Pete Best - Newspaper Mistake
Pete Best - Newspaper Mistake
Newspapers always get it wrong. I was reading in a local Dallas entertainment paper about an unknown local musician. It mentioned that his next gig would be as the opener for Pete Best, who it said was a former member of a local Beatle tribute band called 'Hard Night's Day'. Pete Best will be playing a local show on the night in question, but he never played in a local tribute band. Oooops!
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chingnchime
- Member
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- Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2004 10:54 am
>It had nothing to do with his talent, and eveything >to do with his mother. His mother wanted to run The >Beatles and they weren't having it.
I'm not so sure about that..Brian Epstein was against firing him, but was overridden by the band. Surely Epstein would have been all for firing him if his mother was butting into his territory of running the Beatles? My understanding is George was good friends with Ringo and was the real impetus behind convincing the others to can him-- Ringo was already a minor celebrity in Liverpool, and they simply got on better with him.
I'm not so sure about that..Brian Epstein was against firing him, but was overridden by the band. Surely Epstein would have been all for firing him if his mother was butting into his territory of running the Beatles? My understanding is George was good friends with Ringo and was the real impetus behind convincing the others to can him-- Ringo was already a minor celebrity in Liverpool, and they simply got on better with him.
The Pete Best thing was debated in depth before. IMHO (and I think the general consensus in the old thread) it had more to do with personality than anything else... Pete just never broke into the tight inner circle that was John Paul and George. When George Martin dismissed Pete from the recording sessions, that was an important event ... and was just the final straw in what JP&G (especially George) were thinking of doing anyway.
Personally, I've always thought that Pete Best is a damned good drummer for that straight-ahead rock'n'roll style.... Atomic Beat rules!
Personally, I've always thought that Pete Best is a damned good drummer for that straight-ahead rock'n'roll style.... Atomic Beat rules!
“The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it.” ....H. L. Mencken
Yeah, but you gotta admit, his "Love Me Do" is horrendous. All over the place. Absolutely no timing. Pretty much the same with the Decca stuff - like "Like Dreamers Do" - that ULTRA-lame little drum roll to the open cymbal OVER AND OVER as the only fill...and LOUSY timing.
He did rock out with Sheridan though. Always thought he sounded much more fired up on that set of sessions. Maybe he could only play covers. (Although, again, his "Searchin'" and "'Till There Was You" are also horrendous on Decca, so...scratch that).
He did rock out with Sheridan though. Always thought he sounded much more fired up on that set of sessions. Maybe he could only play covers. (Although, again, his "Searchin'" and "'Till There Was You" are also horrendous on Decca, so...scratch that).
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shamustwin
- Senior Member
- Posts: 5287
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:00 am
RE: PETE BEST ....
(I LOVE YA PETE SO DON'T TAKE THIS PERSONALLY!)
I agree that Pete's timing was pretty weak and often off and NOT the Rock SOLID Beat of RINGO.
(When Lennon recorded his Dakota tapes he used a little drum machine and STILL lamented missing RINGO's solid beat to lay his trax over !).
Plus...
RINGO could also FEEL and PLAY Syncopated rhythms
....something that seemed to allude Pete in the early days of his playing (but Pete's been practicing & getting better these past 45+ yrs!)
Just listen to the 2 different drum styles between Pete and RINGO on a song like "MONEY".
As for the drumming sounding pretty good on
SOME of the Tony Sheriden/Beat Brothers early Polygram recordings... There is STILL some debate as to who actually played drums on which of those recordings... Pete, or another drummer!
To Pete's credit, please realize the guy was only
playing with a Snare, Bass Drum, 1 Floor Tom,
and 1 lousey Cymbal ! Kinda limiting.
RINGO started out in the earl dayss with a
chintzy Premiere drum set but he was playing with a FULL kit (if not a full deck...
just kidding but a VERY important factor in RINGO fitting in better with the group is his
wonderful sense of humour... the 2nd wittiest Beatle as my vote for the other forum thread... IMHO : J #1, R #2, G #3, P #4)
PLUS... RINGO was and is a musical GENIUS !
I'm NOT kidding! I MEAN it !
I get really ****** when I hear folks dissing RINGO as having just sat there on his drum throne
while the other 3 supposedly did all the work!
I don't know any other drummer who could have
played so MANY different styles that the Beatle's
repertoire demanded in rock, pop, blues, rhythm & blues, ballads, classical, folk, country, psychedelic, and experimental music etc...!!!
Even though other drummer's like Springsteen's Max Weinstein often refer to RINGO as the 1ST real ROCK drummer (as opposed to the residual
"swing" style guys in early rock n' roll), RINGO
went WAAAY beyond your standard "ROCK" drumming.
And yet with all the different styles he played,
RINGO still had his own identifiable style.
When you heard RINGO playing, you KNEW it was RINGO (except, of course, when it was really Paul
playing drums and TRYING to sound like RINGO...
then you just wondered if RINGO was having a bad day or something !).
So...
no matter what the theories are re Pete's oust:
Pete's Mom wanting to manage and control Pete's
(and the Beatles') career ? ; Pete being better
looking than Paul and more popular ? ; Pete not
having a sense of humour that fit in with the
other guy's ?; Pete not being as willing to grow
(his Hair as well as his Music) like the others ?
..... the bottom line is that RINGO was and is
a BETTER drummer ! AMEN !!!
(PS. "RINGO" means APPLE in Japanese. Really!!
RINGO should be suing the Paul and Yoko and
George's Estate AND Apple inc for the use of
HIS name !!! ... but that's for another thread)
(I LOVE YA PETE SO DON'T TAKE THIS PERSONALLY!)
I agree that Pete's timing was pretty weak and often off and NOT the Rock SOLID Beat of RINGO.
(When Lennon recorded his Dakota tapes he used a little drum machine and STILL lamented missing RINGO's solid beat to lay his trax over !).
Plus...
RINGO could also FEEL and PLAY Syncopated rhythms
....something that seemed to allude Pete in the early days of his playing (but Pete's been practicing & getting better these past 45+ yrs!)
Just listen to the 2 different drum styles between Pete and RINGO on a song like "MONEY".
As for the drumming sounding pretty good on
SOME of the Tony Sheriden/Beat Brothers early Polygram recordings... There is STILL some debate as to who actually played drums on which of those recordings... Pete, or another drummer!
To Pete's credit, please realize the guy was only
playing with a Snare, Bass Drum, 1 Floor Tom,
and 1 lousey Cymbal ! Kinda limiting.
RINGO started out in the earl dayss with a
chintzy Premiere drum set but he was playing with a FULL kit (if not a full deck...
just kidding but a VERY important factor in RINGO fitting in better with the group is his
wonderful sense of humour... the 2nd wittiest Beatle as my vote for the other forum thread... IMHO : J #1, R #2, G #3, P #4)
PLUS... RINGO was and is a musical GENIUS !
I'm NOT kidding! I MEAN it !
I get really ****** when I hear folks dissing RINGO as having just sat there on his drum throne
while the other 3 supposedly did all the work!
I don't know any other drummer who could have
played so MANY different styles that the Beatle's
repertoire demanded in rock, pop, blues, rhythm & blues, ballads, classical, folk, country, psychedelic, and experimental music etc...!!!
Even though other drummer's like Springsteen's Max Weinstein often refer to RINGO as the 1ST real ROCK drummer (as opposed to the residual
"swing" style guys in early rock n' roll), RINGO
went WAAAY beyond your standard "ROCK" drumming.
And yet with all the different styles he played,
RINGO still had his own identifiable style.
When you heard RINGO playing, you KNEW it was RINGO (except, of course, when it was really Paul
playing drums and TRYING to sound like RINGO...
then you just wondered if RINGO was having a bad day or something !).
So...
no matter what the theories are re Pete's oust:
Pete's Mom wanting to manage and control Pete's
(and the Beatles') career ? ; Pete being better
looking than Paul and more popular ? ; Pete not
having a sense of humour that fit in with the
other guy's ?; Pete not being as willing to grow
(his Hair as well as his Music) like the others ?
..... the bottom line is that RINGO was and is
a BETTER drummer ! AMEN !!!
(PS. "RINGO" means APPLE in Japanese. Really!!
RINGO should be suing the Paul and Yoko and
George's Estate AND Apple inc for the use of
HIS name !!! ... but that's for another thread)
"A guitar's alright, John ....
but you'll never make a living from it"
but you'll never make a living from it"
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studiotwosession
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 2215
- Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 1:36 pm
Nikki that was a great post and I have to agree 100%. I have said it before on this forum that Ringo was and is one of the best drummers to ever sit behind a kit. I am glad to find that someone else on the forum thinks like I do in that respect.
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” - Albert Einstein
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
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shamustwin
- Senior Member
- Posts: 5287
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:00 am
Stu Sutcliffe put the "BEAT" in the BEATles name;
----
but ...
RINGO put the "BEAT" in the BEATles music !
-----
You can listen to Beatle Boots of early recordings where RINGO would create his drum parts amazingly quickly and be able to recreate them take after take (with some creative changes)
without a single flub, while the other lads would
inevitably mess-up here and there from take to
take. It was RINGO who held the songs together !
Not only does the guy have TASTE,
he is amazingly HUMBLE !
RINGO always played to serve the MUSIC
first and foremost, and not to serve his ego.
Maybe because he took the BACK SEAT
in the Band - literally and figuratively -
people forget how INTEGRAL he was to the
Beatles "sound" and growth !
RINGO has said that he never wanted to do a drum SOLO just to do a drum solo because he felt it
would be self serving and boring. He wanted to SERVE THE MUSIC. He only really agreed to perform a drum SOLO when the band decided
to each take a solo on The End in order serve a musical goal. But his was a modest and humble and "simple" drum SOLO that STILL managed to take the song up a level to a crescendo that bursts open a hole for the 3 guitarists's solos
to emerge while RINGO drives the whole song home.
Humble and serving the Music first as always !
George Martin talks about RINGO "puttering"
around on his drums TUNING them for specific
tones and NOTES that he wanted, and experimenting
with the placement of microphones around his kit
to get the sound he (RINGO) heard in his head.
Drummers just didn't do that stuff in those days!
Even George Martin admits that he didn't truly appreciate what RINGO was doing until years later !!!
WOW! a DRUMMER actually approaching his drum kit as a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT and hearing each drum as
producing musical NOTES ! Approaching his drums
not only as a Percussive instrument, but as a MUSICAL instrument... similar to a PIANO !
What a CONCEPT !!!
RINGO RULES !!!
----
but ...
RINGO put the "BEAT" in the BEATles music !
-----
You can listen to Beatle Boots of early recordings where RINGO would create his drum parts amazingly quickly and be able to recreate them take after take (with some creative changes)
without a single flub, while the other lads would
inevitably mess-up here and there from take to
take. It was RINGO who held the songs together !
Not only does the guy have TASTE,
he is amazingly HUMBLE !
RINGO always played to serve the MUSIC
first and foremost, and not to serve his ego.
Maybe because he took the BACK SEAT
in the Band - literally and figuratively -
people forget how INTEGRAL he was to the
Beatles "sound" and growth !
RINGO has said that he never wanted to do a drum SOLO just to do a drum solo because he felt it
would be self serving and boring. He wanted to SERVE THE MUSIC. He only really agreed to perform a drum SOLO when the band decided
to each take a solo on The End in order serve a musical goal. But his was a modest and humble and "simple" drum SOLO that STILL managed to take the song up a level to a crescendo that bursts open a hole for the 3 guitarists's solos
to emerge while RINGO drives the whole song home.
Humble and serving the Music first as always !
George Martin talks about RINGO "puttering"
around on his drums TUNING them for specific
tones and NOTES that he wanted, and experimenting
with the placement of microphones around his kit
to get the sound he (RINGO) heard in his head.
Drummers just didn't do that stuff in those days!
Even George Martin admits that he didn't truly appreciate what RINGO was doing until years later !!!
WOW! a DRUMMER actually approaching his drum kit as a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT and hearing each drum as
producing musical NOTES ! Approaching his drums
not only as a Percussive instrument, but as a MUSICAL instrument... similar to a PIANO !
What a CONCEPT !!!
RINGO RULES !!!
"A guitar's alright, John ....
but you'll never make a living from it"
but you'll never make a living from it"
I read in the Anthology book. John said Pete had got better in the Hamburg period they sort of trained him.. Paul was concerned about their careers and a recording contract and although he thought Pete was adequate(sp?)he was still lacking. George openly lobbied for Ringo because when Ringo filled in for Pete they jelled and Pete was often sick ( per George) Paul said that when George Martin suggested getting rid of Pete they all said no he's with us he's a mate! But they soon realized they needed to change things they told Brian to do it. John later said they were cowards in the way they handled Pete. If he made 11 million from Anthology then good for him.
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revolver323
- Intermediate Member
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- Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 5:48 am
- Contact:
I think Ringo is, hands down, the best rock drummer ever. Don't bother to argue the point. Not that there aren't plenty of great drummers out there, but for solid, unwavering, musical drumming, there is no one better. He remains the master of the rock ride cymbal. "Long Tall Sally" is a great example of this. So is "Slow Down." Listen to the first three Beatles albums -- flat out great rock drumming.