People called Ringo Starr the least talented member of The Beatles for far too long. He never really expected to be in one of the biggest bands in history, but what he could translate on the drums was one of the sickest grooves of all time, usually playing the song as if he understood every move that his bandmates were going to make. Although Starr was more than happy to work with every one of his old friends during their solo years, he thought that it was virtually impossible not to fall in love with John Lennon’s music.
Before the band had finalised, though, Lennon was already one of the biggest draws of the group. Everyone had their role to play once they got onstage, but ever since the days of The Quarrymen, Lennon was the undisputed leader, taking the group to new heights and acting as their mouthpiece whenever they played live.
Then again, something started to change once the group started working on their original material. Despite being the tough fixture of the group, there’s a clear line when Paul McCartney starts taking the reins of the band. Shortly after the band departed from the road, McCartney was the one who typically had to rein everybody in, usually calling everyone up when it was time to make a new album.
As much as Starr didn’t like getting asked to work, he remembered McCartney becoming a bit of a nuisance towards the end of their career, recalling in Living in the Material World, “We would be in the garden, and the phone would ring, and you knew it was him. HE WANTS US TO WORK!!”. Once the dust had settled following their lawsuits, though, Lennon was the last one to get a word on the breakup.
Sure, he had his experimental albums he made with Yoko Ono, but his first batch of original material with Plastic Ono Band was the definitive say on the end of the group. Instead of just airing out grievances, Lennon used the tracks as therapy for himself, exposing all of his insecurities, imperfections, and vulnerabilities to the world.
Although the music on the album is relatively sparse compared to every other album he would make, Lennon got a lot of help from Starr’s drumming, including some fantastic fills on tracks like ‘God’ and ‘I Found Out’. Starr may have just been there to partake in the jam, but he knew that there was something different going on when he heard the final mix.
In Classic Albums, Starr was taken aback by how well Lennon could process those emotions, saying, “He was going through a heavy time of finding himself, dispelling his childhood and putting it into a real space. He was very brave. He would put it out there and consequences sometimes were very harsh, but he would always put it out there. And that’s why you couldn’t not love him”.
Granted, when you listen to an album like Plastic Ono Band, you’re not just listening to Lennon expunge his demons. He’s putting on an existential play for the rest of the world, and if his voice was his spirit releasing from his body, then Starr was the pulse, making sure that everything was brought back to Earth.
