I don't know where or when that was recorded, but apparently it's been widely bootleged. In any case, I thought it was worth sharing, and frankly I'm a little amazed that I never knew the guy was left-handed.
[h/t ROTP(lumber)]
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Richard Starkey Explains It All to You
Specifically, why his distinctive drum fills sound so, er, distinctive.
I don't know where or when that was recorded, but apparently it's been widely bootleged. In any case, I thought it was worth sharing, and frankly I'm a little amazed that I never knew the guy was left-handed.
[h/t ROTP(lumber)]
I don't know where or when that was recorded, but apparently it's been widely bootleged. In any case, I thought it was worth sharing, and frankly I'm a little amazed that I never knew the guy was left-handed.
[h/t ROTP(lumber)]
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13 comments:
I had read that he was left handed and played right handed, but this recording is very cool!
Love the buttons in the picture;>
Left or right handed, it really doesn't matter. He could have played with his feet, he was in The Beatles!
Hey Steve, where's the music? (wink)
Interesting ... I guess they can't switch the kits around?
Anyway, I am now going to have the Sgt. Pepper reprise earworm for the rest of the day. :-)
See? When life gives you dilemmas, make dilemmonade.
Ian McDonald alludes to this several times in "Revolution in the Head". He notes that American drummers, particularly on the west coast, were amazed by those fills, and Ringo's feel in general.
I was always more taken by the sound of his cymbal crashes on the later records - the way they grow and flower after the initial hit - which I eventually learned was a result of severe compression.
It's a shame he didn't simply join another band and keep going (though it's easy to understand why). To this day, nobody can touch him when it comes to supporting a song while embellishing it; his drumming was simple and complex at the same time.
Noam nails it.
Only other guy I can think of who comes close is Jim Keltner, but he couldn't have played the fills on the Beatles version of "Long Tall Sally."
Great posting! Amazing to hear this. Ringo was so colorful and interesting. The mystery of Bernard Purdie's claims about being the uncredited drummer on 21 Beatles sessions (all refuted by George Martin) is why would the producer or label want anyone other than Ringo? - AP
I read in a Keltner interview that he could not do some of the fills because they were "wrong." He was listening to Ringo through some high dollar stereo and laughing in joy and amazement at how wonderfully indiosyncratic Ringo is as a musician.
It kind of makes the crappy comment John said about him, "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles" more repugnant. I bet it was in John's drunk phase.
Trey
John had a nasty streak.
Has anybody ever seen the live clip of "Can't Buy Me Love"? The drumming is downright propulsive. You half-expect the kit to bounce off the riser. It's a thing of beauty, that.
I know people who love Neil Peart but think that Ringo and Charlie Watts and terrible drummers. Then I see Neil on VH1 Classic, drowning in a wankerific 360-degree ocean of drums, and I have to laugh.
My friend, Terry Anderson of The Yayhoos -- as fine a Watts-influenced drummer as you'll find -- has a credo: "Play the song, not the drums." Ringo played the song.
Fascinating little clip, Steve. Cool post.
Edward said...
Love the buttons in the picture;>
Oh yeah, my buddies and I would have given anything for one of those double-button, high collared, button-down shirts back when "Yesterday and Today" came out -- or any of the Beatle clothes on that album cover.
Mark me down as another person who didn't realize Ringo was a southpaw. Very interesting demonstration of how he came up with his idiosyncratic style. I always loved his slow tom-roll fills and no one has ever seemed to play them the way he did.
happy birthday Ringo! (July 7). AP
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