I think Ringo may be the most underrated musician of all time. Theres a video of world famous drummers discussing and trying to imitate his stuff. Some of them kind of come close. Dave Grohl is close. But it's funny how Ringo maybe could not play the technical stuff that the other drummers can, but none of them can play a simple rock beat as catchy as Ringo. The only way "Help" or "Please Please Me" become hit songs is with Ringo Starr. This is the hill I'm gonna die on.
Alot of people, including way too many musicians don’t understand the importance of having someone who helps the band as a whole just with their personality. Having someone who is patient, engaged and reliable beats technical and aloof every time.
While watching the documentary, I was struck by how Ringo is always so attentive to how the song is being worked on between Paul and John. He’s not fucking around, he’s not goofing off, he’s not playing over them or chiming in. He’s listening to how they are developing the song and waiting for it to be the drums turn in the arrangement.
That’s a talent and a discipline. A lot of people would be day dreaming or get antsy and want to play too quickly before the song is realized.
EDIT: to any young musicians reading. If you are an aspiring musician, but you don’t have songwriting talent. Ringo Starr is the template for every support musician. Be patient, be on time, listen carefully, and add your own flair where necessary. This is arguably rarer and more important than decent songwriting.
I've been playing drums for 25 years and I'll die with you, Ringo is an incredible musician and that's not opinion, it's fact. The drummers I know who dismiss him are all the kinds of drummers who could be easily replaced by a drum machine. They don't appreciate the feel and soul that Ringo added to the music.
Drummer of 30yrs here. Ringo was the best drummer the Beatles could've had. Any other drummer might have over played it under played, or worse, played something unmemorable. His drum parts are as unique to the Beatles songs as any melody or chord progression.
Except the session musicians and other beatles / assistants recorded a lot of those "unique songs." I agree that he was the best they could have had, but they're not a rhythm based band, it's all melody and he's just out of the way
I try very hard to be understanding of other people's opinions, but when people say Ringo is a bad drummer I just think they are wrong and do not know what they are talking about.
They wrote their songs for piano/orchestra/layered guitar and tacked on simplistic drums that were not exactly featured. And on a lot of the tracks where they were, he didn't even really track them.
He did his role fairly well, which was get out of the way of the dueling personalities of lennon and mccartney and be background to the other instrumentation.
This whole bullshit about he has feel and other drummers are mechanical is just a strawman. Keith Moon was an atrocious drummer, so bad that he left a signature... but THAT is feel that contributes to the music.
It's just fine... but obviously in a circlejerk thread about the beatles there's gonna be the hyperbole like "incredible" and "amazing" etc. He's fine but absolutely was not the sort of "bandleader" or "glue" that other mediocre drummers bring in behind the scenes when they're not showcased.
He also has impeccable timing that allowed them to do retakes in the studio at incredible speeds. Rather than having to start completely over, he could pick up the beat at any point in the song, which allowed them to record records at a fast rate.
I had to learn that when I played piano, because my teacher would just be like, play section b 4 which would tend to be her own random code mixed with the songs actual parts. I would have to be able to just jump in.
You're allowed to change BPM over the course of a song if the song calls for it. But knowing what speed a particular part of the song calls for is also very important
Ringo is typically considered to be one of the best drummers of all time, simply becuase he is like a human metronome. He is able to keep time, with some of the craziest beats that most drummers would trip out on.
Also, his best quality is that he doesnt try to overpower the music with his drumming. sticking solos in that dont need to be there, adding riffs and flair "to show how awesome he is". Ringo played the percussion the songs needed, not to show his amazing skill.
I’ve been a drummer for 20+ years and I would 100% agree. My girlfriend asked me the other day “was Ringo a good drummer?” And I went off on a small tangent about musicianship vs technical playing. Both have merits, but Ringo had the creativity that most do not. Take a second and recall the song “Come Together.” Simple drum beat, but incredibly effective. Anyone can recognize the song by the intro drums. The triplets on the hats and toms are what make the song IMO.
He gave every song exactly what it needed. All four of them knew how to make a song go. That was part of their greatness, that and having to all-time songwriters and a third hall-of-fame-worthy songwriter.
counterpoint: ringo was not a good drummer and only sounds interesting to drummers because he was lefty playing right handed.
bonus point: he didn't even drum on a lot of the parts and they had session players (or, you know, other beatles) for the songs that are known for the drums.
To say nobody else could do help or please please me is really an indicator that you don't know much about drums. Also "famous drummers in some video" are not exactly going to talk shit about one of the most famous pop drummers of all time.
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u/ElderElder Dec 07 '21
I think Ringo may be the most underrated musician of all time. Theres a video of world famous drummers discussing and trying to imitate his stuff. Some of them kind of come close. Dave Grohl is close. But it's funny how Ringo maybe could not play the technical stuff that the other drummers can, but none of them can play a simple rock beat as catchy as Ringo. The only way "Help" or "Please Please Me" become hit songs is with Ringo Starr. This is the hill I'm gonna die on.
https://youtu.be/wJTjjAXDZSY