Discussion: The Beatles "Old Brown Shoe" - Paul or Ringo on drums?

Yeah. Even Ringo says it's Paul on bass and confirms it's himself on drums : "Sometimes you just had to shake out the jams, and with that song – Paul’s bass line and my drums – Paul started screaming and shouting and made it up on the spot."

 

I agree that it's not Paul but I hear John myself.

Who else would dare to so openly contradict Yoko?

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

 

I hear John.

 

Nothing daring about it, it was in a joking way.
I guess you haven't heard about the Yoko vs. McVities Digesives accident

 

I know all about McVitiegate, but the tone of the intervention doesn't sound like a joke to me.

Beyond that context, I just think it sounds more like John.

In any case I would never in a million years have said it was Paul.

 

John

 

So three of us think it's John. Any more opinions?

 

Of course it's John.

 

Just come across this thread, thought I'd chip in....

We recorded the SATB podcast literally days after the SDE Abbey Road was released, so I was still shocked (and stunned) about this revelation - especially as I'd regarded it as one of my favourite Ringo moments..... publicly too.

Now I've had more time to digest it, I'm convinced it's Paul on OBS.

Take 2 is quite 'ropey' by anyone's standards, especially Ringo's. The cymbal crashes don't sound like him and the triplet tom/snare/hi-hat fills falter. Tempo is a little awry too. The lightness of touch (save for the toms) isn't a Ringo trait either. If Paul, he'd have had 2 more takes to get it right - the fills aren't that far away from the finished article. We independently came up with the tom overdub theory as we probably couldn't comprehend it being Paul. There is a percussion overdub (rim clicks in left channel) which hasn't been documented anywhere, so it's possible there were others - although in this case the toms appear to be part of the 'core' drum track. If they were recorded as overdubs they'd surely be on the left channel with the rim clicks?

At the end of Take 2 you can hear John ask what's "burning?" Paul says "Oh, it's this." (probably a cigarette), closely followed by sticks being placed on a drum. Pretty conclusive, I'd say?

As for filming schedules in the late 60's, I've asked a veteran of the era who told me shoots would be around 8-10 hours in length, most crews were on a 'buy-out' with 'overtime' to complete the schedule if required. If they were shooting at location they couldn't return to, they'd overrun to complete. Nightshoots would have been commonplace due to location availability, with the working day starting after lunchtime/mid afternoon. So, even though he was a 30 minute drive away, Ringo could have been unavailable at any time of the day, even when he would have been expected at a Beatles session. Plus, if he was shooting late after a long day and had a 7 or 8 am start the following day, would he really dash across town to drum on a session?

At the end of the day, I don't think we can discount the new info as for all those years we've thought Ringo played on OBS and it's difficult to accept otherwise. However as I think I've said before "I wasn't there" so who knows? Fun this stuff isn't it?

Cheers,

Alex

 

Wow, is all I can say IF this ends up being true. Paul the master of all instruments. Amazing!

 

I'm interested in your thoughts on this whole topic (and have your book, btw), but I'm not hearing this part in the same way that you are. The track ends, goes silent, less than a second after the "Oh, it's this" comment, and there are various drums sounds occurring simultaneously with the comment. Are you sure that the drummer is actually laying his sticks down at that point?

 

Also, is it me and am I hearing it wrong, but it sounds like George to me saying that.

 

Maybe, but it sounds more like Paul to me.

 

Oh! 'eck! Not only is it who plays drums, now it's who said what?

Seriously (honest) I added those thoughts as to me (a sound engineer) Paul's voice seems to emanate from the same space as the drumsticks.

 

New to the forum, I see.

 

Superb!

 

You should've seen two reeeeeally long threads on who sang "Aaaaah"s in A Day in the Life

 

I see, thanks. The wording of the comment of yours that I quoted gave me the impression that you were focussing on the sequence of the sounds.

 

It's Paul saying, "What's burning?," and his voice is far away, off mike. George is the one who responds, "Oh, it's this."

If this is any sort of evidence, it could be that Paul is NOT the drummer, as his voice is coming from the left, very distant, whereas the drums had just finished being played loudly in the center channel, with the cymbal still ringing. Who knows what kind of dialog snipping has gone on with these outtakes, though.

 

I love this forum...lifelong Beatle fan...over 25 pages on who drummed on Old Brown Shoe. Gotta love it...

 

It's all so Very Important. Apparently due to this grievous error in the notes, the Recording the Beatles folks should be fired, shunned, and run out of town by pitchfork and torch. At least for one poster here.

 

As silly as this all seems (and to some degree it most certainly is!), the question is very intriguing because the drumming does sound SOOO much like Ringo, and if true that it's Paul it would mean a quantum leap in what has been thought about Paul's drumming skills. So, to the the hardcore Beatle fan, musicians and engineer types especially (of which there are many here), this question is actually very interesting. So count me in the silliness, I'd love to know the truth on this.

 

There's no argument.

 

Absolutely fair! I just recall some "grr they should be fired" chatter on this thread, which is deserving of at least a little mockery.

 

Sounds just like John doing one of his funny, fake angry voices.