RICHARD STEPP
Junior Member
I HAVE THE EXACT SET OF 1964 MARINE PEARL LUDWIG DRUMS AS RINGO PLAYED ,I AM MISSING THE FRONT HOOP AND HARDWARE , ALSO THE ORIGIONAL SNARE DRUM , ANYONE KNOW WHERE I COULD FIND THESE
'Dear Prudence'
Just as a bit of added material, here is an article my friends dad wrote on ringo and bernard purdie. I found it very interesting. http://www.jimvallance.com/03-projects-folder/purdie-project-folder/pg-purdie.html
Bernhard...
I think the jury is still out as to why Pete Best was replaced by Ringo. Another take on the story has it that "the boys" were jealous of all the attention Pete was getting from the ladies and Brian Epstein realized that to keep the ego's in check and from a marketing perspective that attention needed to be diverted where it rightly belonged...front and center, Lennon & McCartney.
No debating that Ringo was one of the best drummers on the scene at the time but was it merely coincidence that he was also a real goofy looking sort of fellow...certainly not the model type looks that Pete had at the time
Boy, this is a subject that stirs up some confusing positions. I think some of the confusion may be resolved by defining what a "good drummer" is. Those who love Ringo and those who bash him may just be coming from two different definitions of the same term. Can Ringo play the chops of Vinnie or Virgil or Marco? No - but that doesn't stop him from being a great drummer. Could Vinnie or Virgil or Marco have made the music of Lennon/McCartney/Harrison better? Well maybe to the very limited number of people (overrepresented on any drum forum) who listen to music principally to hear the double paradiddlediddle played between left hand and right foot while the right hand plays an ostinato in a different time signature, but to everyone else the answer is a resounding NO. To the overwhelming majority Ringo's contribution to the music was perfect - and I don't use that word lightly - and not a single one of the modern raved-about drummers could have done it better, with the possible exception of Gadd. And anyone that has read anything I have ever written on this forum knows how much respect I have for Gadd. The reason I say possibly Gadd, is that Gadd, in playing for the music, would not have overplayed and his parts may have ended up sounding much like Ringos (excuse the rank speculation).
In my way of thinking, the esteem that Ringo has because he inspired many people to pick up the drums is relevant to his position as a musical legend but not necessarily to his reputation as a musician. It is his playing that makes his reputation and that alone is enough to make him a legend. His parts are non-traditional, inventive, exact in terms of time and feel and most important MUSICAL!
Some of this criticism reminds me of the posts (of which there are many) that talk about how the poster could never play in a band which required mostly 2 and 4 on the snare because that would be boring. I disagree. Such an approach is never boring IF that is what is called for by the music and is what makes the music better. To be an effective drummer you have to be a slave to the overall musical production and you have to LOVE it. To work, you (and everyone else) has to believe that your playing has contributed to the musicality of the piece. If that means holding back from those great new chops you have been practising and playing with space and restraint then that is what you must do. IN fact, if you do love what you do, it will never cross your mind to bust that stuff out - because it will not fit.
That is why Ringo is great - he made the musical product, of maybe the best songwriters in the pop genre, better.
So - don't bash Ringo -
Paul
By the way - great article by Jim Vallance
Would Billy Cobham or Ginger Baker have fit into the Beatles scheme better than Ringo? Of course not. Ringo was the perfect non-threatening musician who was counted on to compliment the stylized George Martin studio sound and who would not Wow! listeners with riffs that might diminish the other three's capabilities.
i am a bit surprised at some of these comments especially on a drummers forum.i never knew there was any "hype" about ringo.all i`ve ever seen is how crap he is,barely adequate,"knew a good thing when he saw it and rode it for all it was worth"...you guys should be ashamed of yourselves.if you don`t "get" ringo you don`t "get" drumming.
read bernhards first post again.ringo is a first rate musician and deserves a lot more respect than he seems to get.