By Alex Cain and Terry McCusker
Matador, hardcover edition, 416 pages
$45.99
From the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Buckingham
Palace, Ringo Starr is – finally – getting his due.
And this book, first published electronically and
now in hardcover, is one of the best tributes of all.
Ringo’s abilities as a drummer have been debated
for years. He was stereotyped for years as “just lucky,” a mediocre musician
who landed the best gig on earth. Much of this is due to his lack of flashiness
as a player – people are impressed by drum solos, even when they’re as musical
as a car wreck – and his own self-deprecating personality.
But most people who know anything about playing
drums will say, without hesitation, that Ringo was great. And here two drummers
detail many of the reasons why.
Cain and McCusker, both Liverpudlians, cover just
about every percussion-related topic in Beatles history, including Ringo’s
predecessors in the band. There are descriptions and photos of Ringo’s various
drum kits and McCusker’s entertaining firsthand recollections of seeing the Beatles
in action in the Cavern, including an anecdote about the time Ringo almost ran
him over outside the club in his Ford Zephyr.
But the real meat of the book is the song-by-song examination
of the Beatles’ catalog and the percussion parts featured on each. Even the
songs on which Ringo doesn’t play drums (the most famous case being “Back in
the U.S.S.R., featuring Paul pounding the skins) and the songs with no drums at
all, such as “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby,” are analyzed for their rhythmic
properties.
There’s interesting information here that will get
you listening to the Beatles’ music in new ways. I was struck by how, even
early on, the band was experimenting with different percussive techniques and
instruments. “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” for example, features not just
drums, but echo-drenched overdubs of Ringo pounding two drumsticks together,
creating an unusual and ear-catching effect. And on “Don’t Bother Me,” Ringo
plays an African djembe drum joined by John on tambourine and Paul on
woodblock.
Musical notation of Ringo’s drum parts is featured
throughout, along with the time signature(s) of each tune. We see how, recording
in the days before drum machines, the Beatles’ shortened and stretched the
meter of their tunes to accommodate their lyrics, or just make the songs more
interesting. The opening bars of “Drive My Car,” for example, are in 9/8, while
“Good Day Sunshine” shifts between 4/4, 3/4 and 5/5. Ringo made it all make
sense.