Which songs did Ringo Starr sing for The Beatles?
When talking about The Beatles, there’s no such thing as a weak link in the band. As much as people like to think that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were responsible for some of their greatest hits, they were always likened to four corners of a square, and without any one of them being there, they would never have been half as good as they were during their prime. Even with all of the talent that any one of them had in their picky finger, though, it seems that the least talented award always gets bestowed onto poor Ringo Starr.
Then again, it’s not like Starr hasn’t at least leaned into that role in recent years. He was more than willing to talk himself up as the kind of musician who won the rock and roll lottery and got to be a part of one of the biggest acts in rock and roll history, but limiting him to a couple of cool drum parts and someone that keeps time is doing everyone a disservice as to what he could do. He could play to the song, and for any virtuoso drummer, that has become one of the biggest lost arts.
Because as much as some drummers like to either lay into a groove or play the most electrifying fills imaginable, Starr’s role in the band was to create rhythmic hooks all on his own. There were many times when he didn’t go anywhere near a microphone, but listening to his performance on ‘Something’ and ‘Birthday’, you will see that he can either become a human metronome or create the simplest drum fills and make them sound like an innate part of the song.
The fills sounded like they had always been there, but Starr was more than a drummer in many respects. He had his own set of fans no matter where the band went in their prime, and even if he didn’t have the greatest voice and often made light of his limited range, it was only natural for the rest of the lads to give him a piece of the action in front of the microphone.
While Starr would eventually branch out into writing a handful of his own tunes towards the end of the band’s run, his finest musical moments came when they gave him the right song to sing over. Granted, when they were still cutting their teeth as songwriters, Lennon and McCartney knew not to give him anything too good. He was a charismatic guy, but there was a reason he was singing covers like ‘Boys’ and ‘Matchbox’ instead of ‘She Loves You’.
Still, all of Starr’s songs tended to fall into a specific category. While not exactly stupid, many of his tracks were often lighthearted and would often be closer to children’s songs like ‘Yellow Submarine’. Even when they were relatively serious, like their cover of ‘Act Naturally’, they all kept in the spirit of Starr’s role as the everyman in the group who was happy to be jamming with his friends.
When the band wanted to, though, they could give him a knockout vocal to perform on. There was always going to be limits on what could be done on an album like Sgt Peppers, but the band knew that if they were going to get him to sing a tune like ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, he would need what the title implied, with everyone gathered around him for moral support as he sang that final note at the end of the tune.
So, despite being a bit behind in the songwriting department and far from the most versatile singer in the band, Starr deserves as much recognition as his bandmates for the pure charm that he brought to every tune. Each of them had their own brand of charisma, but listening to Starr, it felt like every one of the average musicians in the audience was looking in a mirror as if they knew precisely what Starr was going through when playing music with his old mates.
Every song Ringo Starr sang for The Beatles:
- ‘Boys’ – Please Please Me
- ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ – With The Beatles
- ‘Matchbox’ – single
- ‘Honey Don’t’ – Beatles For Sale
- ‘Act Naturally’ – Help!
- ‘What Goes On’ – Rubber Soul
- ‘Yellow Submarine’ – Revolver
- ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ – Sgt Peppers
- ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ – The Beatles
- ‘Good Night’ – The Beatles
- ‘Octopus’s Garden’ – Abbey Road
- ‘If You’ve Got Trouble’ – Anthology
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