Favourite Beatles Drumming?

[Odysseus]

I remember many moons ago hearing the story that Ringo was primarily chosen over Pete Best because of his good-natured sense of humour, which fit in better with the rest of the band. I took that to mean that merely keeping time was good enough to stay in the band, and by all accounts he did just that. But it stands to reason he would only improve over time, so it really doesn't surprise me his drums were so prominently featured in "Sgt. Pepper (reprise)", as well as his only drum solo on a Beatles record in "The End".

I've read the same thing many times as well. He was already a solid drummer with Rory Storm with a reputation. That along with the fact that his character just seemed to fit well with the rest of Beatles cemented the "thing with four heads".

Among my many favorite Ringo drumming is Drive My Car - the short drum fill at the beginning. Rain. She Said, She Said. Come Together. Strawberry Fields.

Ringo is also the first rock drummer to prominently play the ride cymbal as more of a continuous "wash" of sound, employed quite a bit on the early Beatle hits. Instead of using just the stick tip on the ride cymbal to keep time, playing heavier with the edge of the stick parallel with the cymbal creates a washy, sonic continuous swish crash (I don't know how else to explain it) that propels the song and also fills it out and makes it bigger. It went on to be used by many rock drummers. John Bonham and Alex Van Halen and Keith Moon among many excellent examples.

 

[BeatlesFan]

“Ringo, Moonie(Keith Moon), and John Bonham would be my three main drummers. Not technically the best by a long shot but for feel and emotion and economy, they’re always there. Particularly, Ringo.” -Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now

 

[METALPRIEST]

Ringo pops up on all his band mates solo albums from time to time. A good example is this one where he is the only drummer for the etire record.

 

[BeatlesFan]

The Night That Changed The Music World

Forty years ago, The Beatles’ first American appearance on television made Ed Sullivan “the show that launched a thousand purchase orders.”

"I have never known a drummer more widely acclaimed and publicized than you, Ringo Starr. Your millions of fans have honored you and the other members of the Beatles by their overwhelming acceptance of your recordings and concert appearances," declared William F. Ludwig Jr., then president of the Ludwig Drum Company, as he presented Ringo Starr with a gold-plated Ludwig Super-Sensitive snare drum. "On behalf of the employees and management of the Ludwig Drum Company, I would like to thank you for choosing our instruments and for the major role you are playing in the music world today."


Bill Ludwig and his daughter, Brooke, present a gold-plated snare drum to Ringo and the Beatles before the band made its first Chicago appearance in 1964.

On the Ed Sullivan Show, Paul McCartney had appeared with a Hofner bass, John Lennon sported a Rickenbacker, George Harrison had a Gretsch hollow-body; and Ringo was seated behind a oyster black pearl Ludwig kit. All four manufacturers subsequently experienced a huge and unexpected increase in demand after the show; however, Ludwig probably received the single greatest windfall. Overnight, the company's Chicago factory on Damon Avenue began running 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week in an effort to keep up with the flood of orders demand. Ludwig liked to joke that Ed Sullivan was the "show that launched a thousand purchase orders." He later recalled that for three years after that fateful hour on prime time, the only days his factory shut down were Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.


In 1964, Ludwig Drum Company had sales of $6.1 million. Two years later, sales had more than doubled to $13.1 million and the company's biggest problem was keeping up with the burgeoning demand. Expanding the Ludwig factory on Chicago's Damen Avenue required buying up adjacent property and placating residents who complained about the endless noise and truck traffic. To keep the peace and maintain the factory expansion, Bill Ludwig explained, "I had to visit all our neighbors up and down the block and invite them to factory tours, followed by 'jollification' at Boris's bar afterwards. Over beers, we worked out compromises. I agreed to shut down certain machines after ten o'clock, like the stick lathes and the scarfing machines, and the neighborhood allowed us to expand."

According to Beatles historians, Ringo made his first public appearance with his Ludwig kit in June 1963 at the Playhouse Theatre for a recording of the radio program, Easy Beat. The rest, as they say, is history. Until the Beatles finally disbanded in 1970, Ringo and Ludwig were inextricably linked in the minds of drummers worldwide. Ludwig's artist program in 1963 was a modest affair, when compared to current drum companies, where full-time endorsement departments travel the world to secure artist endorsements. Yet, it is safe to say that no single artist has had a greater impact on a company or an industry than Ringo and the Beatles.



Full Article: Ringo Starr and the Story of his drum kit

 

[BeatlesFan]

 

[Odysseus]

Nice write up BeatlesFan.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Nice write up BeatlesFan.

I didn't actually write that article. That's why there's a source.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Interview: Ken Scott, Part 1: Recording with The Beatles & Inside the Studio
by Elianne Halbersberg
In the first of our two-part interview, producer Ken Scott tells stories from inside the studio with the Beatles, and shares his approach to mic'ing guitars and drums.

Were the Beatles underrated as musicians?

No. As musicians, the technical prowess was not there. It got better as they went on. On one level, no, they weren’t that good. But as talents and how they used the skills they had, it was absolutely brilliant. And no one has ever come close to it. Ringo is one of the greatest rock drummers. There were times when he’d get in the middle of a drum fill and not know how to get out, and that’s what made it great.

Source: Interview: Ken Scott, Part 1: Recording with The Beatles & Inside the Studio - Premier Guitar

 

[BeatlesFan]

"Regarding Ringo's drums, this was the first time I was able to record his kit in stereo because we were using eight-track instead of four-track. Because of this, I had more mic inputs, so I could mic from underneath the toms, place more mics around the kit - the sound of his drums were finally captured in full.

"I think when he heard this, he kind of perked up and played more forcefully on the toms, and with more creativity."-Geoff Emerick on Abbey Road

"Ringo's tom fills really make the song, but funnily enough, he hated doing them because he could never remember what he was did one take to the next. I think that's why his fills are so spectacular - he felt that he would never reproduce them, so he'd better get 'em right." -Geoff Emerick on Here Comes The Sun

"And then, of course, we get to the famous parts of The End, the drum solo and the three-way guitar solos. The thing that always amused me was how much persuasion it took to get Ringo to play that solo. Usually, you have to try to talk drummers out of doing solos! [laughs] He didn't want to do it, but everybody said, 'No, no, it'll be fantastic!' So he gave in - and turned in a bloody marvelous performance! It took a while to get right, and I think Paul helped with some ideas, but it's fantastic. I always want to hear more - that's how good it is. It's so musical, it's not just a drummer going off." -Geoff Emerick on The End



Source: Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick on Abbey Road | MusicRadar.com

 

[BeatlesFan]

I found this part interesting from Geoff Emerick's interview...


There wasn't the kind of out-and-out fighting and bickering that you witnessed in '68, but there was tension. Didn't Ringo walk out again, as he did during 'The White Album'?

"Yeah. that was because John wasn't happy with the drumming on Polythene Pam. He had some problems with Ringo's performance and Ringo got pissed off and split for a couple of days. But he came back and redid the track and John was pleased.

"That was the only bit of real tension - well, except for the fact that John absolutely hated Maxwell's Silver Hammer. My word, that song drove him totally mad, and he certainly made everyone aware of how much he hated it." [laughs]

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

"There were two struggles going on with this song: Paul and John fighting over whether it should even exist! [laughs] John called it 'more of Paul's granny music.' But there was my own struggle coming up with the sounds that should go on it.

Full Interview: Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick on Abbey Road | MusicRadar.com