10 Reasons List - Why Ringo is the Greatest Drummer of all Time (no, really)

 

1.)  He has “Starr” in his name.

2).   Out of all the Beatles, he made the fewest errors during sessions.

3).  He managed to keep balance on his chair, even with his tremendous nose.

4).  On most Beatles movies, he took the lead roll (only one that had some acting talent).

5).  He dated some hot women.

6).  *Shrugs* Y-NOT

7).  He manages to keep looking bad ass with his sun glasses and beard.

8).  4 words…yellow, garden, octopus, submarine

9).  ITS FREAKING RINGO STARR!! (and he was one of the first to use the “match grip”

10).  Paul McCartney thinks Ringo Starr is the greatest drummer ever! “McCartney sent Starr a postcard on 31 January 1969 (the day after the band's performance on the roof of Apple Studios) stating: 'You are the greatest drummer in the world. Really.' “

 

Joking aside, I think Ringo is highly underrated.  In many ways he was the "Elvis" of rock drumming.  He was not the best techinically, but opened the door for many amazing rock drummers.  However, that does not mean he was not a good drummer....here is another top 10 list...a more serious one..taken from http://web2.iadfw.net/gshultz/bryant.html

 

1).  Ringo was one of the first drummers to actually sit in a high rise stand, allowng him to be easily seen during live perfomrances.  Before Starr, drummers were usually way in the back, or not even shown at all!.

 

2).  Ringo changed the sound of recorded drums. About the time of Rubber Soul (released Dec. 6,1965), the sound of the drumset started to become more distinct. Along with help from the engineers at Abbey Road studios, Ringo popularized a new sound for the drums by tuning them lower, deadening the tonal ring with muffling materials, and making them sound "closer" by putting a microphone on each drum. 

 

3).  Ringo has nearly perfect tempo. This allowed the Beatles to record a song 50 or 60 times, and then be able to edit together different parts of numerous takes of the same song for the best possible version. Today an electronic metronome is used for the same purpose, but the Beatles had to depend on Ringo to keep the tempo consistant throughout the dozens of takes of the songs that you know and love so well. Had he not had this ability, the Beatles recordings would sound completely different today. 

 

4). Ringo's "feel" for the beat serves as a standard for pop-rock record producers and drummers alike. It is relaxed, but never dragging. Solid, yet always breathing. And yes, there is a great amount of musical taste in his decisions of what to play and when to play it. In most recording sessions, the drummer's performance acts as a barometer for the rest of the musicians. The stylistic direction, dynamics, and emotions are filtered through the drummer. He is the catcher to whom the pitcher/songwriter is throwing. If the drumming doesn't feel good, the performance of any additional musicians is doomed from the start. The Beatles rarely if ever had this problem with Ringo. 

 

5).  Ringo hated drum solos, which should win points with quite a few people. He only took one solo while with the Beatles. His eight measure solo appears during "The End" on the "B" side of Abbey Road. Some might say that it is not a great display of technical virtuosity, but they would be at least partially mistaken. You can set an electronic metronome to a perfect 126 beats per minute, then play it along with Ringo's solo and the two will stay exactly together. 

 

6). Ringo's ability to play odd time signatures helped to push popular songwriting into uncharted areas. Two examples are "All you Need is Love" in 7/4 time, and "Here Comes the Sun" with repeating 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8 passages in the chorus.

 

7). Ringo's proficiency in many differen styles such as two beat swing ("When I'm Sixty-Four"), ballads ("Something"), R&B ("Leave My Kitten Alone" and "Taxman") and country (the Rubber Soul album) helped the Beatles to explore many musical directions with ease. His pre-Beatle experience as a versatile and hard working nightclub musician served him well. 







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Comment by SDR on September 30, 2015 at 6:56pm

SDR agrees with this - nobody but Ringo would have or could have done it.

 

Top 3 Drummers of all time

Ringo

Ringo

Ringo

Honorable Mention:  Paul McCartney

 

Lov

SDR

Comment by BeatleBob on August 11, 2011 at 11:46am

Beatle Girl ~ Glad you liked the postcard! And Yes, that Big Nose Pic looks exactly like the "Cartoon Ringo" you posted here!! LOL LOL :-D

 

I too, like that Ringo was recognized as the Drummer who started sitting on a high rise stand!! :-D

Comment by Annalina Lennon McCartney on August 10, 2011 at 5:37pm

Yay! You found the postcard addressed to Ringo, BeatleBob!

 

LOL@TheRingoBigNosePic! It looks exactly like cartoon Ringo...

 

I likethat Ringo actually got recognized as a drummer by sitting on a high rise stand! :))

Comment by BeatleBob on August 10, 2011 at 11:10am

Re: 1).  Ringo was one of the first drummers to actually sit in a high rise stand, allowng him to be easily seen during live perfomrances.  Before Starr, drummers were usually way in the back, or not even shown at all!.

I Agree! I Don't remember seeing any drummer sit in a high rise stand before him! And actually don't remember seeing any other drummer in a band do the same, after after him!

 

Again, Great Blog Post! :-)

Comment by BeatleBob on August 10, 2011 at 11:06am

Re: 10).  Paul McCartney thinks Ringo Starr is the greatest drummer ever! “McCartney sent Starr a postcard on 31 January 1969 (the day after the band's performance on the roof of Apple Studios) stating: 'You are the greatest drummer in the world. Really.' “

:-D

Comment by BeatleBob on August 10, 2011 at 11:03am

Re: 3).  He managed to keep balance on his chair, even with his tremendous nose.

LOL ;-)


Comment by BeatleBob on August 10, 2011 at 9:29am

You're Welcome JP!! :-) Thanks again for another Great blog post! :-))

Comment by John Paul on August 9, 2011 at 11:58am
thanks for the nice comments everyone!
Comment by BeatleBob on August 8, 2011 at 10:47am

JP, I Really Enjoyed This!! 

And "LOL" @ # 3! ;-) And # 2 & #9 YES as far as his Drumming went! I also enjoyed the rest ~ numbers 1, 4, 5, 7, 8. And Cool for # 10. 

 

I followed the Link, and read numbers 1 through 7 you provided here. 

 

I pretty much took Ringo's drumming for granted until I read this! There were a lot of great drummers after Ringo's time during The Beatles. Just to mention a couple such as Neil Pert of RUSH, and Carl Palmer from ELP, and many more. But, after reading the "Facts" from the Link and what you provided here, Ringo Certainly was at the forefront at what he did as a drummer, and inspired many drummers after him! Including the ways to get the best sound in the recording studio! With ALL the information stated here, I now Agree that Ringo is the Greatest Rock & Roll Drummer of all time!! He was and is Very Talented, and not only as a Drummer but also for the other reason that were stated here at the beginning!

 

Thanks again, for yet another informative blog posting! :-D And a couple of laughs as well! ;-)

 

Sadie ~ I knew you would say that! LOL ;-) I also think Keith Moon was one of the Great Drummers! :-)


Comment by Sadie on August 7, 2011 at 3:35pm
I love Ringo, but I think Keith Moon is the greatest drummer ever. lol.

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