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“Is Ringo the best drummer in the world?”
“Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles!”
(Apocryphal, not actually John Lennon)
Isn’t that from National Lampoons Beat the Meatals?
Apparently it’s from a Jasper Carott comedy routine.
My Beatles theory is that Pete Best sucked at drumming so bad, the other three Beatles got used to making songs without including the drummer in the creative process. So when they gave Pete the boot and hired Ringo, it didn’t matter how good he was. They already had a process without a drummer. And that’s why most of their songs have terrible beats, it’s because they didn’t rely on their drummer. They’re tacking drums onto songs that don’t need any drums, so the drums are just trying to be mild and inoffensive and not disturb the mix.
Now Queen, that’s a band that knows how to use their drummer. Have a listen to Stone Cold Crazy, that’s a song with a good beat and some GREAT fills. A good fill connects different sections together, which makes songs sound more dynamic. They can change as they go on. The Beatles are slow and boring because they don’t use their drummer to do that. They find a decent melody and they just do that for 3 minutes. Queen can fit three different melodies into the same three minutes because of their drummer.
I don’t think Roger Taylor would agree with you that he has been “used” by Queen. He has written some of their biggest songs and is a great singer too! I have so much respect for Queen even if I don’t like all their music, just 4 guys banging out classics all day long, no backing tracks or hidden young people filling out the sound. Late 80s stadium Queen is just so powerful - strongly recommend watching their live in Montreal concert film, it’s so impressive.
I agree the Beatles are overrated though, I’ve never understood the sheer number of people even today who think they’re peak. They’ve got some good tunes but yeah… snooze!
I don’t think they meant “use” with any negative connotation. I’m curious. Had they said “utilized” instead would that have read better to you?
From a purely grammatical perspective, yes, utilized would be a little bit less pejorative than used. But I still think Roger Taylor would object hehe
I dont really care all that much, I’m not a super fan, but I really don’t think the drumming on the Beatles is even remotely bad, it’s just in a particular style.
It’s actually really good, just not flashy. Just what was needed for the tracks.
Nephew was right. fuck them slow boomers.
The Beatles are not boomers.
I thought they were referring to the fans, not the members.
But that doesn’t hold as the Beatles legacy has continued to reverberate through generations (mainly due to artistic output, but supplemented by well managed releases every decade or so)
I don’t get the down votes.
Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE Liverpool, 18 June 1942
John Winston Ono Lennon Liverpool, 9 October 1940
George Harrison MBE Liverpool, 25 February 1943
Sir Richard Starkey MBE Liverpool, 7 July 1940
Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964. Source
The Beatles are indeed not baby boomers but silent generation.
Maybe from others who interpreted it as targeted at the band’s first generation fans, not at the members themselves.
Edit: I don’t agree with the original sentiment, the Beatles influence on popular (western) music cannot be disputed whether one personally enjoys their output or not.
The Beatles are indeed not baby boomers but silent generation.
Could have been more silent. Most overrated band ever.
Preach
Especially with Yellow Submarine you can hear their poetical qualities. It’s clear they studied literature for years before they started making music xD
The thing about Ringo is that he more or less invented (or at least popularized) many of the beats that other genres would use, e.g. prog rock (not the crazy time signature stuff obviously) and a lot of pop music at the time.
It’s not always obvious, but you can pick some tracks from say Yesterday and Today through to Abby Road and have a difficult time finding other drummers who used that beat first.
Hey may not have been the most technically proficient, but he was so musical with his drumming and creative. Meg White wasn’t the “best” drummer either but she was so perfect with the White Stripes. I think Ringo really rounded out the Beatles and the tracks on the White Album without him really suffer for it.
What does “technical proficiency” even mean as long as you’re creative? I respect music theory, for sure, but that’s why I’ve never believed it to be essential in any way.
Lots of drumming nerds and metalheads appreciate it, and i don’t want to yuck their yum.
Yeah, I’m not trying to either, really. It just bugs me how theory gets looked at as the ultimate judge of skill, and whenever someone is good without it, its an exception. That’s all.
I’m not talkimg abouy theory in this case, although i get what you’re saying. Actually i love how amazing the Beatles were at songwriting without being educated in theory at all; Paul famously couldn’t read music, i don’t know about the others. As the other commenter said, George Martin helped them whenever they needed the theory/arranging chops.
What i mean is technical proficiency i.e. how quickly and accurately and complicatedly can the drummer hit the drums. Some people love that shit and i get it. But my favorite drummers are the ones who didn’t have that, but had creativity and soul and rhythm without being technical and everything else.
Someone on YouTube said that The Who was the first rock band where the drum set was the lead instrument, and i love that! Keith moon wasn’t perfectly on beat all the time or super duper fast, but he was amazing.
I love how Ringo put so much thought and care into his drum parts, you can often tell which song you’re hearing just from the drum track alone. He really did elevate the Beatles songs with his creativity, without being a superstar show off about it. And i love his understated drum solo.
I mean, none of The Beatles knew theory. Obviously they picked up a lot of it but they lacked the vocabulary. They turned to George Martin, producer of all but one of their albums, for that.
Is that Taylor Hawkins?
Yeah. It’s a video of a bunch of famous drummers talking about Ringo Starr.
@LORDSMEGMA@sh.itjust.works
For posterity here’s the YT link.
Nephew is right. Neil Peart existed
And for a fleeting 32 years so did Kieth Moon. Both considered technically more advanced than Ringo but I would put all three amongst my top drummers in rock history.
