Ringo? Overrated? Not on your life!
"Ringo has nearly perfect tempo. This allowed the Beatles to record a song twenty-five times, and then be able to edit together different parts of
numerous takes for the best possible version. Today click tracks are used for the same purpose, but the Beatles had to depend on Ringo to keep the tempo consistent throughout the dozens of takes. Had he not had this ability, the Beatles recordings would sound completely different. His perfect time and good feel give Beatles tunes an "ageless" quality.
In most recording sessions the drummer's performance acts as a barometer for the rest of the musicians. The stylistic direction, dynamics, and emotions are filtered through the drummer. He is the catcher to whom the pitcher/songwriter is throwing. If the drumming doesn't feel good, the performance of any additional musicians is doomed from the start. The Beatles rarely had this problem with Ringo.
Ringo's "feel" serves as a standard for pop-rock record producers and drummers alike. It is relaxed, but never dragging; solid, yet always breathing. There is a uniqueness to Ringo's playing that can in some ways be attributed to his being a left-handed drummer playing a right-handed drumset. Ringo's distinctive tom fills that lead with the left hand are just as important to his sound as Steve Gadd's rudimental stickings are to his. And yes, there is a great amount of musical taste in Ringo's decisions as to what to play and when to play it.
Ringo hated drum solos, which, like it or not, wins points with quite a few people. He only took one solo with the Beatles. His eight-measure break appears during "The End" from Abbey Road. Some might say that it's not a great display of technical virtuosity, but they would be at least partially mistaken. Set a metronome to a perfect 126 beats per minute, line it up with Ringo's solo, and the two will stay together!
Ringo's ability to play odd time signatures helped to push popular songwriting into uncharted areas. Two examples include "All You Need Is
Love," which is in 7/4 time, and "Here Comes The Sun," with the repeating 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8 passages in the chorus. Ringo's proficiency in many different styles such as two-beat swing ("When I'm Sixty-Four"), ballads ("Something"), R&B ("Leave My
Kitten Alone" and "Taxman"), and country (the Rubber Soul album)helped the Beatles to explore many musical directions with ease. His pre-
Beatle experience as a versatile and hard-working nightclub musician served him well.
The idea that Ringo was a lucky Johnny-on-the-spot-with-a-showbiz-stage-name is wrong. In fact, when Beatles producer George Martin expressed his unhappiness after the first session with original drummer Pete Best, the decision was made by Paul, George, and John to hire the person they considered to be the best drummer in Liverpool—Ringo Starr. His personality was a bonus.
The rumors that Ringo did not play on many of the Beatle songs because he was not good enough are false. In fact, according to Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles: Recording Sessions [Harmony,1988], Ringo played on every Beatles recording that include drums except for the following: "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence," on which Paul played drums due to Ringo temporarily quitting the band,
"The Ballad Of John And Yoko," again featuring Paul on drums because Ringo was off making a movie, and a 1962 release of "Love Me
Do" featuring session drummer Andy White. When the Beatles broke up and were trying to get away from each
other, John Lennon chose Ringo to play drums on his first solo record. As John said in his famous Rolling Stone interview, "If I get
a thing going, Ringo knows where to go—just like that." A great songwriter could ask no more of a drummer—except maybe to smile and bob
his head."
This was taken from Modern Drummer, July 1997. It does make me weary to listen to drummers who aren't as accomplished, piss and moan about a drummer like Ringo. It is as if some drummers, who only play metal or jazz, have the train of thought, "Well, he didn't play on the song Tom Sawyer so Ringo sucks!" or "He doesn't play double bass drums - Ringo sucks!" or "He doesn't appear to have much technical profeciency - Ringo sucks!"........start trying to respect someone besides yourself!
Ringo doesn't suck; He has done more for drumming than most of us ever will! He changed alot of aspects of drumming and made us more visible than ever before!
Rock on Ringo and thank you for all that you have done!
Mike
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