The Beatles song that absolutely devastated Ringo Starr: “I still don’t let him off the hook”
Overwhelmingly, Ringo Starr is proud of every piece of The Beatles’ music. So he should be. From his position behind the kit, he not only witnessed the music world change as Beatlemania whipped around them, but he soundtracked it, providing the backbone and the foundation to arguably the most important act in history. But still, there is one release that somewhat stings a decades old wound.
It all comes down to the simple fact that out of all of the members of the Fab Four, Starr was the newest. Sure, they’d all known of each other for a long time as you don’t grow up somewhere like Liverpool and not know the other young musicians, especially back then when rock and roll was still a fledgling interest, and those invested were in a kind of cultish gaggle. But when the band first began, originally as the Quarrymen, Starr wasn’t there.
There was a cast of characters rotating in and out of the band at first, as John Lennon’s school friends all seemed to have a go. At one point, when the band went off to do their Hamberg residency as the first step towards the career the world knows, they were even a five-piece, featuring Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison as the core, but then Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums. Sutcliffe left the group, deciding to stay in Hamburg, but sadly dying soon after. Best, however, stuck around until he was booted.
It’s a well-known story. The Beatles were having no luck with record labels and when they first met George Martin, the man who would go on to produce their history-changing music, he let them know that the issue was Best. His drumming wasn’t up to scratch; he needed to be cut loose. In the meantime, they would use a session player.
The issue is that the interim was mere moments. The band had already been contemplating firing their original drummer and had their eyes on Starr. Ringo had his eyes on them, too, as he even quit his other band to go all in on the Beatles the second they asked. The problem is that they worked fast, but Martin had already worked faster.
The big day came for the band to go into EMI studios and record their debut album. But when Starr got there, someone else was behind the kit. “George Martin used Andy White, the ‘professional,’ when we went…to record ‘Love Me Do’,” he recalled. Logistically, it made sense, and he admitted that, explaining, “The guy was previously booked anyway because of Pete Best. George didn’t want to take any more chances, and I was caught in the middle.”
But still, it hurt. Here was the song that would change everything for the group, and Starr isn’t even on it. “It was very hard to accept that decision,” Paul McCartney said of that moment, “We said, ‘Ringo has to be the drummer. We wouldn’t want to lose him as the drummer. But George got his way, and Ringo…only played tambourine. I don’t think Ringo ever got over that.”
Years down the line, Starr still hadn’t let it drop, still holding it over Martin’s head. “He has apologized several times since, has old George, but it was devastating,” he said, “I hated the bugger for years. I still don’t let him off the hook.” But by now, he’s grown to love the song, recognising it as the moment the Beatles were truly born and for that, he has to be grateful even if he wasn’t all that involved.
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