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The Worst of the Beatles

Started by Rizla, October 10, 2020, 04:39:55 PM

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SpiderChrist

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on October 15, 2020, 10:16:14 AM
is he playing a sort of ska beat?

It sounds like he's either playing just the offbeats on the hi-hat, which is very ska innit, or he's accenting them while playing straight eights.

It's not a million miles away from the way he plays the Sgt Pepper reprise beat:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hMy0ByBiKM.

He had a way of "swishing" his right hand across the hats that is just lovely and helps to accentuate the offbeat: https://youtu.be/vq78BDwCujs?t=67

Ringo swings like a motherfucker. Do you know there are still people out there who don't rate him? I know, I know.

New page not even the best drummer in Rory Storm and The Hurricanes.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

People who don't rate Ringo as a drummer are ill-informed dullards.

Seedsy

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on October 15, 2020, 10:16:14 AM
Speaking of Ringo, I really don't mind Don't Pass Me By. It's not as if he was trying to write a work of substance, it's a deliberately goofy hoedown fuckabout. In Ringo's head it probably started out as a country number, but I like the way it ended up as some sort of weird mutant hybrid of hillbilly swing and... is he playing a sort of ska beat? It's somewhere in that vicinity.

"You were in a car crash and you lost your hair" is one of the funniest lyrics in the Beatles canon, it's just so bloody odd.

I actually like the anthology version. Without the hodown shit
Always have done.

Ferris

Quote from: The Mollusk on October 14, 2020, 11:21:29 AM
Not even remotely arsed enough about The Beatles to engage in any replies this might garner but I'd just like to say that Yellow Submarine is a steaming heap of shit song and it completely ruins the otherwise faultless and incredible Revolver.

I've always thought this. Yellow submarine is just turds without point and completely ruins the flow of Revolver.

SpiderChrist

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on October 15, 2020, 11:12:20 AM
People who don't rate Ringo as a drummer are ill-informed dullards.

I have been told the "Lennon said he wasn't even the best drummer in The Beatles" story by a fellow musician quite recently. This was followed by the astounding observation that "anyone can play the fucking drums".

Replies From View

Quote from: SpiderChrist on October 15, 2020, 12:22:48 PM
I have been told the "Lennon said he wasn't even the best drummer in The Beatles" story by a fellow musician quite recently. This was followed by the astounding observation that "anyone can play the fucking drums".

Did you point out that Lennon was obviously joking?

Replies From View

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on October 15, 2020, 12:07:27 PM
I've always thought this. Yellow submarine is just turds without point and completely ruins the flow of Revolver.

Works well on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, though.  It's a great little song, making use of George Martin's history with comedy records.  I haven't heard Revolver at once for quite a while; I don't recall Yellow Submarine derailing it and have never considered it any kind of Maxwell's Silver Hammer in that regard.

But yeah, for me its home is the film soundtrack.

The Mollusk

Quote from: sutin on October 14, 2020, 11:36:07 PM
Why would someone with a Ween username say something so ridiculous and wrong?

Not sure, but I know why someone with a Primus avatar would question it ;)

Hand Solo

Quote from: Replies From View on October 15, 2020, 01:01:07 PM
Did you point out that Lennon was obviously joking?

It's oft-repeated but as far as I know Lennon never said it.

And since Lennon only at most would wank Epstein off, he's not even the best bummer in The Beatles.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

It was, apparently, a Jasper Carrot joke. Lennon definitely never said it, he loved Ringo and his crazy drumming.

Carrot's gag fell into commonplace usage because it's funny and sounds like the sort of thing Lennon might say. But he didn't. It was probably written by Barry Cryer or someone of that ilk.

SpiderChrist

Quote from: Replies From View on October 15, 2020, 01:01:07 PM
Did you point out that Lennon was obviously joking?

I pointed out that he never said it. It was a joke from a Radio 4 comedy in 1981, written by Geoffrey Perkins.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-ringo-best-drummer/

kalowski

Lovely Ringo, left hander on a right handed set up, played tom-tom fills better than anyone.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: SpiderChrist on October 15, 2020, 02:17:07 PM
I pointed out that he never said it. It was a joke from a Radio 4 comedy in 1981, written by Geoffrey Perkins.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-ringo-best-drummer/

Ta for clarifying.

idunnosomename

It's still a good joke imo even if it is at a good drummer's expense

SteveDave

Quote from: The Mollusk on October 14, 2020, 11:21:29 AM
Not even remotely arsed enough about The Beatles to engage in any replies this might garner but I'd just like to say that Yellow Submarine is a steaming heap of shit song and it completely ruins the otherwise faultless and incredible Revolver.

Get thee to the Steve Hoffman Forum and pick up your Wellend haircut on the way.

Goldentony

Yellow Submarine's dogshit, Ringo nails whimsy on Octopus' Garden a lot better. Isn't there a video of Ringo at Lennon's flat with loads of other fucking heroin nutters singing, and John suddenly goes EYY COME ED RINGO YOUR SONG NOW IN THE TOOOOWN WHERE I WAS BOOORN? Certain i've seen it, Ringo's sat on the edge of a couch looking like he'd rather be anywhere else

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

No, but what a funny, whimsical scenario you've painted there.

DrGreggles

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on October 15, 2020, 10:16:14 AM
"You were in a car crash and you lost your hair" is one of the funniest lyrics in the Beatles canon, it's just so bloody odd.

I stole paid tribute to that on one of my earliest attempts at songwriting.
"Remember when we went to the fair,
You were on the dodg'ems, and you lost your hair."

studpuppet

Quote from: SpiderChrist on October 15, 2020, 02:17:07 PM
I pointed out that he never said it. It was a joke from a Radio 4 comedy in 1981, written by Geoffrey Perkins.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-ringo-best-drummer/

And here it is in all it's Radio Active glory:

https://twitter.com/marklewisohn/status/1039429309797158912

(Worth pointing out that the scripts were co-written by Perkins and Deayton, so we may never know for sure)


Menu

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on October 15, 2020, 11:12:20 AM
People who don't rate Ringo as a drummer are ill-informed dullards.

You know that bit in the Anthology where Ringo leaves the band partly cos he feels he's playing shit. Is there any evidence of that shit drumming on any tracks? I know Paul subbed in for a couple.

SpiderChrist

Not that I'm aware of. Ringo left the White Album sessions for a few reasons - the atmosphere in the studio was apparently far from harmonious, as the drummer he was bored sitting around while the others were doing heroin overdubs and his confidence was dented by McCartney telling him how to play the drums.

So the whole "I was playing shit" line should probably be interpreted as "I thought I was playing shit cos Macca kept telling me I was"

daf

QuoteTensions had been building within The Beatles for some time during the recording of the White Album, and on Thursday, 22 August 1968, matters came to a head, and Starr allegedly left when McCartney criticised him for messing up a tom-tom fill. With the atmosphere in the studio already often tense, the altercation was enough for the normally amenable Starr to reach his limit.

Ringo : "I left because I felt two things: I felt I wasn't playing great, and I also felt that the other three were really happy and I was an outsider. I went to see John, who had been living in my apartment in Montagu Square with Yoko since he moved out of Kenwood. I said, 'I'm leaving the group because I'm not playing well and I feel unloved and out of it, and you three are really close.' And John said, 'I thought it was you three!' So then I went over to Paul's and knocked on his door. I said the same thing: 'I'm leaving the band. I feel you three guys are really close and I'm out of it.' And Paul said, 'I thought it was you three!' I didn't even bother going to George then. I said, 'I'm going on holiday.' I took the kids and we went to Sardinia."

Ringo's departure, meanwhile, was kept from the press, with everyone who knew the troublesome events sworn to secrecy.

George Martin : "I think they were all feeling a little paranoid. When you have a rift between people – if you go to a party and the husband and wife have been having a row – there's a tension, an atmosphere. And you wonder whether you are making things worse by being there. I think that was the kind of situation we found with Ringo. He was probably feeling a little bit odd because of the mental strangeness with John and Yoko and Paul, and none of them having quite the buddiness they used to have. He might have said to himself, 'Am I the cause?'"

Starr flew to the Mediterranean where he spent two weeks on Peter Sellers' yacht.

Ringo : "I had a rest and the holiday was great. I knew we were all in a messed-up stage. It wasn't just me; the whole thing was going down. I had definitely left, I couldn't take it any more. There was no magic and the relationships were terrible. I'd come to a bad spot in life. It could have been paranoia, but I just didn't feel good – I felt like an outsider. But then I realised that we were all feeling like outsiders, and it just needed me to go around knocking to bring it to a head."

The recording of 'Back In The USSR' was completed in just two days. On the first takes, recorded on Thursday 22 August, McCartney played guitar and Harrison was on snare drum. On later takes McCartney switched to piano, and Lennon strummed chords on a bass guitar. They taped five tracks, the last of which was the best. The next day they added two more drum, bass and lead guitar tracks, a piano part, lead vocals from Paul McCartney and backing vocals from Lennon and Harrison. All three Beatles contributed handclaps.

     

Ken Scott : "I remember Ringo being uptight about something, I don't remember what, and the next thing I was told was that he'd quit the band. But work continued. They did Back In The USSR with what I seem to recall was a composite drum track of bits and pieces, possibly with all of the other three playing drums."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

On Tuesday 3 September 1968, Ringo Starr rejoined the group. At George Harrison's instigation, Mal Evans covered Ringo's drum kit with dozens of flowers.

Ken Scott : "Within a few days the differences had been sorted out and Ringo came back. Mal Evans completely decorated studio two with flowers, they were all over his drum kit, 'Welcome Back Ringo'."

Ringo : "I got a telegram saying, 'You're the best rock'n'roll drummer in the world. Come on home, we love you.' And so I came back. We all needed that little shake-up. When I got back to the studio I found George had had it decked out with flowers – there were flowers everywhere. I felt good about myself again, we'd got through that little crisis and it was great. And then the 'White' album really took off – we all left the studio and went to a little room so there was no separation and lots of group activity going down."

Although Ringo's return from Sardinia was much celebrated, there was little for him to do in this recording session - as George Harrison worked alone, recording a backwards guitar solo for 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. However, the following day, he was back behind the drumkit filming promotional clips for 'Hey Jude' and 'Revolution' at Twickenham Film Studios.


poodlefaker

I once read a thing about the White Album and how Ringo doesn't appear until the third song and those first two drumbeats sound like him knocking on the studio door saying "Can I come back in lads?" Always think of this whenever I hear it now.

Menu

Quote from: SpiderChrist on October 16, 2020, 09:32:27 AM
Not that I'm aware of. Ringo left the White Album sessions for a few reasons - the atmosphere in the studio was apparently far from harmonious, as the drummer he was bored sitting around while the others were doing heroin overdubs and his confidence was dented by McCartney telling him how to play the drums.

So the whole "I was playing shit" line should probably be interpreted as "I thought I was playing shit cos Macca kept telling me I was"

I wonder what form the telling off took. I can't imagine Macca being too overt about it. On the Let It Be Naked Disc 2 outtakes, you can tell Paul is pussyfooting around Starr. At one point he asks him if he's written another song and Ringo takes umbrage. To which Paul loudly berates himself. It sounds like a tricky relationship. Peace and love. Peace and love.

Menu

Quote from: daf on October 16, 2020, 01:53:59 PM


Daf, thank you so much for this. I had no idea Hey Judy happened so quickly after the return. Also big laughs for Ringo having nothing to do again when he got back.

Menu

Quote from: poodlefaker on October 16, 2020, 02:49:17 PM
I once read a thing about the White Album and how Ringo doesn't appear until the third song and those first two drumbeats sound like him knocking on the studio door saying "Can I come back in lads?" Always think of this whenever I hear it now.

Love this.

daf

Fun fact : Ringo wrote Octopus's Garden during his flounce, while staying on Peter Sellers' boat.

QuoteRingo : "I wrote 'Octopus's Garden' in Sardinia. Peter Sellers had lent us his yacht and we went out for the day... I stayed out on deck with [the captain] and we talked about octopuses. He told me that they hang out in their caves and they go around the seabed finding shiny stones and tin cans and bottles to put in front of their cave like a garden. I thought this was fabulous, because at the time I just wanted to be under the sea too. A couple of tokes later with the guitar – and we had 'Octopus's Garden'!"

Non Stop Dancer

I fucking love Octopuses Garden for that reason. He literally means it. So many lovely little phrases in there as well. "We would be warm, below the storm". It's got that lovely underwater sounding middle 8. Lovely stuff.

wosl

Quote from: daf on October 17, 2020, 01:41:37 PMFun fact : Ringo wrote Octopus's Garden during his flounce, while staying on Peter Sellers' boat.

The nascent, sans-Ringo Beatles really started to get their live chops together in Peter's (Mum's) cellar, of course.