Ringo Starr

Any doubts about Ringo's drumming, go listen to "I Feel Fine". Try to duplicate what he's doing on that latin beat, especially the right hand pattern on the bell while keeping the rest together, at that tempo. Listen to "I Am Walrus"..simple but amazingly tasteful fills and groove playing. I could sit here and think of my favorite Ringo tracks all day.
Listen to him on the recent CD Ringorama..he still has it.
 
Ringo is one of the most credited and admired drummers.
Google the phrase "the ringo starr of" for some interesting reading. While drummers universally hold Ringo in high esteem and acknowledge his cotributions, general pop culture sees him quite differently.

"North Korea is the Ringo Starr of the Axis of Evil"

What?? Worst analogy ever.

As for the Ringo, I proudly state him as my first and main drumming influence.
 
The entire Beatles Anthology is posted to YouTube (in ten min. segments). There are some great clips or Ringo's live playing, incl. him singing and playing one of my admittedly least-fave tunes "Act Naturally". His tempo is rock-solid, and that hi-hat shuffle is relentless! It starts at the 4.12 mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHtYE3hSHWk
 
"North Korea is the Ringo Starr of the Axis of Evil"

What?? Worst analogy ever.

As for the Ringo, I proudly state him as my first and main drumming influence.

Me, too !

Many Ringo gems include:

"She Said"
"I am the Walrus"
"In My Life"
"It's all too much"

Just so many to name...
 
Ringo was a *drummer*.

His playing doesn't seem like much to the kiddies who go to Guitar Center only to regurgitate their favorite "moves" on the drums.

Until you can truly appreciate his playing, you really can't call yourself a drummer.

-Ryan
 
But an entire 3 generations of music lovers around the world danced to his beats and sung his music.

Please ask yourself why.

Couldn't have said it better myself.
 
I remember jamming with the Beatles albums when I was a kid, and telling myself, "One day I wanna play like Ringo"...
 
Drummers who are musicians get Ringo and love him.
Drummers who are just drummers don't.
With Ringo's drumming there is something going on at a whole other level that some will never be able to see. Really feel sorry for them...they are missing what drumming is all about. It can be so much more than snare on two and four.
 
.... what he chose to leave out - that was special.


,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,or couldn't play- and that was special.

Its not a musical crime to NOT be a technical monster. You can still say beautiful things through your instrument without having tons of chops. Which he did.

I love Ringo & Ringo was very tasteful and a huge part of the Beatles sound, but lets call and spade a spade and not endow him with qualities he didn't have.
 
Ringo (Starr) did the job - and He did it dead right. Who can play that awesome "slush" hi-hat stuff, as the way He does. It's splendid, maybe a bit sloppy but fitted.

Best Regards,
 
Originally Posted by Laurent
...strictly speaking as a drummer I hear nothing amazing in his playing, not his feel, not his style and defintively not his technique.


Well, you want it:
So YOU're not a drummer nor a musician

Bernhard
 
Well, if that is the case, neither of us are drummers nor musicians including (Ian Paice, Bill Ward, Carmine Appice, Nicko Mcbrain...and so on) who have respect for Ringo Starr and his playing.

So, believe it or not the only true drummer is Monsieur Laurent! 1 out of 1,000,000+
 
I can understand why people wonder what the hype is about Ringo, but I think he is an inspiration. He showed us how to help make music sound great without having chops like Steve Gadd or Bill Bruford.

There are drummers who inspire us to emulate them, drummers whose standards we might aspire to, and drummers so talented all you can do is savour their work. Ringo is in the former group. Even though some of his parts are very simple and he has the odd clunky moment, his imaginative drumming arrangements are great food for thought when you feel locked into a standard frug beat and looking for ways to enliven a number.
 
I guess Ringo gets a lot of credit for being a drummer at that time. He certainly doesn't hold a candle up against many of the later great drummers that came after him (many of whom admit Ringo was a big influence)

Lets face it, Ringo IS a rock 'n roll star, and we can't take that away from him.

I like Charlie Watts better, of all the bashed beloved Bernhard drummers on here. But Charlie doesn't have the rockstar persona that Ringo has. Not even the name!!

stu

Yea, I agree with you. Charlie is uber cool! He might not be the best dummer in the world, but he is solid. My friend was in Muscat (Oman) last month at the Intercontintental Hotel for lunch and Charlie was at the table beside him.

That said, Ringo holds a special place in the hearts of drummers who grew up with the Fab Four. Peace and Love Ringo!

GJS

GJS
 
I prefer Ringo's work to Charlie's, but maybe that's just because he had more scope with The Beatles to try more varied approaches, which I enjoy. I love the way he develops distinctive little motifs for the songs.

My fave work of Charlie's is Can't You Hear Me Knocking. My fave Ringo numbers are the usual suspects - A Day in the Life, Come Together and Let It Be that really show off his instinct for working out pleasing and distinctive ways of supporting songs.

He seemed to like do odd things in the verses and then move to a more standard beat in the choruses. He tended to occupy a pretty low place in the mix, often lower than the tambourine, so the band as a whole would carry the beat rather than being built around the drums, which freed him up to play around. You can't do some of the things he did during verses if you're up in the mix without creating clutter (e.g. Hey Jude).
 
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