Almanac Music: My Favourite Drummers – Arise, Sir Ringo!
Almanac Music: My Favourite Drummers: Arise, Sir Ringo!
For months, I’ve been trying to work out how to write about my all-time favourite rock drummer, Sir Richard Starkey, MBE, aka Ringo Starr, as part of my ‘My Favourite Drummers’ series for The Footy Almanac. A conventional, short biographical article would not be appropriate, I felt, because there’s too much I’d want to fit in, and I’d have to put together a book to do Ringo justice. Instead, I’ve opted for a more impressionistic approach – a series of twelve paragraphs about the great man, each related to a particular issue.
1. Ringo is undoubtedly the most famous drummer who has ever lived, mainly due to the level of world fame he achieved as part of The Beatles, of course, but also due to his likeability, as well as longevity as a working musician. At eighty-one, he is still going strong, performing and recording, in apparent good health, with hopefully many years ahead of him. There is that famous biblical passage (in the Book of Isaiah) about the bruised reed lasting longest, and this certainly seems applicable to Ringo, in that much of his childhood and adolescence, and parts of his adulthood, have been marked by serious illness, but he has prevailed and lived to to an advanced age.
2. Ringo is an excellent drummer, one whose main attributes are ‘feel’ and playing for the benefit of the song at hand, not for his own ego (he loathes drum solos); for him, technique is not the most important attribute, though he is capable of, for example, playing in difficult time signatures and working well with changes of tempo and time signature when required. For example, the George Harrison-written Beatles’ song ‘Here Comes the Sun’ features ‘passages played in 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8 time, along with a superb bridge packed with “funny fills” (as Starr calls them) apparently worked out on the spur of the moment in the studio.’
3. Ringo is a highly individual drummer with a trademark personal style, influenced by him being left-handed and playing a right-handed kit. Because of this, the way he plays, especially the manner in which he works around the kit in terms of fills, is distinctive, compared to those who drum using a conventional approach.
4. No other drummer has single-handedly done as much for a drum company as Ringo, who put Ludwig on the map as a drum maker. Primarily due to Ringo’s appearance in The Beatles with his Ludwig drum kit on the Ed Sullivan Show in early 1964 – the only member of the band playing on a raised stage, with the Ludwig logo large on the bass drum head – Ludwig Drum Company doubled its revenue from sales within two years. It should be noted that about 73 million viewers, approximately 30% of the American population, tuned in to The Beatles’ first performance on February 9 show, and about 70 million watched their second appearance on February 16.
5. Following is a list of significant drummers (courtesy of Wikipedia) who have used Ludwig drums, many influenced by Ringo’s use of them in The Beatles. It’s a long list, but I can’t think of a reasonable way to edit it, so I’ll let it stand as is. (Maybe just skim through the list to get a general idea, if you like).
Ringo Starr (The Beatles)
Richard “Pistol” Allen (The Funk Brothers)
Jerry Allison (Buddy Holly & The Crickets)
Carmine Appice
Mick Avory (The Kinks)
Ginger Baker
Derek Ballard (A Band Called O)
Danny Barcelona (Louie Armstrong)
Barriemore Barlow (Jethro Tull)
Carlton Barrett (Bob Marley & The Wailers)
Frank Beard (ZZ Top)
Fred Below
Hal Blaine
Ron Tutt
Jason Bonham
John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)[18][19]
Cindy Blackman (Lenny Kravitz)
Don Brewer (Grand Funk Railroad)
Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, Earthworks)[20]
Tony Buck
Clive Bunker (Jethro Tull)
Clive Burr (Iron Maiden)
Larry Bunker
Joe Butler (Lovin’ Spoonful)
Jim Capaldi (Traffic)
Eric Carr (KISS)
Nameless Ghoul (Ghost)
Luis Cardenas (Renegade)
Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick)
Patrick Carney (The Black Keys)
Karen Carpenter
Vinnie Colaiuta
John Cowsill (Cowsills, Beach Boys)
Mark Craney (Jethro Tull)
Peter Criss (KISS)
Dino Danelli (Young Rascals)
John Densmore (The Doors)
Michael Derosier (Heart)
Bobby Elliott (The Hollies)
Gregg Errico (Sly & The Family Stone)
Rob Finch (Elemental Joe)
Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac)
James Gadson
Charlie Hall (The War on Drugs)
Roy Haynes
Don Henley (The Eagles)
Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil)
Andy James (The Drummer) (Roxx Gang/Savatage/Studio Musician)
Barry Jenkins (musician) (The Animals)
Jimmy Johnson, Jr. (Duke Ellington Orchestra)
Papa Jo Jones
Kenney Jones (Small Faces / Faces)
Uriel Jones (The Funk Brothers)
Brian Keenan (Chambers Brothers)
Joey Kramer (Aerosmith)
Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead)
Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots)
Gary Lewis (…and the Playboys)
Stan Levey
Nick Mason (Pink Floyd)
Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
Jim McCarty (Yardbirds)
Rob Minnig (The Ocean Blue)
Mitch Mitchell (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
Keith Moon (The Who)
Art Cruz (Lamb of God)
Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes)
Steve Negus (Saga)
Jerry Nolan (New York Dolls)
Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
Carl Palmer
Kevin Parker (Tame Impala)
Melvin Parker (James Brown)
Neil Peart (Rush)
Cozy Powell (Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow)
Questlove (The Roots)
Marky Ramone (Ramones)
Buddy Rich
Max Roach
Ed Shaughnessy
Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie)
Mike “Smitty” Smith (Paul Revere & The Raiders)
John “Jabo” Starks (James Brown)
Eric Slick (Dr. Dog)
Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown)
Roger Taylor (Queen)
Ed Thigpen
Mick Tucker (Sweet)
Alex Van Halen (Van Halen)
Bill Ward (Black Sabbath)
Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones)
Sandy West (The Runaways)
Max Weinberg (Bruce Springsteen)
Alan White (Yes, Plastic Ono Band)
Andy White
Woody Woodmansey (The Spiders from Mars)
Meg White (The White Stripes)
Tré Cool (Green Day)
Rusty Figgins
6. Ringo has achieved so much with a pretty basic drum kit set-up. Less is more for him, as a general principle. When he was with The Beatles his kit was, for the most part, a four piece, with snare, bass drum, rack tom and floor tom, accompanied by the standard hi-hat and ride cymbal and crash cymbal. Since that time, nothing much has changed; as far as I’m aware, he has never used a massive kit, unlike many other drummers I grew up watching and listening to.
7. Beatles’ songs like ‘Rain’, ‘She Said She Said’, ‘Long, Long, Long’, ‘Something’ and ‘Come Together’ are, in my opinion, examples of Ringo’s best drumming. Their sheer creativity and individuality, including inventive fills, are wonderful things. Many critics consider ‘Rain’ to contain Ringo best drum work, and it is his personal favourite. (The song also contains some of Paul McCartney’s best-ever bass playing, too.) Some may be surprised that I included ‘Long, Long, Long’ in my shortlist, but I find Ringo’s laconic, booming, slinging-from-the-shoulder fills exciting, a wonder to behold.
8. Another great Ringo attribute is one fundamental to all good drumming (and not all drummers are great at this, perhaps surprisingly) is his ability to keep excellent time. He was known as a ‘human metronome’. The Beatles record producer, George Martin, has said: “He’s got tremendous feel. He always helped us to hit the right tempo for a song, and gave it that support – that rock-solid back-beat – that made the recording of all the Beatles’ songs that much easier.” Paul McCartney has also noted Ringo’s ability in this respect, saying words to the effect that, when playing live with Ringo, he didn’t ever need to look around and say anything, as Ringo was always in time, doing the right thing. There were no click tracks used (as a time keeping tool, like a metronome, and played through headphones) in Ringo’s time with The Beatles.
9. Like virtually all good drummers, Ringo’s drum playing can be listened to in isolation, and enjoyed in its own right. Watch and listen to him playing the drum parts for various Beatles and other songs to Dave Stewart, known, of course, for his role in Eurythmics. (Below.)
10. Ringo’s post-Beatles solo career, particularly in the years following the break-up of The Beatles in 1970, is certainly a notable one, with major songs like, ‘It Don’t Come Easy’ (1971), co-written with George Harrison, ‘Photograph’ (1973), again co-written with Harrison, ‘You’re Sixteen’ (1973-US, 1974-UK), ‘No No Song’ (1975) and albums such as Ringo (1973) and Goodnight Vienna (1974). It is important to note the key role Ringo played as drummer on iconic seventies albums such as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass (1970) and Living in the Material World (1973). As previously indicated, Ringo has been a central part of many live performances in concerts up to the present day, usually with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, created in 1989 and set to embark upon yet another tour (America) in middle of 2022. One can’t forget, though, in a live context, Ringo’s important earlier contributions to landmark events such as George Harrison’s The Concert for Bangladesh (two concerts in actuality, in 1971; triple album released 1971, film released 1972), and The Band’s The Last Waltz (performed 1976, triple album and film released 1978). Ringo’s most recent studio release is the Change the World EP released in late 2021.
11. As well as his talents as a drummer, Ringo is also a fine actor and raconteur. Beatle films such as A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965), show his acting abilities well, as does That’ll Be The Day (1973) and his voice-over work on the Thomas & Friends (1984-86) series about Thomas the Tank Engine. Also, he is a wonderful interview subject – typically full of good humour, charismatic and highly enjoyable to watch.
12. Ringo is one of a select number of twentieth century musicians and who have, through musicianship, personality and broad across-the-planet appeal, made the world a better, more enjoyable place to live in.
I salute you, Ringo! Peace and love – to use your own mantra.
MAIN REFERENCES
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beatles/longlonglong.html
http://beatles.ncf.ca/ludwig_ringos_drums.html
https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/top-10-ringo-starr-drum-performances
Wikipedia
YouTube
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
KD- Among my first memories of Ringo is the music video of ‘I Should’ve Known Better’ (not from the A Hard Day’s Night movie but recorded in a concert hall) when the camera’s behind him during the chorus and he’s shaking his head from side to side along with the song. It struck me as a kid that Ringo seemed to be having such a great time. It was impossibly cool and that’s when I became aware of him.
When I lived in England and wrote a series of letters home about life there I called it the Ringo Tales as for me he was the most English person I could think of!
Great article with lots of insights. That huge list of drummers!
Thanks for your response, Mickey. Interesting stuff!
Glad you liked the article, too.
Yes, that huge list of drummers, so many would have been influenced to start drumming – and use Ludwig drums – by Ringo.
I think my first memories of Ringo are from the Beatles cartoons I watched on TV as a kid – the Ringo character probably had the most distinctive personality of the fab four in those cartoons. Another early-ish memory is that my mother bought what was his first post-Beatles single – ‘Beaucoups of Blues’.
I turned 5 in 1963 and by the end of that year my brother and I had already purchased the All My Loving EP (well our Dad did) and we were hooked as Beatles fans forever.
I agree She Said She Said and Rain are two of Ringo’s greatest drumming efforts for The Beatles.
The other great thing about Ringo was he was not a fan of long drum solos, thankfully. His view was you drum for the song, not to show how great you are.
Thanks Kevin.
Cheers, MagpieGreg!
Thanks for your input, here. So many of us of a certain vintage have clear, Beatles-related memories.
Of course, as I indicate in my article, I agree with the points you make about Ringo’s drumming. One of the best things about it, overall, was that he was one-of-a-kind, in the best way possible.