Originally published at: Stewart Copeland offers evidence of Ringo Starr's impressive groove - Boing Boing
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I think the two most well known drummers who get the most undeserved criticism of their drumming skills are Ringo Starr and Meg White. They may not be the greatest virtuosos of their instruments, but they were both really good and perfect for their respective bands. This is another good video talking about Ringo’s drumming.
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I was hoping for the three versions in the link. I’m going to seek them out. Or at least I have some vague intentions to find them.
Been thinking about how to make a groove while playing guitar and singing. Maybe time to use the nice mechanical metronome I bought, but it is freekin’ LOUD. Also it has bells you can turn on, for a chaotic effect.
Edit: I searched; lo and behold, Wikipedia’s second paragraph on the song has the story and albums of where to find the versions. I listened.
The song was written several years before being recorded, and prior to the existence of the Beatles. It features John Lennon’s prominent harmonica playing and duet vocals by him and Paul McCartney. Three recorded versions of the song by the Beatles have been released, each with a different drummer. The first attempted recording from June 1962 featured Pete Best on drums, but was not officially released until the Anthology 1 compilation in 1995. A second version was recorded three months later with Best’s replacement Ringo Starr, and this was used for the original Parlophone single first pressing. A third version, featuring session drummer Andy White in place of Starr, was used for the second pressing and also included on the band’s Please Please Me album and on the 1964 Tollie single in the US. It was also included on the American LPs Introducing… The Beatles and The Early Beatles .
Wow, that Pete Best version is unlistenable. My vote is on the Parlophone record with Ringo playing drums.
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For those interested, the whole video is on YouTube.
The Police’s Stewart Copeland Answers Drumming Questions From Twitter
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I ask any drummer I play with their take on Ringo. I’ve found it’s pretty easy to gauge several aspects a person’s musicality without hearing them play a note from the answer.
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This is a great approach. I’ve found there’s nothing more frustrating than playing with someone who doesn’t know how to restrain themselves and play a basic Ringo-style beat when it’s called for.
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The fact that world-class drummers like Phil Collins, Dave Grohl and Stewart Copeland (and there are plenty more) praise Ringo Starr’s drumming should be the final word on any of this nonsense that he wasn’t very good.
Ringo was a professional when the other three were still learning their chords. He had style and charisma and he was a solid one take drummer. He was also innovative, not just in the psychedelic period but from the beginning. His drumming on “Money (That’s What I Want)” is incredible. There’s a reason the Beatles wanted him and didn’t audition anyone else.
Pete Best, poor guy, was just not a good player. Okay for a middling dance band but George Martin made it clear to Brian Epstein that he would not have Best playing on Beatles recordings. He said Brian could do what he wanted on stage but in the studio it would be session drummers if they retained Pete. Imagine how much that would have stunted the Beatles’ growth to have session drummers jobbing away under strict time limits. I guarantee the Beatles would have faded by 1965 in that situation.
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(excerpt) “We really started to think we needed ‘the greatest drummer in Liverpool,’” Paul McCartney said, also in Anthology . “And the greatest drummer in our eyes was a guy, Ringo Starr, who had changed his name before any of us, who had a beard and was grown up and was known to have a Zephyr Zodiac.”
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I like that the subtitles translate Stewart Copeland saying, “Pudenda”, in to, “Pure Dander”.
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Unlistenable is correct. I tried. I failed.
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Welcome aboard, comrade. 
I’ve heard criticism of Ringo’s drumming for years and to be honest never thought about it much until I listened to the drum and bass only Beatles recordings that float around youtube. The man’s a metronome! Each beat is exactly where it needs to be. I think Paul’s bass playing (not his musicality) probably deserves more critique than Ringo’s drumming.
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I want to say Questlove on his podcast had mentioned his admiration from Ringo. According to him what makes a truly excellent drummer is restraint and being able to “stay in the pocket” (which i think is equally important for bassists).
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Yeah. I was sick so I bore watched the whole Beatles thing on the telly and
1 Paul shouldn’t have been the bass player. Just in rehearsal George played bass well, Paul played roots or fifths only. Stuff he had rehearsed up was competent but it didn’t come easy
2 John played better lead guitar than George
3 Paul played the best acoustic guitar and I thought he was amazing on piano until he traded licks with Billy Preston and you realised he’d no right hand. Great for verses though.
4 John and Paul had just an unthinking attitude to harmony together and their voices worked together so well that average stuff sounded good
5 George was right to be pissed off at being excluded. He added the best harmonic sensibility, I enjoyed him teaching Ringo harmony
6 John says at one point that Paul’s drumming had a “strong left hand”. I don’t remember his drumming but I guess he’d have a nice snare shuffle. I doubt he’d be great on the ride or hats though.
I guess that Ringo was the only one I didn’t see as having obvious weaknesses.
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I absolutely agree on all fronts. A virtuoso player’s chops can be detrimental if they’re not serving the song.
There’s a YouTube bassist named Charles Berthoud who I find incredibly virtuosic (and funny) in his solo videos, and I often wonder what he’d do in a band that isn’t rock/jazz fusion. Playing all the notes in the world in blistering succession doesn’t necessarily translate to feeling, which ultimately I think is what music is about.
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This idea that Ringo isn’t a good drummer always confused me. I wonder if it has something to do with the popularity of flashy rock drummers who came later, the 20 minute drum solo and the gigantic kit with racks of tuned toms and bells, two kick drums and a gong.
Ringo is more like a classic RnB drummer. He’s not Neil Peart.
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There’s a reason that any time friends and I get into musical influences, I bring up Levon Helm. Dude was always there, always on, and always having fun with it.
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Levon takes home the prize for so many reasons. He’s by far my favorite singing drummer, ever.
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A musician friend answered this question for me years ago: “No band can keep it together under the usual work pressure for more than a year or so without a good rhythm section - bass and drums. The Beatles were at it for nearly a decade, were under huge pressure, and made songs that people like for generations. That’s really all you need to know to answer ‘was Ringo any good?’”
He also had a personal opinion: The Beatles weren’t his favourite band and Ringo wasn’t his favourite drummer, but he had nothing but good things to say about Ringo’s playing. He thought a lot of the bad opinions about Ringo stemmed from the rough Liverpudlian-style ribbing the band gave each other in interviews, and Ringo was natural in the clown role.
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And a metronome with excellent taste. Not many wasted beats at all.
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