Paul McCartney: Brian Wilson was a big influence, strange really because he's not known as a bass man. If you listen to Pet Sounds there's a very interesting bass, it's nearly always a bit offbeat. If you've got a song in C the first bass note will normally be a C. But his would be a G. He'd put the note where it wasn't supposed to be. It still fitted but it gave you a whole new field. I'll never forget putting the bass line in 'Michelle' because it was a kind of Bizet thing. It really turned the song around. You could do that with bass, it was very exciting.
John Lennon (in 1980) - "Both of us. I wrote the middle with him."
Paul McCartney (in 1977) - "'Michelle' was like a joke French tune for when you go to a party or something. That's all it was. And then after a while you say, 'Well, that's quite a good tune. Let's put some real words to it.'"
John Lennon (in 1980) - "He and I were staying somewhere and he walked in and hummed the first few bars, with the words, and he says, 'Where do I go from here?' I had been listening to (blues singer) Nina Simone. I think it was 'I Put A Spell On You.' There was a line in it that went, 'I love you, I love you.' That's what made me think of the middle-eight for 'Michelle.' So, my contributions to Paul's songs was always to add a little bluesy edge to them. Otherwise, 'Michelle' is a straight ballad, right? He provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, the bluesy notes."
