Every single song that The Beatles ever made was based on some sort of creative risk. As much as the band may have received criticism at the early stages of their career for writing the kind of commercial rock music that everyone could dance to, the latter half of their career would see every member rising to the occasion to create something beautiful in the studio. Although Ringo Starr was always rock steady whenever he sat behind the drumkit, he felt that one of the band’s songs could never be played the same way again.
Looking back on what Starr gave to the group, though, the differences without him behind the kit are like night and day. Even though the band have had other qualified drummers laying out percussion, all of the songs with Starr have a different swing behind them, with Starr providing the perfect heartbeat for every single track to move.
When discussing his approach to the instrument, Starr would say that he was always looking to play for the song, adding whatever musical flourish would help push the track along. As the band started to make bold new creative decisions, Starr would have to adapt his traditional approach to the instrument as well, even playing his knees when working on the cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘Words of Love’.
Once the band started experimenting in the studio, their first taste of acid-rock came with the song ‘Paperback Writer’. Featuring a biting guitar lick, Starr is at his most proficient behind the kit, playing the drum fills that keep the band members rooted to the ground whenever they come back from their acapella breakdown.
Then again, Starr’s true passion would be reserved for the B-side of the single. Across the psychedelic track ‘Rain’, Starr flies off the handle at every opportunity, putting in one chaotic drum fill after another as John Lennon makes bold declarations about the human condition related to the changing weather.
Looking back on his approach to the drumming, Starr thought he would never be able to replicate what he did in the session, telling Goldmine, “It’s not my best playing; it’s just different. I played ‘Rain’, and I’ve never played like it since or before it. It’s very busy for me. If anyone asks me about my strangest drumming, it’s ‘Rain’. I don’t think it’s the best I ever played, and I don’t think it’s the most inventive I’ve ever played, but it’s certainly different than 99 percent of everything else I’ve played”.
Then again, Starr’s presence behind the kit can’t be truly appreciated unless it’s being played at the proper speed. When listening to the original master track before the song was slowed down, Starr’s percussion hits are some of the earliest displays of punk rock drumming that had been heard on a record.
From there, Starr would eventually settle into a groove for the rest of The Beatles’ career, only flying off the handle when the song required it, like the heavy metal clangour of ‘Helter Skelter’. Starr may catch some hate as one of the most inessential pieces of The Beatles, but if taken out of the equation, the band would cease to exist.
