The Truth About Ringos Drumming - PART 2

Hi ya'all...Chewbop here. Did ya miss me? Hope so, 'cuz I'm here now whether you missed me or not. Ha Ha!! But seriously, I've received a ton of mail asking me when I planned to publish Part 2 of my multi-part monograph about Ringo's drumming. Well, here it is, finally!!

You may recall in Part 1 of this series we discussed an interview with Bernard Purdie about the drum overdubs he did (secretly) on quite a number of the Beatles' EMI recordings in the early and mid-1960's, including 'Can't Buy Me Love' and 'She Loves You'. Purdie, you may recall, is a famous New York session drummer who appeared on many recordings for many artists in the 1960's. Sometimes he was credited for his work (e.g., he was regarded as Aretha Franklin's favorite drummer) and sometimes he was not (including his work with the Animals, the Monkees, and the Beatles). He also did some overdubs on a couple of the Beatles' Polydor/Tony Sheridan recordings before they were released in the U.S. back in 1964.

Some of the self-proclaimed pop music producers who frequent this newsgroup have refused to accept the notion that Purdie overdubbed his own drumming over Ringo's. They insist the two-track and four-track technology of that era prohibited anyone from replacing a lousy drum track in isolation from the rest of the recording since the drums were usually recorded on the same track with at least one other instrument, such as the bass. As was pointed out, those folks are either sublimely ignorant of the very technology they claim to be experts on....or they're in denial BIG time. Take your pick. They usually acknowledge that Purdie replaced Pete Best's drumming on some of the Polydor recordings, which were strictly two-track. But somehow, they claim, it was impossible to do the same thing on any of the EMI recordings which were actually four-track beginning in late 1963.

Such is human nature. People often find a way....however irrational....to deny that which they don't want to admit consciously....namely, that Ringo's drumming was not up to scratch on more than a few occasions during the Beatles' recording career.

But the foibles of human nature are a topic for future discussion. Let's now move on to the main subject of Part 2 of this series. But first, some background information is in order here. First, we know that before Ringo even showed up at EMI for the first time on September 4, 1962, George Martin was already aware that the Beatles had replaced Pete Best...who Martin had intended to replace with a session drummer in the studio. At the June 6 EMI audition, Pete was still with the group and played drums on three or four songs. We know that Martin was not pleased with Pete's drumming and that he told Brian Epstein he intended to bring in a session drummer for future recording sessons.

The other Beatles then used Martin's comment as a pretext to sack Pete, although it appears George Harrison was the main instigator in the decision. I say 'pretext' because, after all, Pete had been considered a perfectly acceptable drummer for the Sheridan/Hamburg recording sessions in 1961 and again in '62, the Decca audition, and the early BBC appearances...not to mention hundreds of live appearances. But a combination of jealousy and personality differences sealed his fate and he was sacked.

George Martin has since said many times that he was shocked when he heard from an angry Mona Best that Pete had been sacked, supposedly on the basis of his comment to Brian Epstein, because he'd heard Pete was the main focus of the group as far as many of the Liverpool fans were concerned. In any case, Martin seems to have assumed (foolishly, as it turned out) that the Beatles' new drummer was of a higher caliber than the old one. Hence, his decision NOT to bring in a session drummer for the September 4 'Love Me Do' session after all.

Well !!! You know what they say about the word 'assume' (makes an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'. Mark Lewisohn has documented the fact that during this first session Ringo demonstrated his 'professional' status by hitting the hi-hat with the maracas, using them as a substitute drum stick if you can imagine such a thing. It appears that after witnessing this spectacle and hearing some of the early takes, Martin began to question his own judgement about not bringing in a session player after all, and apparently asked Ringo to demonstrate some basic drumming chops...so he could finally assess just exactly what he was dealing with. Martin has since said he asked Ringo to do a simple, sustained drum roll...not because 'Love Me Do' required one, but because any competent drummer is supposed to be able to do one. Well, Ringo couldn't...and by his own admission still can't forty years later. And it wasn't just George Martin who was appalled at Ringo's drumming. According to one of the engineers present at the session, McCartney was also upset about it [see Lewisohn's book].

At this point, George Martin dismissed the group (probably with a contemptuous wave of his hand) and got on the phone to Andy White. When he summoned the group back a week later on September 11, the session drummer who was originally intended to replace Pete Best was sitting at the drums, not to replace Pete but to replace the supposedly 'new and improved' drummer.

Although it's never been discussed in any of the Beatles books, George Martin in effect expressed his contempt for Ringo when he summoned the group back to London without bothering to mention to Epstein that Ringo's presence wasn't required. Martin seems not to have cared or even considered that Ringo would be humiliated in front of his bandmates to find a professional drummer sitting in his place when he showed up after the long trip from Liverpool. True, he was assigned tambourine duty (a la Davey Jones of the Monkees), but that must have felt to Ringo like rubbing salt in the wound.

It now appears that after the initial session on September 4, the Beatles sensed that George Martin wasn't terribly happy with the group's demonstration of 'talent'. Although they didn't know it at the time, they were granted the session only after Brian Epstein had extorted it out of EMI by threatening to boycott EMI product in his North End Music Stores if they didn't let the Beatles record and release a single. No doubt this circumstance further diminished Martin's patience with the group and his belief in their commercial potential. So during the week between sessions, Paul and John feverishly worked on 'Please Please Me' in an effort to impress Martin with it when they returned to the studio....knowing he was not impressed with Ringo or even with 'Love Me Do' as a song.

Here now is what can only be described as 'The Truth About Please Please Me' as told by Mark Lewisohn himself in an interview that appeared in Beatlefan magazine in early 1996:

BEATLEFAN: There are also things that have been found since you published your book [The Beatles' Complete Recording Sessions] including the versions of 'Love Me Do' and 'Please Please Me' that are included on the first [Anthology] set. 'Please Please Me' was, I gather, something of a surprise.

LEWISOHN: Yes. By process of elimination and lateral thinking, we've worked out that this alternative take that's been found [and included on Anthology I ] is actually from September 11, 1962, which means that Andy White is on it. The thing is, however, it's very like the released version, which leads one to speculate that Andy White may be on the released version as well.

BEATLEFAN: Wasn't the released take done in November [1962]?

LEWISOHN: We know they went back and recorded it on the 26th of November, and we always assumed that was the one that came out. But as this one [on Anthology I ] is certainly Andy White and very like the released one, we've concluded that although they went back and recorded it again, the one that actually came out was from the earlier session [September 11].

BEATLEFAN: You really feel sure of that?

LEWISOHN: George Martin is. George played it [the released version of PPM] to Paul and to George Harrison and asked them who they thought was drumming. They both said that it's not Ringo. [Please note that they didn't ask Ringo for his opinion. Gee, I wonder what he would have said!! LOL.]

BEATLEFAN: That's a pity. It's great drumming [i.e., by Andy White].

LEWISOHN: That's what I've said in my book, congratulating Ringo for his drumming [Lewisohn's books 'Complete Recording Sessions' and 'The Complete Beatles Chronicle' were both published long before the PPM acetate was found by George Martin in his closet. Hence, Lewisohn can only be referring to the released version of PPM].

BEATLEFAN: You don't suggest this theory in your liner notes [to the Anthology I double CD set]

LEWISOHN: It was suggested to me [undoubtedly by Ringo!!] that I should let the reader draw his or her own conclusion. And it's very hard to be exact, as well, with any great certainty

BEATLEFAN: Did you hear the November 26 tapes?

LEWISOHN: The session tapes no longer exist. And we don't even know for certain anymore what the songs sounded like when they did it that night. As George Martin says, the consequence, if you carry it through to its logical conclusion, is that Ringo is not drumming on the Beatles' first Number One. And I don't think anybody really wants to say that for an absolute fact, because we can't be certain. that I should let the reader draw his or her own conclusion. And it's very hard to be exact, as well, with any great certainty

BEATLEFAN: Did you hear the November 26 tapes?

LEWISOHN: The session tapes no longer exist. And we don't even know for certain anymore what the songs sounded like when they did it that night. As George Martin says, the consequence, if you carry it through to its logical conclusion, is that Ringo is not drumming on the Beatles' first Number One. And I don't think anybody really wants to say that for an absolute fact, because we can't be certain. [What's this 'we' shit'? SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, MARK!! Here Lewisohn is being suddenly disingenuous. George Martin had already said that HE is certain Ringo did not play drums on the released version of PPM. McCartney and Harrison said the same thing. Clearly, there were political considerations in the decision to reveal this information to the public. As a professional archivist whose book sales and reputation are dependent on his perceived integrity, Lewisohn felt he had no choice but to disclose this fact....while at the

No one ever claimed Purdie replaced Pete Best's drumming. He augmented it.

BTW, have you found out who Johnny Hutchinson is yet?

Um, sorry, but you CAN'T do that. The only way a track that had drums and another instrument on it (like bass) could be replaced would be if ALL of the instruments were replaced as well. You can't JUST isolate and remove the drums, if there are other instruments on the track. It's a physical impossibility.

No, what's clear is that YOU'RE 'sublimely ignorant' of the technology involved here.

The drum track on 'Ain't She Sweet' wasn't REPLACED, it was OVERDUBBED. If you listen closely to the track, two drum parts are very clearly audible. Pete's original track, and another one overdubbed on top of it. This was NEVER done on an EMI Beatles record (except a couple instances, like 'Lady Madonna,' where Ringo is overdubbed on top of himself, playing an entirely different drum beat). Listening to the session tapes (available on various bootlegs) clearly shows there's ONE drummer in the room, and it's clearly Ringo (unless Purdie, a black man from the states, suddenly adopted a Liverpudlian accent!).

It's not 'impossible' to wipe those tracks and replace them, to be sure. But it'd be impossible to wipe them without removing the other INSTRUMENTS on those tracks. Plus, it'd be impossible to do it without leaving very very clear evidence on the session tapes, none of which exists on any of the bootlegs out there. Plus the fact that the drumming on many of the outtakes heard on bootlegs is IDENTICAL in form and quality to that on the released versions rules out any indication that the drums were later replaced (unless you mean to suggest that Purdie went back and replaced the drumming on the outtakes as well!!)

Lewisohn himself notes that Ringo's drumming was the most consistantly flawless element of the Beatles' recording sessions, and that RARELY did they ever have to redo a take based on HIS performance. Rather, it was usually the others who flubbed a note or a word. Ringo was like a machine, and able to reproduce parts over and over again, take after take, rarely missing a beat. What he may have lacked in creativity and flash, he MORE than made up for in steadiness and reliability. To suggest that his work was routinely replaced in the studio by a session drummer (and one specially flown in from the states??) shows you're complete ignorance on this issue. One only has to hgear the groups' many LIVE performances (in concert, on television, and on the BBC) to hear how well Ringo was able to replicate his studio work in a live setting, where there's no place for a session drummer to be hiding behind-the-scenes.

Pete proved himself a rather plain drummer in his short career as a Beatle. Listen to any of those tracks you just mentioned and this becomes painfully obvious. Better yet, listen to his drumming on the EMI audition version of 'Love Me Do.'

First I've ever heard of this. Care to quote it exactly?

No, this exchange happened between George and Pete Best, not Ringo.

Now, you've got an interesting theory about White's involvement on 'Please Please Me,' except for the following:

Except the Beatles never worked this way, at least during the period when they were recording on two-track. They ALWAYS recorded their vocals live, along with the instrumental track. Occasionally ('Taste of Honey,' 'Do You Want to Know a Secret?', several tracks on the second album), they would overdub additional vocals onto a track, but they NEVER overdubbed vocals onto a pre-existing vocal-less backing track. So there would never have been any backing tracks of 'Please Please Me' that DIDN'T have vocals.

There's absolutely no way this could have ever been done. You're theorizing that Martin took the vocals (and harmonica) from one session and overdubbed them in their entirety over an entirely different recording, and that they matched PERFECTLY? And furthermore, this was done because Ringo's drumming wasn't up to snuff, which would imply he couldn't keep a beat, and therefore make it even MORE difficult to synch up a vocal track to an instrumental track (which as I mentioned above, wouldn't have even existed) using a totally different drummer.

I call you grossly misinformed and ignorant of the recording process.

Probably in reference to the fact that Paul played on a couple of the 'White Album' tracks, as well as 'The Ballad of John & Yoko,' and held his own against Ringo's playing, to the point where most people didn't even realize it WAS Paul for many many years to come. Paul was an ace musician on many many instruments, and was certainly the best pianist in the group, and arguably the best guitarist as well.

David, sir, you're responding to someone who every so often frequents this board and writes his manifesto on Ringo's alleged drumming deficiencies. When challenged on his 'facts,' he usually avoids providing a direct source but instead tries to make 'deals,' whereby if he quotes the source, you are to guarantee agreeing with him.

It's juvenile, it's pointless. You're dealing with a troll.

This is news? I'm a newcomer to RMB so I'm not familiar with all of the posting history but I'm amazed to hear that this is still controversial after all these years.

Fine. The point is that people like you always insist that even though the Sheridan tapes were 'overdubbed' by Purdie, it was somehow impossible to overdub Ringo's work at EMI. Hence, the massive state of denial....or sublime ignorance....of folks like yourself. Take your pick.

> Lewisohn himself notes that Ringo's drumming was the most consistantly flawless

Ummm....again, you completely miss the point. If Ringo's work was SECRETLY overdubbed, how would Lewisohn know whether he was commenting on Ringo's work or Purdie's work?? We do know that in at least one case, Lewisohn found studio documentation that Ringo's drumming was overdubbed....namely, in the case of Can't Buy Me Love. See 'Complete Chronicles' entry in March 1964.

Rather, it was usually the others who

Then please tell us all why he was replaced on the first two singles. We await your reply.

What he may

It seems Ringo is consistently damned with faint praise by those who worship him the most. Do you realize what you're saying? You're saying that Ringo's greatest strenth was timekeeping!!

To suggest that his work was routinely replaced in the studio by

You can believe Purdie or not as you choose. The evidence will be forthcoming. And if you still insist that Andy White did NOT replace Ringo on Love Me Do and Please Please Me, then you are....as they say....sublimely ignorant.

Please tell us what Ringo proved to be on the first two singles. We await your reply. Why do you think George Martin had him replaced?

Another so-called expert who hasn't even read Lewisohn's books. Unbelievable.

HUH????

Sublime ignorance raises its ugly head once again.

See me comment immediately above.

You haven't even read Lewisohn's books. And I'M misinformed????

Oh, I see. George Martin, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Mark Lewisohn are all wrong and paramucho is right. You are in a massive state of denial. It's a psychological condition wherein people refuse to believe that which is placed in front of their faces because it threatens their psychological well-being to admit. Therefore, they pretend it doesn't exist.

But folks like you insist it was somehow impossible to 'sweeten' Ringo's work at EMI. Hence, the blatant hypocrisy and massive state of denial of people like yourself.

George Martin, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Mark Lewisohn are NOT to be believed. Mr. Charlie IS to be believed. Remember, you heard it here first, folks!!

Welcome, Bob.

Please don't equate Chewbop's 'discussion' with the 'state of the art.' You might want to check the date and the subsequent disucssion with his question, for example.

Sorry. I didn't realize he was at the same old tripe again.

That's exactly what I would have said. But you can see the kind of comments that are appearing in response to my original post. It truly IS amazing.