Ringo Starr, he is actually quite good

[Tube World]

I always thought Ringo was high hat 8th beats and snare on 2 and 4. Simple, never anything interesting until I started listening more carefully. Especially on the Love CD where George Martin allowed us to hear the drums more. Something is one example where he plays just great. Simple song but great fills that fit the song so well. Come Together, Rain, heck the Revolver CD, and Abbey Road are just great. I listened to a lot of his solo stuff as well. I think because he is doing lead vocals on every song it had taken him away from doing more interesting drums. However I heard Ringo oRama, and some other stuff. What I found was not difficult drumming, but very interesting drum fills that make the songs pretty interesting.

Found this on the internet
Drummer Steve Smith said:
“ Before Ringo, drum stars were measured by their soloing ability and virtuosity. Ringo's popularity brought forth a new paradigm in how the public saw drummers. We started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the compositional aspect. One of Ringo's great qualities was that he composed unique, stylistic drum parts for the Beatles songs. His parts are so signature to the songs that you can listen to a Ringo drum part without the rest of the music and still identify the song.[23] ”
Many drummers list Starr as an influence, including Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters, Orri Páll Dýrason of Sigur Ros [24], Max Weinberg of the E Street Band, Danny Carey of Tool, Liberty DeVitto of Billy Joel's band, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, Phil Collins, Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater and others.[25] According to Collins, "Starr is vastly underrated. The drum fills on the song "A Day in the Life" are very complex things. You could take a great drummer today and say, 'I want it like that.' He wouldn't know what to do." [26]
In his extensive survey of The Beatles' recording sessions, Mark Lewisohn confirmed that Starr was both proficient and remarkably reliable and consistent. According to Lewisohn, there were fewer than a dozen occasions in The Beatles' eight-year recording career where session 'breakdowns' were caused by Starr making a mistake, while the vast majority of takes were stopped due to mistakes by the other three members.[25]
Starr is also considered to have advanced various modern drumming techniques, such as the matched grip, placing the drums on high risers for visibility as part of the band, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal rings, along with his general contributions to The Beatles as a whole.[23] Specific drum parts executed by Starr in notably signature fashion include the fill that brings the drums and bass guitar into "Hey Jude", the steady rock beats in "Please Please Me" and other early Beatles recordings, the drum kit pattern through the bridge of "Hello, Goodbye", and the driving bass drum notes found in "Lady Madonna", underlying the more intricate, double-tracked snare drum. His use of a 'sizzle' cymbal (a cymbal incorporated with rivets that vibrate) would bring a much fuller sound than standard 'ride' cymbals. Starr comments his best drumming is on the 1966 single B-side "Rain".

[snüzz]

agreed. very tasteful.

[narcoman]

Ringo Starr was a proficient drummer who kept EXCELLENT time and played the strokes correctly - what he couldn't do in magic tricks he more than made up for with in playing the right thing at the right time - on time!

[LRhodes]

The drum fills on the song "A Day in the Life" are very complex things

thumbsup
I dig Elvin Max and Tony, so it's not all eighths - Ringo's ability to play melodic and lay it down put him in this eschellon of great drummers.

[DeepSpace]

Originally Posted by narcoman

...what he couldn't do in magic tricks...

That's the received wisdom about Ringo, but that's not how I see it. He did indeed do magic!

It just wasn't the kind of flashy, trashy, in-your-face "magic" that passes for virtuosity. It was indeed a higher level of virtuosity known as *musicianship*. The man is/was not merely a drummer - and that is a trick few can pull, however slick their chops.

[robot gigante]

Originally Posted by DarkSky

That's the received wisdom about Ringo, but that's not how I see it. He did indeed do magic!

It just wasn't the kind of flashy, trashy in-your-face "magic" that passes for virtuosity. It was indeed a higher level of virtuosity known as *musicianship*. The man is/was not merely a drummer - and that is a trick few can pull, however slick their chops.

Precisely!

If I was playing rock and roll and could pick any drummer at their prime to play with me it would be either Ringo or Charlie Watts.

[RawBeanZen]

His performance on "A Day In The Life" is truly a thing of beauty.

[gevermil]

As a drummer I love ringo for all the above mentioned reasons .
The thing I see in ringo ( maybe its just me ) but I hear ringo speed up a tad in his fills
and then come back to the original tempo creating such a cool push and pull with the song ( aka I am the walrus )
I dont know if hes chasing a click track or its his way but I always loved the effect .

[vernier]

Ringo, charismatic drummer, perfect Beatle, big voice ..."With A Little Help From My Friends" is the one I like on that album.
'

[dubrichie]

Originally Posted by robot gigante

Precisely!

If I was playing rock and roll and could pick any drummer at their prime to play with me it would be either Ringo or Charlie Watts.

see my signature below for a concise description of Ringo's merit.

DIG the Ringo.

[cassiopamusic]

ringo goes to show that you don't need to play overly-complicated beats and flashy fills to be a truly awsome drummer, playing the right things at the right time will drive a song much more.

[travisbrown]

Two of the most underrated drummers: Charlie Watts and Ringo. What they did, they did perfectly.

[Marlowe]

How can you "get" the Beatles without appreciating Ringo? He was so damn tasty!

[sleestack]

My drum teacher hated Ringo for saying he was the best drummer in the world. That didn't sit too well with the old school jazz drummers

[onion]

I love all the Beatles and agree fully with the above Ringo praise. No doubt that Lennon and Paul were among the best of the best, most influential, most innovative rock/pop songwriters ever. But George wrote some of their best stuff also. In addition to being a major contributor to the overall Beatles sound from behind the kit, Ringo was a soulful vocalist. And Paul is one of my all time favorite bassists.

[DeepSpace]

Originally Posted by sleestack

..drum teacher hated RIngo for saying he was the best drummer in the world...

Huh? Did he ever actually *say* that?? AFAICT, Ringo was unfailingly modest. It's hard to imagine him making anything approaching a grandiose claim.

Notwithstanding that...

Originally Posted by sleestack

That didn't sit too well with the old school jazz drummers

...see my earlier comments about the nature of virtuosity and the things that Ringo had going that all the slick licks in the world - jazzdom included - cannot touch.

[Stu Gutz]

Originally Posted by onion

Ringo was a soulful vocalist.

I love Ringo's drumming, but I don't know about that one ....

[mikey]

Ahh dude,,, lets get serious..Ringo is one of the best drummers in the world ever!!!If you listen to the beatles live he was kicking some real ass.And in the studio he was playing very hard.If you listen to Concert for George you will see when Ringo starts playing with the band and the other drummers the whole feel changes.Jim Keltner is the first to admit that Ringos time is incredible.With out Ringo the Beatles wouldn't have been as good.He made that band rock with that Mersey beat...Oh what a feel .Did you ever try and play the beat???tutt
Long Live Ringo

[Silver Sonya]

Is this even a controversial subject? I remember dummies in high school who thought Ringo Starr was a bad drummer, but... these were the kind of numbskulls who think that good guitar playing is fast guitar playing. If you play a lot of notes really fast, that means you are good, right? Ugh. Kill me.

I think almost everybody eventually grows up out of that kind of adolescent thinking and realizes that the true greats are those whose ideas stick in your head. Imagine all of the great Beatles spells that would have been broken by a less tasteful, flashier drummer. The dude had charm. That's not easy to pull off, y'know?

I mean, who doesn't recognize the ingenious, sensual minimalism of the pounding toms in "Come Together"?

Dumb people, that's who.

- c

[Winey]

This just in... Earth is round!

[FFTT]

Ringo Starr and Roy Buchanan, two musicians who truly understood
the value of that one perfect note.

If only I could find a drummer of that caliber to work with.
In the pocket!

[roxy]

Originally Posted by RawBeanZen

His performance on "A Day In The Life" is truly a thing of beauty.

REALLY NICE SONG

[lucey]

Originally Posted by Winey

This just in... Earth is round!

LOL!

Originally Posted by FFTT

Ringo Starr and Roy Buchanan, two musicians who truly understood the value of that one perfect note.

please add BB King to the one-note wonders.

[janek 68]

There isn`t good song without good drumming.The Beatles have 99% good songs so everything is clear for me.

[vernier]

I liked his solo stuff after Beatles ..."It Don't Come Easy" . . . w/George on slide!

YouTube - RINGO STARR - IT DON'T COME EASY 1971

'

[dibravibra]

Ringo is my favorite drummer. But, he made a lot of remarkable tracks with a little help of his friends. Specially Paul helped him a lot. BTW, a journalist once asked John if Ringo is the best drumer in the world. John replied that he's not even the best drummer in the Beatles Otherwise, Ring somehow made the Beatles. After he joined they were great little band..

[filin]

Originally Posted by roxy

REALLY NICE SONG

It's my faourite Beatles song, and one of my favourite of all songs.

[sleestack]

Ringo's 'Good night' is one of my favorite Beatles songs

[narcoman]

Originally Posted by DarkSky

That's the received wisdom about Ringo, but that's not how I see it. He did indeed do magic!

It just wasn't the kind of flashy, trashy, in-your-face "magic" that passes for virtuosity. It was indeed a higher level of virtuosity known as *musicianship*. The man is/was not merely a drummer - and that is a trick few can pull, however slick their chops.

Ididnt say he didnt do magic - I said he didn't/couldn't do magic TRICKS....there is a difference. I think his playing was spot on for the Beatles - no issue at all...the perfect parts and the perfect level of style..

What he cant do - and THIS is where those that decry him make a mistake - is in the stick wizardry of the tricksters....thing is - nobody is impressed by the superfast twat drummers except other superfast twat drummers.

[TheBlade]

Ringo is my favorite!

The thing that most people don't understand is that....
Ringo wasn't just a drummer, he was a musician and he played for the song!

This is the secret of being great!

I've been playing drums professionally for 25 years and I still can't get Ringo's feel completely. He is one of a kind. My playing has been compared to a mix of Ringo and Bonham. It's the best complement I've ever gotten in my lifetime!

Rock On