“Every time I have the opportunity to play bass, if possible, I try to redo Taxman, Come Together... something in the Paul McCartney style”: Renowned session bassist Sean Hurley on taking inspiration from The Beatles bassist for a John Mayer session

Top-tier session bass guitar player Sean Hurley has worked with some of the biggest names in pop and rock, including Gwen Stefani, Lady A, Lana Del Rey, Robin Thicke, and Alanis Morissette, solidifying his status as a staple of the LA session scene.

One of Hurley’s most prominent gigs is his ongoing collaboration with John Mayer – a recording partnership that began around 2011 after he had completed “one or two tours” with Mayer.

Hurley then joined Mayer, drummer Aaron Sterling, and pianist Chuck Leavell at New York’s famed Electric Lady Studios to record Queen of California and the Born and Raised album.

Sean Hurley Breaks Down His Most Iconic Basslines - YouTube

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“When you’re at ease with an artist, then all the good stuff starts to flow out,” Hurley tells Vertex Effects. “Because you’re not thinking about, ‘Do I have to play something that proves I’m worthy of being there?’ You just play to accompany the song.

“So John had that [Queen of California] riff, and he just started playing it. All we had was just that B chord. He just started playing it. And every time I have the opportunity to play bass, if possible, I try to redo Taxman, Come Together... something in the Paul McCartney [style of playing], like, ‘Is there a way to play a root, a flat seven, a fifth, and kind of twist around those notes?’

“And lo and behold, that was the first time John played something and I was like, ‘Ooh, I can do something [around] the roots and flat sevenths.’”

John Mayer - Queen of California (Official Music Video) - YouTube

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As Hurley puts it, once that was locked in, it was like “the engine room that keeps spinning” and everything after that was just “syncopation, rhythmic stuff”. His instinct proved correct, as, although it was only the first idea he had for the song, it worked.

“He [Mayer] liked it, and we just started letting the song develop from there,” he concludes.

Hurley went on to lend his low-end expertise to some of Mayer’s most celebrated tracks on Born and Raised (2012), Paradise Valley (2013), and Mayer's latest release, Sob Rock (2021).

In recent John Mayer news, the guitarist shared behind-the-scenes snippets as he composed his latest collaborative lead effort with R&B mega star Alessia Cara.