Paul McCartney’s favourite drummers of all time: “For feel and emotion”
It’s sometimes easy to overlook Paul McCartney’s monumental impact on music as a songwriter. For many years, he has been considered the most inventive member of The Beatles. As one of the two surviving members, McCartney has consistently embraced the spotlight, embedding himself as a mainstay of our musical landscape.
Most notably, his songs can be catchy, commercial, and still centred on humanity without compromising any facet of it. McCartney achieved this in a variety of ways, lyrically and musically, but his most creative arena was the studio, where he could allow his vision to fully extend. Perhaps what is most impressive, though, is how easily he can command a range of instruments.
McCartney’s musical education was not conventional for a musician of his calibre. A noted savant in many ways, McCartney can be heard on various instruments on his records, showing a serious set of skills, all of which he seemingly inherited from his parents and the musicality of the Mersey. Macca needed to use whatever was available to create music, listen to records, and play along to learn the songs.
This organic approach to learning and playing music allowed McCartney to pick up multiple instruments without a lack of musical education stopping him. In the earlier days of The Beatles, when the group were known as The Silver Beetles, McCartney played electric guitar. He would, of course, eventually switch to the bass but also try his hand at drums.
Despite being known as the ‘Cute Beatle’, McCartney was arguably the most domineering member of the group. His creativity was unrivalled, but his aptitude for creating set him apart. This would mean that he would often take the lead when it came to studio time, sometimes enacting so much control that the other members would lose their cool. Along with the ability to play many instruments comes the challenge of merely letting another bandmate play their part in their own style without feeling the need to tell them what to do and how to do it.
During the White Album sessions, Starr stormed out due to McCartney’s occasional critiques of his drumming style. Frustrated, he took a break from recording to spend time with Peter Sellers. This left McCartney to play drums on several tracks, including ‘Back in the USSR’, where he also contributed guitar, and ‘Dear Prudence’. Although Starr eventually returned to the studio on good terms, McCartney also ended up playing drums on ‘Martha My Dear’.
Of course, this was likely due to McCartney’s clear vision of how he wanted each song to sound. Rather than risk tension by directing Starr’s drumming, he opted to play it himself, and Starr allowed him to just get on with it. This approach reflected the rising tensions during The White Album sessions, which revealed a fragmented band dynamic. Songs were written almost entirely by individual members, with each songwriter performing the lead vocals and guiding the band in executing their specific vision.
In a gesture of camaraderie and loyalty during his appearance on The Howard Stern Show, McCartney named his top three favourite drummers: Ringo Starr took first place, with John Bonham and Keith Moon following. While some rock enthusiasts might be puzzled by McCartney’s choice, given Ringo’s fame but often underappreciated technical prowess, for McCartney, Starr brought a unique quality to his drumming that set him apart.
McCartney commented: “Not technically the best by a long shot, but for feel and emotion and economy, they’re always there, particularly Ringo.”
According to Mark Lewisohn’s The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, when Starr joined The Beatles, it seemed like he was the last missing piece of the puzzle. He had the personality and the technical chops, having been the only member of the band to have toured with another group. The Beatles asked Ringo Starr, “What about drum solos, then? We were thinking he would say, yeah, I’ll have a five-hour one in the middle of your set. And he said, I hate ‘em! We said, Great! We love you!”
Interestingly, the other two drummers McCartney cited, Keith Moon and John Bonham, were known for their explosive styles, often featuring extended solos during live sets. Unlike Ringo Starr, both incorporated heavy fills and were celebrated for their relentless energy, letting their limbs fly in a whirlwind around the kit. In fact, Moon’s final stage appearance before his passing was during a Led Zeppelin concert in Los Angeles in 1977. In true Moon fashion, he was heavily intoxicated but still managed to join in alongside Bonzo for one of his classic drum solos, creating a memorable and chaotic moment on stage.
However, this was not the only connection between the two master drummers. When Jimmy Page was looking to put a new band together out of the ruins of The Yardbirds, he had every intention of creating a supergroup of sorts. Among Jeff Beck, Page had asked Keith Moon whether he would join the fold. As fate would have it, another as equally as dynamite as Keith Moon would join instead.
Tragically, Bonham would die in 1980 from a similar fate as Keith Moon. The coroner’s report showed that Bonzo’s bloodstream contained the amount of alcohol equivalent to 40 shots of vodka. A tour de force in so many senses, Bonham’s contributions to the art of rock drumming are impossible to oversell.
While Ringo Starr’s drumming style differs from the explosive techniques found in bands outside the pop realm, his skill lies in mastering a different but equally impressive discipline: staying “in the pocket” and delivering the fundamental beats a song requires. Some musicians thrive on extended jamming, while others focus on playing precisely what serves the song best — and Starr firmly belongs to the latter group.
It is unclear whether Paul McCartney felt obliged to name Ringo Starr as one of his favourites because of their past together, but one thing is very clear: Paul McCartney, as a member of The Beatles and Wings, has eclectic tastes and never settles for less than the best.
