The Beatles song Ringo Starr labelled “grunge rock of the 1960s”
Despite the legendary parameters of his humorous demeanour and almost comical dedication to peace and love, Ringo Starr knows a thing or two about music. As the drummer of The Beatles, he played a crucial role in culture breaking off from the past and moving into its expressive future. Since the Liverpudlian quartet split in 1970, Ringo has been an ever-present feature of the musical landscape.
If anyone doubts Ringo Starr’s talent, take the following comment on the nature of his work from one of the most elemental drummers the world has ever known, Dave Grohl. Asserting that the former Beatles man exists in his own space, the Foo Fighters leader told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: “Define the greatest drummer in the world. Is it someone who’s technically proficient, or is it someone that sits in the song with their own feel? Ringo was the king of feel”.
Furthermore, for evidence of his technical ability, look no further than ‘Good Morning Good Morning‘ from 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s, wherein the criminally overlooked drummer employed a searing polyrhythm, with triplets played on the high-hat and straight 8th notes on the bass drum. This complex undertaking pushed rock drumming in a new direction.
Clearly, Ringo Starr is more than deserving of his standing, even though traditionally, musos have tended to be rather disparaging about his work. Alongside his friend and fellow Beatles surviving member Paul McCartney, they have seen popular music evolve remarkably since they first broke out in the early 1960s, with the zeitgeist changing many times.
One of the most important genres that emerged in the wake of The Beatles’ efforts was grunge. Whilst aesthetically and in some musical aspects, they might be different, the Fab Four are more connected to the Seattle scene than is immediately apparent. Kurt Cobain, the leader of grunge’s famous band Nirvana, was a lifelong fan of The Beatles and their songwriting, and broadly speaking, the genre is steeped in the musical traditions of the blues.
As he has a wealth of musical experience to back up his assertion, Ringo Starr once explained that he believes one of The Beatles’ songs is a precursor to the Seattle sound, dubbing it “grunge rock of the 1960s”. While there are a few that fit into this category, with ‘Helter Skelter’ the most prominent, it was actually another song found on the third side of 1968’s The White Album, ‘Yer Blues’.
Starr said in Anthology: “‘Yer Blues’, you can’t top it. It was this group that was together; it was like grunge rock of the 1960s, really. Grunge blues”. For all of the great moments captured on tape, though, Starr still maintains that his finest performance was on the band’s famous B-side, ‘Rain’.
As Lennon neatly summarises the song, “‘Yer Blues’ was written in India, too. Up there, trying to reach God and feeling suicidal.” It’s a jarring statement from the singer and one doubtless constructed to elicit a gasp. But it was authentic.
While many of the group under the tutelage were trying to align themselves spiritually and were being afforded the opportunity to do so, Lennon was finding himself more and more miserable. It’s why one of his most depressing songs, ‘Yer Blues’, was written at that time. If transcendental meditation is supposed to reveal the soul, then John’s was in a bad way.
“The funny thing about the [Maharishi’s] camp was that although it was very beautiful and I was meditating about eight hours a day,” recalls Lennon in The Beatles Anthology, “I was writing the most miserable songs on earth. In ‘Yer Blues’, when I wrote, ‘I’m so lonely I want to die,’ I’m not kidding. That’s how I felt.” If that’s not a precursor to grunge, then it is hard to know what is.
Listen to ‘Yer Blues’ below.
