Why Ringo Starr is Underrated

Hi everyone,

I made a new video tonight, illustrating Ringo's playing on "The Word" as indicative of his underappreciated genius with the Beatles. Hope you guys aren't too brutal, I know you're some of the toughest nuts out here.

Why Ringo Starr is Underrated

Enjoy!

- Mike (MJ Sokes)

 

Very nice performance. I'm not sure I'm on board with your premise, though. The problem with Ringo isn't that he's underrated, say the way George is as a guitarist or Paul as a lyricist. It's that he's overlooked.

"The Word" is a nice example to your point, if not a spectacular one, of how Ringo brought something unique in the way he contributed to shaping the song's overall form, without a lot of high-hat or filligree. I never pay attention to the drums when I listen to the song, and that's where guys like Ringo and Charlie Watts make such a contribution.

I see you went with the black turtleneck look from With The Beatles. Nice choice!

 

I'm impressed! Nice job. I fit into the category of people that think Ringo played what every song needed, no more no less. He has a great intuitive feel for the groove. He never plays the same fills twice. Just listen to both John and Yoko's Plastic Ono Band albums. He is The Greatest.

 

Hi Mike, nice video. Good luck with that "secret project" you've been hinting about.

 

Is anything Bealtes-related underrated?

 

Very good. Those triplet fills are great! Nice to see them in action.

 

I like Ringo a lot, and his contributions can't be overlooked - the guy was the friggin' Beatles drummer and was the first rock drummer celebrity. Ringo, to his credit, certainly epitomized the "less is more" philosophy, and he extracted a prodigious amount from some very simple things. Concepts like opening the hi-hat slightly during the bridge or chorus are highly effective and have been intimated to death ever since. Ringo felt the music very well, and yes he always played exactly what the song dictated. I feel that later on, like on Abbey Road, Ringo was a far more cultured drummer, and contributed some nice ideas that went beyond what he seemed capable of.

All of this being said, Ringo did/does have a very limited repertoire. He seldom took any risks in his performances, and I put much of this down to certain definable limits in his skill set. Like Charlie Watts, Ringo isn't a guy who could carry a song on his own. What he did with the Beatles fit perfectly because the Beatles weren't really a band that required a lead drum voice. The reason why John Bonham is, imo, the best rock drummer who ever lived is that he could both carry a song and nearly fade into the background at the same time.

 

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That was fun to watch. Thanks. I'm curious to know why you selected "The Word".

 

For me, so much of a drummer's contribution are in the fills. And Ringo had great fills.

 

It's a badass song, one of my faves. I also think the obscurity helps make the case more than a better known song like "Come Together" or "Rain".

 

Because he kept up with Moon's drinking in Kids Are Alright.

 

Awesome...! Do more!

 

Good job...but you could have saved yourself the effort and just posted a link to the Washington DC concert.

 

That was fun! Love the hi-hat work, shifting from closed to open dramatically changes the feel of the song.

I agree, do another one.

"Rain"

 

Nice job, Mike.

 

Nah Ringo ability to play any style and time signatures made him the perfect drummer for the Beatles. Because as musicians they basically played every style you could think of.

This comment always made me laugh. Ginger Baker said this and the only two people in rock and roll he had any use for was Eric Clapton and John Lennon.

Ginger Baker comments

Keith Moon as a drummer? Nah. He was good with The Who, I suppose, when he tried to play like me....Moonie was a wonderful guy, but if you're going to judge from minus two to 10 then I'm a golden 10. Mitch Mitchell [The Jimi Hendrix Experience] was a journeyman. He was hopeless. John Bonham [Led Zeppelin], Ringo Starr [The Beatles], Charlie Watts [The Rolling Stones]...they're all three or four" ....

 

Ginger Baker said that?

 

You ought to pick a track that's been used in Rock Band; then you can really compare the drums (and their sounds! you have a very "live" drum kit, and the drums on the Beatles records don't quite sound like that. )

p.s. OVERDUB A SHAKER.

 

Perfect! Not too much, not too little. Just perfect.

Man, I love the Beatles.

 

IMHO Ringo was underrated during his time in the Beatles and for a period afterwards. Later though I feel that he has gotten mentioned enough as "underrated" that he lost that status.

 

He's not.
He has plenty of admirers from drummers (like myself) and non-drummers.

I don't see it.

 

Nice job on the video! Very cool to see those fills actually played.

Any chance you'll take on She Said She Said or Rain? Those two are monsters.

 

To the OP, I'm at work and don't have access to YouTube here but I think you're the guy who previously posted his own rendition of George Harrison's solo on I Saw Her Standing There. LOVED IT.

 

Great video! Love that open, dirty snare sound. Great tumbling tom fills. Keep em comin'.

Rhythmically, "The Word" is one of The Beatles funkiest, most underrated songs. Ringo and Paul are an ultra-tight unit on this one, worthy of backing up James Brown.