Anyone who sees Ringo Starr as a lesser drummer in the rock world has been looking at everything from the wrong angle. As opposed to percussionists who use most of their songs as an excuse to show off their talents, Starr was always suited to sit with the song and work out what every track needed, whether that meant a sparse arrangement or leathering the hell out of his cymbals. Starr could go off the rails during his time with the Fab Four, but his picks for his favourite songs with his old mates run the gamut of his drumming abilities.
When talking about his favourite moments working with the band, Starr seemed to have a love for the times when everyone was working off each other perfectly. Compared to the usual songs that display his greatest skills, Starr’s first choice of ‘Come Together’ comes more from what the rest of the band brought out of each other.
Since the sessions for what was intended to be Get Back were scrapped, the band decided to unite one last time to deliver a remarkable record for their fans with Abbey Road. Based on a political campaign song John Lennon started writing for Timothy Leary, Starr remembered the entire vibe of the group being perfect in the studio.
Remembering those times, Starr would tell Stephen Colbert, “‘Come Together’ can’t be bad. I just think it worked perfectly with the band, the song and John being John. I love that moment”. The song also is a perfect example of every member adding a piece to the puzzle, from Starr’s drumming to Paul McCartney’s incredible bassline before the song ends with George Harrison’s lead solo at the end.
Not every song has to be the most substantial for Starr, though. Among his other favourites was ‘Why Don’t We Do It In the Road’, recorded on the fly during sessions for The White Album. Even though the album’s recording was marred by Starr leaving the group for a few weeks, it did make for the band’s most organic playing, especially on the song ‘Yer Blues’.
Recorded in a tight-knit room, Starr thought that the immediacy of the recording was the precursor to grunge in the 1990s, remarking in Anthology, “‘Yer Blues,’ you can’t top it. It was this group that was together; it was like grunge rock of the 1960s, really. Grunge blues”. For all of the great moments captured on tape, though, Starr still maintains that his finest performance was on the band’s famous B-side, ‘Rain’.
Included alongside ‘Paperback Writer’, the song features the closest thing to punk rock drumming that Starr would ever commit to tape. While the drums don’t sound too flashy on the slowed-down final recording, the original speed showcases Starr playing with the same ferocity as someone like John Bonham or Keith Moon from around the same time.
Despite his massive career after 1966, Starr is still most proud of ‘Rain’, telling The Beatles: Off the Record, “ I think I just played amazing. I was into the snare and hi-hat. So, I think it was the first time I used the trick of starting a break by hitting the hi-hat first instead of going directly to a drum off the hi-hat. I think it’s the best out of all the records I’ve ever made. ‘Rain’ blows me away.”
Taking all of these performances together, though, the best performances that Starr picked out are a good indication of how he views the song. Rather than look at it from a technical perspective every single time, Starr seems to view his finest work as the kind of music where he brought the best out of everyone in the band.
Ringo Starr’s favourite Beatles songs:
1‘Come Together’ – Abbey Road
2‘Why Don’t We Do It In the Road – The White Album
3‘Yer Blues’ – The White Album
4‘Rain’ – B-side
