Ringo's "replacement"

[lyceum]

Drummer Bernard Purdie mentioned in two sources, (Rock's Greatest Drummers by Max Weinberg and a Modern Drummer Magazine interview in October of 1985) that he had played on not one, but several Beatles songs. He could not remember exactly which ones they were, but mentioned he was brought in to fix things that needed fixing. Weinberg was shocked and outraged at this as were hundreds of others.

People were actually threatening his life for saying such things and making such claims, and also threatening to commit suicide upon learning that Ringo was indeed not on many Beatles songs.

Bernard said he was "paid off" to keep quiet about it by Brian Epstein, but was not going to hold his silence any longer and was planning to write a book about it.

It just goes to show how much went on with The Beatles that was never known about. At times, I wonder if I am really hearing any of The Beatles at all on their albums!

I still think that Abbey Road was way beyond their playing abilities, arranging knowledge and overall abilities as musicians and artists. How did they get so good so fast from 1964-70?

[byrdsmaniac]

That's true of many bands though.
Studio musicians "assist" in making them sound super on albums.
It's all part of the biz.

[lyceum]

byrdsmaniac said:

That's true of many bands though.
Studio musicians "assist" in making them sound super on albums.
It's all part of the biz.

Yeah and Bernard did this for other bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Kinks also I think. Probably tons of others. But the fact that he had to do it for The Beatles is more evidence that Ringo was not that great. I'll bet Ringo was not there for a lot of the sessions.


Rumour has it that Faul played the drum solo on "The End". He played drums on "Birthday".

[tkp66]

Nah, here is the Ringo's "real" replacement ;D

[sweetlorettamartin]

I've read that several drummers played on the sessions in the place of Ringo, or to enhance Ringo. I really don't understand why they took Ringo on if he wasn't a talented drummer. That he needed help....

IMO...I think Ringo was part of the conspiracy.

[jimh2o]

Here's something that might get me on everyone's hit list: Has anyone ever considered the idea that The Beatles were actually The Featles?? All this about doubles, replacements, death, musicians claiming to have played on Beatles records and so on....... Maybe they started out as a self contained unit but couldn't meet the demands for the music to progress and be fresh. So, in the end, the 4 became the "front" IE: vocals, faces, and occasional instrumentation. I mean, even Paul's music after the break up seemed to wain in quality as time went on. Perhaps he played along for a while? Just a thought.......

[plastic paul]

It has been suggested, however, I'm not an advocate of that theory.

[jimh2o]

Personally I believe it is perfectly plausable that something did happen to Paul. But maybe not something so extememe as death. A permanently disfiguring accident, which limited his involvement. And as everyone has seemed to show pretty conclusivly that there were doubles, then "replacing" him........but not completely, would have been a fairly easy thing. Maybe they wanted the truth to someday come out but went a tad overboard. I believe that they had other musicians work on their latter material. Deosn't take away from the genius. Being a musician, I know that sometimes I need other people to actually do something on an instrument. I know what I want it to sound like but my skills are limited. Desn't mean it didn't come from my head.
I have recorded a lot of stuff, did all the instruments myself........but a lot of it could have been played better. No, I think I believe that Paul was at least with us for a while after and has contributed some beautiful material to the world. Finding it is the thing. Maybe he did pass at some point after, and the fact that Faul goes on with it just makes him sad and pathetic....IMHO

[matt41277]

Purdie never drummed in Ringo's place. He most likely overdubbed Pete Best on My Bonnie and Cry For a Shadow.

[eddie]

If it wasnt Purdie It had to have been somebody else. The guy playing drums as early as Long Tall Sally is definately not Ringo. Totally different style and shows a higher skill level. IMO

[matt41277]

Interesting, I just watched the Anthology DVD where the Beatles play Long Tall Sally live, and it was certainly Ringo playing just like the record. Ringo was a little shaky on some of the early sessions, like the ending to Thank You Girl where he had to try a few times to get it right. But the same could be said for the other three, including Paul. They all had less than stellar moments in the studio in the beginning. But overall Ringo was a very good to great drummer in the early era, just check out the Washington DC concert in Feb. 64.

[BeatlePaul]

matt41277 said:

Interesting, I just watched the Anthology DVD where the Beatles play Long Tall Sally live, and it was certainly Ringo playing just like the record. Ringo was a little shaky on some of the early sessions, like the ending to Thank You Girl where he had to try a few times to get it right. But the same could be said for the other three, including Paul. They all had less than stellar moments in the studio in the beginning. But overall Ringo was a very good to great drummer in the early era, just check out the Washington DC concert in Feb. 64.

We were wondering the same here last days....

That's very important for the real chronology...