…maybe from
Behind?
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Most of the great rock drummers in history are great because they were the right person, playing the right style of music at the right time. I’ve always thought Ringo fit that niche perfectly - not a great technical drummer but perfect sound for the moment. He will always be one of the most influential of all time no doubt.
But…was a a “great” drummer? Eh, I’m not so sure. When compared against some of the truly greats like John Bonham, Nick Mason, Mitch Mitchell, Keith Moon, Neil Peart or the undeniable master Buddy Rich, Ringo is admittedly pretty average skill wise.
Nothing will ever top the first time I experienced Peart’s drum solo in concert (and multiple times since). He’ll always be my #1.
My god, Buddy Rich is inhuman!
Here’s a great explainer on why John Bonham was so damn good:
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A couple of people have already mentioned Ringo being (mostly) left-handed but playing on a right-handed kit. Ringo did an interview on Conan where they discuss this. It is here. He says he was made to write right-handed by his grandmother, but is left-handed for everything else.
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This is also why I love listening to demos, Psychedelic Furs or Liz Phair being some my favorites.
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It don’t come easy!
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Yeah I don’t know honestly. Ringo is my favorite of the Beatles actually, much to my mom’s confusion when she first showed me the band probably because it was so different from her own opinion. But I’m a bigger fan of Nick Mason and Gavin Harrison as drummers. That’s a sound that lends itself more easily to a virtuoso performance though I think so it’s a bit unfair. The thing that’s also cool about Ringo is he seems stable as all hell for a rock star from that era. Like working with him must have been so much easier than working with literally anyone else in the band. Still I take this more as “let’s take a minute to appreciate that Ringo was actually a good drummer and us not just famous because of fame” and less “Ringo Starr was the best drummer evar…”
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Best YT vid on music I’ve seen in a very long time.
I couldn’t help but laugh though when at 9:15 she (being German) started doing a Mike Myers (as “Dieter” on SNL’s Sprockets sketch) with her shoulders! “Now’s the time on Sprockets when we dance!”
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Oh, yes. Then there are what I call synth-snobs. The following still sticks in my craw: Criticism by one reader in Keyboard Magazine of Christopher Cross’ Sailing, wondering how that song could have been a hit when it “used an old patch”. (For any non-cognoscenti out there, a “patch” is any particular synth sound). One of the most stupid observations I ever heard… of anything!
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If another musician ever made that tired old joke, or dissed Ringos playing at all, I always knew right then that person was probably not a very good musician. His drumming was unique and brilliant always.
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That’s why he’s always been my favourite. He always seemed to be having fun within the ridiculousness of popstardom, and when it stopped being fun he (albeit briefly) left.
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I assume you are not a fan of Thomas the Tank Engine?
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Regina Spektor, who i am really into, her early albums sound more like demos. Hardly produced and there’s just a very in-the-moment almost live feel to them that i enjoy. Her newer stuff sounds way better but i seriously miss her amateur sound… thankfully she likes to do live albums.
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I’m reminded of the time I gave a friend a ride and the original “Pipeline” came up on the tape deck (yes, this was a while back). “Wow, somebody really knew their MIDI keyboard.”
I don’t think he believed me when I told him the recording had been made well before MIDI was invented.
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When John Lennon made his first solo album he could have had any musician he wanted for any position in the band. He put Ringo on the drums.
McCartney frequently used Ringo post-Beatles. So did Harrison.
At a concert George Harrison and Eric Clapton did (I believe it was the late Eighties or early Nineties) they had Ringo on the drums.
I have read - though not tried - that you can recognize any Beatles song just from the drum track.
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I know that it is all a matter of personal taste, but that Neil Peart solo strikes me as being virtuoso, but, emotionally uninvolving. I guess that if I was a drummer, I could marvel at the technique, as I’m not, it is a bit like the musical equivalent of someone spinning plates. I guess that it gives the rest the band a break from playing.
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A good friend of mine is the drummer in a long-standing Beatles tribute band (which used to have the great Brad Delp as lead singer); he helped advise Harmonix on Ringo’s drumming for Beatles Rock Band, so he’s a bit of an authority on the guy. He’s frequently told me that Ringo is one of the great rock drummers of all time. Ringo’s drumming isn’t flashy or spotlighted, he never rocked out with fancy solos, but he’s steady and precise, and that’s a lot harder to perfect.
Ringo’s solo album Ringo is also a dang masterpiece.
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The Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket demo, released on Rhino’s 2007 compilation, is lovely. A clever change from demo to the official release was to switch in “I’m special” from the arguably cliché “you’re special.” But musically I much prefer the demo. It’s more clearly motown/R&B, taking its sweet time and making the aired version seem rushed by comparison. The demo’s rhythmic guitar plucking is more emphasized and there’s a nice stereo mix, just beautiful to listen to with headphones. Decades after the “fixed” version had saturated the airwaves, the demo has me thinking of the song as a masterpiece, even if Chrissie Hynde kinda hated it.
DEMO:
MTV version (there’s a lot to be said about this):
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I’m a very mediocre drummer, but when I show a fill to even a terrific drummer, they often can’t play it. This happens a lot when the drummer devising the fill (like me) is unschooled and doesn’t use rudiments.
I think Sina did a great job showing why his drumming is so great. His focused minimalism was so unlike other drummers at the time and now. I think a lot of what set the Beatles apart from other bands was the drum and bass parts. The music seemed to breathe differently from other bands.
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Accounting can be very creative.
And he will always be my favourite Beatle.
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