Is it possible Paul McCartney played drums on Old Brown Shoe?

Is it possible Paul McCartney played drums on Old Brown Shoe? Ringo (and George) were unavailable for the previous session for TBOJ&Y, Ringo was off shooting Magic Christian.

Is there any confirmation that the drums are actually Ringo? They sound a bit un-Ringo like, perhaps Paul-like to me.

 

Wow a Double A side of Paul's drumming.

 

No, they're him. The drum part is much too complicated for Paul to have played it in 1969.

 

Paul could not play at that speed for 3 minutes

 

Paul plays piano on this one, I believe. In this video (audio), George is teaching the lyrics. Piano and drums are present, so chances are good it's Ringo on drums and Paul on piano.

 

This. Everything I've read about OBS indicates it having the Ringman behind the kit.

Macca's drumming resume (recorded & released) was not particularly impressive at that point, mostly timekeeping & simple backbeats.

 

Wow, when was this track booted? I've never heard it before -- or is it from the Get Back sessions?

 

I hear Ringo's chops.

 

Yeah Paul is much more slower and "loosey groovy" when he plays drums. Old Brown Shoe is much tighter and precise as a result of Ringo's style.

 

Not a chance. Paul's a decent drummer but that part is worlds beyond his ability.

 

One of my favourite Ringo drum tracks.

 

That says it. Although Paul DID have a great drum moment or two within The Beatles (like the end bit on Dear Prudence), he was generally not as "tight" as Ringo; the drumming on USSR, while fun and works fine for the song, is really quite sloppy. I always wondered if there were any rehearsal takes lying around with Ringo on drums before he walked out.

 

Absolutely. This is 100% Ringo on drums. No doubt.

 

That video does come from the Get Back sessions. The song first debuted on January 27th and they ran through the song some more on the 28th. And they did a verse of the song with John on vocals on the 29th.

They recorded the song on April 16, 1969 with all four members at Abbey Road, a first since the October sessions of the White Album where all four recorded together at Abbey Road. Also that day, the band recorded an early version of Something before a remake was recorded.

Interestingly, John Lennon did play rhythm guitar, but it was erased when overdubbing the organ. Still, his only contribution of backing vocals does seem like he rarely contributed to George's songs after 1967.

 

Don't think Paul could have managed that shuffle feel so authoritatively.

 

There is a great track on 30 Days where it's George, Paul and Ringo and it's a solid 3-piece guitar, bass drums performance. You can feel Paul encouraging George and Ringo through his aggressive bass playing. Wish I could find a clip of it.

 

It sounds like Ringo.
For a good indication of Paul's style during this era, McCartney scholars have recently determined that Paul plays one set of drums on Don't Pass Me By while Ringo is piano. (The beginning of Don't Pass Me By has Paul's Momma Miss America drum lick as well.)

There's also Steve Miller Band's My Dark Hour.

 

George plays piano on this version. Paul's on bass, John on guitar, Ringo drums.

 

On this version but not the final version correct?

 

From some recordings infos I read somewhere few months earlier, only 'The Ballad' was a John & Paul recording, 'Old Brown Shoe' is definitely all four Fabs and Ringo's on drums.

 

Released version:

George Harrison: vocals, guitars, organ, bass
John Lennon: backing vocals
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, guitar, piano
Ringo Starr: drums

 

After listening to demo I think it is George on piano on finished version since it's an identical piano part

 

Can't imagine George letting Paul play drums on this. He and Ringo were pretty tight at this time as shown in Let It Be where George is helping out Ringo with (I think) Octopuses Garden. As soon as Paul walks in all chipmunk-cheerful they stop dead.

 

Those triplets played coming out of the bridge into the verse is all Ringo. He did the same thing in 'Tell Me Why'.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I guess that settles it. I thought some of the fills sounded a bit under-powered compared Ringo's best drumming. But the consensus is this is beyond Paul. Fair enough.

Maybe it comes to drum recording technique, the reason I hear some vague similarity to the BOJ&Y drumming.