The American yodeller who changed everything for Paul McCartney

12 September 2025, 14:14

We all know about Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, but a more unlikely star had a massive impact on Paul McCartney.

The Beatles were and remain one of the most influential artists in the history of music.

But despite how it may have seemed at the time, they didn't come from outer space, and had themselves absorbed the influence of some pretty major players in rock 'n' roll.

• How The Beatles became the ultimate Motown band
• The Beatles: Why John Lennon said their success had nothing to do with talent
• Listen to the Gold Greats Live Playlist on Global Player

Everyone knows about the influence of Elvis Presley ("Before Elvis, there was nothing," said John Lennon) and Motown, as well as that of Buddy Holly (those specs, and their versions of 'Words of Love'), Carl Perkins (a half dozen studio and radio covers) and The Everly Brothers.

But there's another, lesser-known star who arguably had a much bigger impact on Paul McCartney in particular.

That was country music star and yodeller Slim Whitman.

Born in Florida in 1923, Ottis Dewey 'Slim' Whitman Jr. was a singer and guitarist who was also well known for his falsetto and yodelling.

I'm Casting My Lasso Towards The Sky

Indeed, his 1949 debut song 'I'm Casting My Lasso Towards the Sky' showcased that impressive yodel.

Whitman scored a number of hit singles, and his version of 'Rose Marie' spent 11 consecutive weeks on top of the UK singles charts in 1955, a record that stood until Bryan Adams' all conquering '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You' in 1991.

He also caught the ear of Colonel Tom Parker and toured with Elvis Presley, but it was actually his image rather than his music that caught the attention of the young Paul McCartney.

The future Sir Paul, a teenager at the time, had traded in the trumpet his dad had bought him for a Zenith acoustic with f-holes and a red sunburst finish, but as a left-handed person was struggling with it.

"I didn't know what you did about that," Paul told Bass Player magazine in 1995.

"Nobody talked about being left-handed. So I tried it right-handed, and I couldn’t get any rhythm because it was the wrong hand doing it.

"Then I saw a picture of Slim Whitman in one of the music papers, and I noticed-hang on, he’s got the guitar on the wrong way round.

"I found out he was left-handed so I thought, That’s good, you can have it the other way round. Then I changed the strings around. So that was the first thing."

Paul went on to explain that when he started playing the bass for The Beatles on Stuart Sutcliffe's instrument, he had to do it left-handed but upside down, because no-one was likely to let you swap their strings around.

I've Just Seen A Face

"When John wasn't there, I’d pick up his guitar and play it upside down," he added. "John did that as well – he got pretty good playing upside down because of me."

McCartney wasn't the only Beatle to be inspired by Whitman, and all of the Fab Four were known to listen to country as well as rock 'n' roll.

"The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television," George Harrison was quoted as saying in Anthology. "Guitars were definitely coming in."

Slim went on to release over 100 albums and sell around 70 million records in his 60-year career before his death in 2013 at the age of 90.