Ringo Starr

He's the greatest: Drummers praise Ringo
Bubbly Beatle coming to Bethel

By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 06/25/10
You know Ringo.

Lovable Ringo. Drummer for the Beatles. Singer of "Yellow Submarine," "With a Little Help From My Friends" and "Octopus's Garden."

Always flashing the peace sign. Always ready with the funny quip, like the time he was asked whether he liked topless bathing suits and he replied, "We've been wearing them for years."

Ringo will be playing those Beatles songs — and his own hits, including "It Don't Come Easy" and "Photograph" — Saturday at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, with the latest version of his All Starr Band, featuring rockers like Rick "Hang on Sloopy" Derringer.

Sometimes it seems as if we take lovable old Ringo for granted. But those in the know don't — especially when it comes to the drumming that propelled classic tunes from "She Loves You" to "Hey Jude."

To preview his gig at the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival, we asked a wide array of percussionists and drummers for their take on Ringo the drummer — and got some surprising answers.

Rob Affuso on Ringo
Rob Affuso of Ulster County, former drummer for Skid Row, currently leads Soul System: "Some of the stuff he did for the Beatles was absolutely perfect. As a young drummer (who worshipped Neil Peart of Rush), I didn't think he was the best who ever lived, but he played the perfect parts for the perfect band. And when I auditioned for Bon Jovi, I learned how important it was to play right in the pocket and on the groove, and that was Ringo."

Henry 'Pucho' Brown on Ringo
Henry "Pucho" Brown, Orange County percussionist who leads Pucho and the Latin Playboys and has backed greats such as Dizzy Gillespie: "He's in the pocket. He's no fantastic drummer, but while a lot of cats are all over the place, he stays in the pocket, keeping it going. He's tasty."

Gary Kvistad on Ringo
Gary Kvistad, Ulster County percussionist who plays with Steve Reich, leads his own group, Nexu, and founded — and invented — Woodstock Chimes: "Ringo has this rap for being a real simple drummer and showman, but he did a lot that was innovative, doing things other rock 'n' roll drummers didn't. He played the match grip, which means holding both sticks the same way, not the traditional two different grips. He used brushes on rock songs and mixed it up. He wasn't a soloist, but he was a really great drummer and still is."

Thurman Barker on Ringo
Thurman Barker, Jeffersonville, associate professor of music and director of jazz studies at Bard College, who's played with everyone from Marvin Gaye to Cecil Taylor: "Before joining the Beatles, he was a show band drummer. So he was always making musical adjustments from one group to another. So he brought a lot of musical experience to the band. Tempo changes, many different grooves and meter changes. Ringo could handle all of this. I believe part of the Beatles' success, as far as music and the band's sound, is because of Ringo's drumming."

Jimmy Sturr on Ringo
Jimmy Sturr, Orange County polka king, who plays drums at the end of his shows: "On what he does, he's great. I mean backing the Beatles on all those songs, he's excellent, or he wouldn't have stayed a Beatle all those years."


Source: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100625/ENTERT AIN/6250328/-1/SITEMAP
 
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I just checked the ticket prices through Ticketmaster and the tickets for Lancaster at the American Music Theater are priced about 1/3 to 2X higher than all the other venues including Radio City Music Hall. AMT is the only place you can buy the tickets for Lancaster, Ticketmaster isn't handling them so maybe that is why. I am going to call them on it tomorrow before I but tickets. Dave
I agree with you.................................
 
Steve Gadd on playing with Clapton, McCartney and his new band
A conversation with a drumming icon

Joe Bosso, Mon 5 Jul 2010, 7:00 pm BST

Your discography is so vast, there's no way to list even half of the artists you've worked with. However, I do want to ask you about playing with Paul McCartney, who's no slouch on the drums himself.

"In one way or another, the job is always the same: you try to come up with parts that are supportive of the music. When I worked with Paul, he didn't give me a lot of direction per se. There were a few times, I think, when I wasn't playing as big and loud or as energetic as he wanted, so I made whatever adjustments were necessary.

"Again, I try to listen to the song. If you can listen to the song and really visualize in your head what it needs to be, you can figure out the dynamics and the backbeat and everything else.

"I remember there was a lot of emotion in the air the first time I recorded with Paul. It was not too long after John Lennon had been shot, so as you can imagine, things were…it was heavy. The emotions that everybody was feeling, coupled with the beauty of our surroundings [the island of Montserrat, where George Martin operated AIR Studios], it all came out in the music. Oh, and Ringo Starr was there, too. I had played with him on one of his solo records, so we were old friends. It was great being around him; he's so inspiring."

What kind of musical dialogue do you have with somebody like Ringo? Even though he's one of the greatest drummers in rock 'n' roll history, he's very unlike you in that he doesn't read or write music, never studied theory…

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We had a great time together. See, Ringo comes from a different kind of school, and I find that totally exciting and challenging. How he does what he does…it's so different from what other drummers do. If somebody approaches music or their instrument in a way that's unique, I want to be around that person. To me, there's something to learn there."


Source: http://www.musicradar.com/news/guit...h-clapton-mccartney-and-his-new-band-259506/5
 
Peace and Love....Peace and Love.
 
Ringo + his All-Star Band had a concert in Radio City Music Hall in NYC yesterday on his Birthday, and Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance performing with him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnjN0MWhkHY

Ringo performs with many famous musicians including Yoko Ono, Zak Starkey, Gary Wright, Richard Page, Rick Derringer. Wally Palmer, Edgar Winter, Joe Walsh , Steve Van Zandt, Jeff Lynne, Nils Lofgren, Dave Stewart, Max Weinberg, Mick Jones, etc....
Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25sM8yedRW0
 
Sometimes I forget how good The Beatles were, and how much I love listening to Ringo play and sing 'Act Naturally'.
 
Well i feel Ringo is perfect for the beatles, but he is no Mitchell or Bonham for sure. Ive read that it took Ringo 15 hrs and over 100 takes to get the drums to Happiness is a warm gun. They said his problem was that he would only play in 4/4.
 
Well i feel Ringo is perfect for the beatles, but he is no Mitchell or Bonham for sure. Ive read that it took Ringo 15 hrs and over 100 takes to get the drums to Happiness is a warm gun. They said his problem was that he would only play in 4/4.

I've never heard of this and I'm a big Beatles fan. :|
 
Well i feel Ringo is perfect for the beatles, but he is no Mitchell or Bonham for sure. Ive read that it took Ringo 15 hrs and over 100 takes to get the drums to Happiness is a warm gun. They said his problem was that he would only play in 4/4.

That's baloney. He played a lot in other than 4/4


This complicated song, which involved various different time signatures, (the 6/8 middle section was made more convoluted by Ringo continuing to drum in 4/4), took 15 hours and over 100 takes to nail. The first half of one take was combined with the second half of another to form the complete song.


One of the most salient musical features of the song is its frequent shifts in time signature. Beginning in 4/4 time, the song has one measure of 6/4 time for the line "She's well acquainted..." before changing back to 4/4 time for the next line ("The man in the crowd..."). It then uses a measure of 5/4 followed by a measure of 4/4 for the line "a soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the National Trust" . The subsequent guitar solo features a measure of 9/8 followed by two measures of 12/8. This pattern is repeated in the "I need a fix..." section. This gives way to alternating 9/8 and 10/8 measures in the "Mother Superior..." section before returning to 4/4 for the doo-wop style ending. The "When I hold you..." section slows down dramatically and employs one of the few examples of polyrhythm in the Beatles' repertoire: the drums play a duple rhythm while the rest of the instruments and background vocals use a triplet rhythm.

He played as he was supposed to. More gossip from the
Ringo haters. Good lord. You only wish.
 
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