Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey Jr, MBE (born 7 July 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as the drummer of The Beatles. He was the oldest member of the band, and the last to join the Fab Four line up.

While sometimes the least visible member of the band, Starr's drumming style played a pivotal role in the music played and recorded by The Beatles. He filled the role he was hired for in 1962, then went on to establish a new approach to rhythm in popular music that some claim continues to grow in its significance and influence with every decade since The Beatles recorded their music.



Starr is left-handed yet plays a right-handed kit; his tendency to lead with his left hand contributes to his distinctive drumming style.



Lennon said of Starr:



“ Ringo was a star in his own right in Liverpool before we even met. He was a professional drummer who sang and performed and had Ringo Starr-time and he was in one of the top groups in Britain but especially in Liverpool before we even had a drummer ... Ringo's a damn good drummer. ”



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. ”



Many drummers list Starr as an influence, including Max Weinberg of the E Street Band, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters/Nirvana, Danny Carey of Tool, Liberty DeVitto of Billy Joel's band, Template:Bosh Berlin, Phil Collins, Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater and others. 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.



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.



Starr is also considered to have advanced various modern drumming techniques (for playing and recording) 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. 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. [citation needed] His use of a 'sizzle' cymbal (a cymbal incorporated with rivets that vibrate) would bring a much fuller sound than standard 'ride' cymbals.





Starr during the BBC recording of Hey Jude.McCartney took over the drums on Back in the U.S.S.R. and Dear Prudence, the first two tracks on the White Album (1968) after Starr had walked out, disgusted with the band's tensions and bored with waiting around to contribute. He did not return for two weeks until the other three Beatles urged him to come back. He spent the fortnight with actor Peter Sellers on his yacht in Piraeus, where he wrote Octopus's Garden. Lennon sent telegrams to Starr, and Harrison set up flowers all over the studio for Starr's return saying Welcome home.



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.' This postcard is included in Starr's book Postcards From The Boys.



McCartney played the drums on The Ballad of John and Yoko, recorded 14 April 1969, since only Lennon and McCartney were immediately available to record the song. Starr commented that he was lucky in being 'surrounded by three frustrated drummers' who could only drum in one style. Starr also did not play drums on The Beatles' first-ever single, Love Me Do. Session drummer Andy White was brought in by The Beatles' producer George Martin to record in place of Pete Best, and Martin claims to not have realized prior to the session that The Beatles had hired a professional drummer. Starr played tambourine on the version of Love Me Do featuring Andy White and maracas on P.S. I Love You.



Starr generally sang at least one song on each studio album, as part of establishing the vocal personality of all four members. In some cases, Lennon or McCartney would write the lyrics and melody especially for him, as Lennon did with Good Night from the White Album, and as he and McCartney did for Yellow Submarine from Revolver (1966). Often these melodies would be tailored to Starr's baritone vocal range. Starr's backing vocals can be heard on songs such as All Together Now, Carry That Weight, and The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill.



Starr is credited with Don't Pass Me By (on The White Album) and Octopus's Garden (on Abbey Road) as sole songwriter. Starr's name also appears as a co-writer: on Rubber Soul, the track What Goes On was co-written by Lennon, McCartney and Starr; while the songs Flying (on the Magical Mystery Tour album) and Dig It (on Let It Be) are listed as being written by Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. In addition, Starr wrote Taking a Trip to Carolina (on the second CD of Let It Be... Naked), and received joint songwriting credits with the other three Beatles for 12-Bar Original, Los Paranoias, Christmas Time (Is Here Again), Suzy Parker (heard in the Let It Be film), Jessie's Dream (heard in the Magical Mystery Tour film) and The Beatles' version of Free as a Bird.



Lennon used Ringo's common original expressions, such as A Hard Day's Night and Tomorrow Never Knows, and turned them into Beatles songs.



Starr commented in The Beatles Anthology that when he presented a song to The Beatles, it would often sound to the other three Beatles like another popular song, and Starr recognised the similarities when they were pointed out.