The only rule Ringo Starr used for drum fills
Although The Beatles might have earned untold riches in the first half of the 1960s, it was in the second part of the decade, when they had retreated from the live circuit into the studio, that they produced their most important work. Each member flourished during this time, including drummer Ringo Starr, who resoundingly showed his chops.
Widely thought to be the worst musician in the group, this notion regarding Ringo Starr is a fallacy. They were all brilliant at what they did, and the quartet wouldn’t have risen to such searing heights without the configuration that fans all know and love. They weren’t called the ‘Fab Four’ for nothing. As their creativity expanded, so did the quality of the output from each band member.
For Ringo Starr, this is particularly true. The likes of 1966’s ‘Rain’ and ‘Good Morning, Good Morning’ from 1967’s Sgt. Pepper are two of his most scintillating highlights, establishing why he is much more than the happy-go-lucky caricature he is often portrayed as. It must be said, though, that there is also a string of fantastic moments he laid down in the first half of the 1960s, including the grooving mambo rhythm of 1964’s ‘I Feel Fine’.
It says everything about Ringo Starr’s talent that one of the most lauded to pick up the sticks, Dave Grohl, uses The Beatles man as his reference point for everything. “When I would watch Ringo sing a song or play the drums, it seemed so effortless because it was coming from a real place,” he once said. “And that, to me, is what a musician should be.”
The most emphatic performance that Ringo Starr laid down, which undoubtedly made an impact on the young Dave Grohl, was ‘A Day in the Life’ from Sgt. Pepper. A masterful fusion of avant-garde and the psychedelic rock zeitgeist in it, John Lennon’s echo-drenched vocals are answered by Ringo Starr’s series of inventive drum fills.
Not just a display of his technique, these fills were also fuelled by a philosophy, pointing to why Starr is much more of an artistic hero than many give him credit for. He once explained his only rule for fills: “I only have one rule, and that is to play with the singer. If the singer’s singing, you don’t really have to do anything, just hold it together. If you listen to my playing, I try to become an instrument; play the mood of the song. For example, ‘Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire,’ – boom ba bom. I try to show that; the disenchanting mood. The drum fills are part of it.”
Listen to ‘A Day in the Life’ below.
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