapping in some songs,
off the top o'me head - My Boyfriends Back, Hold Me Tight, Not Fade Away.

On first glance the OP was joking but there is space for discussion about great clapping in pop music.

Is there a whistling thread?

 

Similar to most Beatle "innovations" although handclapping has existed since the dawn of music, nobody had ever really listened before so none of that really counts for anything. It wasn't until the Beatles landed on Plymouth Rock did anyone really take notice. And even if they did, it didn't matter because the handclapping of the Beatles was so far advanced in it's sophistication and innovative use of multi tracking and overdubbing of the claps that they left all of their contemporaries in the proverbial dust. To this day you can hear their clapping influence from everything from "Car Wash" to "My Best Friend's Girl" to "If You're Happy and You Know It".

 

This is a rare early video of the Staple Singers singing the gospel tune "Sit Down Servant" (about the protagonist getting to heaven and being unable to stay still). The handclapping as the tempo changes, beginning at 1:00, provides all the accompaniment that is necessary for Pop Staples haunting guitar to communicate the message of the song. John, Paul, George and Ringo may have done some great things, but (in all seriousness)they aren't in the same handclapping ballpark as the F-in Staple Singers.

 

It's a joke thread....from eons ago.