"Without his drumming, Forget it! It wouldn't be The Beatles"-Paul McCartney
It's no shock that John Lennon and Paul McCartney are known as "The Leaders" of The Beatles, and it's no shock that George Harrison has made a profound name for himself with his music career in The Beatles, solo work, and with The Traveling Wilbury's but it's unfortunate that Ringo Starr doesn't get the amount of credit he deserves. Maybe it's because Ringo wasn't the original drummer, replacing Pete Best in 1962. Or maybe because he didn't start writing his own material till The Beatles (White Album) with "Don't Pass Me By", or it could be that he was always in the back on stage for the drum positions while John, Paul, and George were in the front. And those people are pure idiots to think of Ringo that way, he was one of the members and is as far as I'm concerned the best drummer in the world.
On August 16,1962 Beatles manager, Brian Epstein approached Ringo and asked him to join the band. Ringo didn't respond till August 18,1962 when he filled the position of the new Beatles drummer. Firing Pete Best and hiring Ringo, coming from competing band "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes" , didn't start out as well having some of the audience shouting "Pete is Best!" and "Ringo Never, Pete Best forever!". George Harrison recalled one night of playing and the crowd,"However, after bout half an hour it was getting a bit tiring so I shouted to the audience. when we stepped out of the band room into the dark tunnel, some guy nodded me one, giving me a black eye. The things we have t o do for Ringo!"-George Harrison
"Ringo was a professional drummer who sang and performed, so his talents would have come out one way or the other. I don't know what he would have ended up- what ever that spark is in Ringo, we all know it but we cant put our finger on it. There's something in him that's projectable and he would have surfaced as an individual."-John Lennon
And after all wasn't it Ringo who came up with the expression "A Hard Days Night"and "8 Days A Week"! Without Ringo Starr there would be no Beatles, it's like George Harrison said once,
"How many Beatles does it take to change a light bulb? four."
Once they got the fourth Beatle it was all history. Ringo has had an amazing impact on this world in both music and pop culture and will forever be remembered as the greatest drummer of all time.
During Paul's "Out There" tour he had the chance to talk to Nesta Matthews from Winnipeg where he says;
"I think Ringo gets that reputation because he wasn’t one of the songwriters, and he was only an occasional singer in the group. It was mainly me and John, and then later George. He got a sort of secondary role. But I say to people: Every single member of the Beatles was just as important as the other. I liken it to four side of a square. Without one of them, it falls apart.”
During the phone interview he continues on his wonderful friend and drummer.
“He was very sort of vocal. He would tell us what he wanted, what he liked, And we always had this rule: If one of us didn’t like a song we were doing, it got chucked out. So we always had a very equal vote. And the whole spirit of Ringo was very important to the Beatles — and let’s not forget his drumming. He’s one of the best drummers in the world, you know? His drummer on the Beatles is very original. It made the group’s sound what it was.”
Find the rest of the interview here.
Ringo and Paul have worked together on several situations including Ringo's solo work like 1973's Ringo, 1998's Vertical Man, and Ringo's 2010 Y Not. Ringo has also worked on Paul's tracks like 1982's Tug of War, 1997's Flaming Pie, Ringo can be seen on the video for "Wanderlust" and much more. Featured below; Ringo Starr's "When I Walk With You" from Y Not and "The Medley" from Give My Regards To Broad Street.
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