Pete Best of the Beatles Remembers
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- On July 8, 2004 in Jamestown NY, Pete Best, the drummer of the Beatles (1960-62) who preceded Ringo Starr, gave an interview where he recounted the early days in Liverpool, Brian Epstein, John, George, and Paul and why he was released in favor of Ringo.
Pete I hope you read the good things people say about you here, because you come across as a lovely bloke, modest and humble, I hope everyone gives you due respect because you helped build a slice of history.
I can't begin to imagine how he felt when the Beatles came to America in 1964
Why? It's not as if America was anything special. They'd conquered a, much more knowledgeable audience, in the UK and in Europe. The Beatles never needed America. In fact but for America, John would still be alive. It was the American music trade vultures that contributed, hugely, to their breaking up. America's a dirty scabby place to do business.
Will Cambeul where do you think the Beatles got their musical influence from u doofus
I don't know what a doofus is - probably an insult? So, how about I call you a, musically ignorant and uninformed, twat? You really do need to get some schooling. The whole World knows what the US show business vultures are like and, yes the US is a horrible place to do business - just look at it's president.
The Beatles, like all young people from the UK's poorer cities, got their influences, in growing up listening to traditional folk songs, church songs and street songs - same as I did, in Glasgow. You need to remember that no American music is original. Rock 'n' roll, blues, r 'n' b, gospel, country & western, mountain music all have their roots and origins in Scottish and Irish folk music and church songs. Add in some French, Spanish, Jewish, etc., to the mix and there you have it.
The USA is a young country, formed by immigrants and pioneers, from all over the place. There's nothing original about the US music, art, culture or literature. The language is a, bastardised, form English, for Christ's sake.
Suggest that you do a bit of research and learn some history.
For what it's worth, I have thousands of LPs, CDs, etc. From Domino to Cohen and everything in between, of US rock, blues, soul, country - you name it. So no big downer against US music.
Will Cambeul America wasn’t anything special huh? 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
@@willcambeul6172 John would still be alive? That can't be proven.
He seems like a fine person. We must also remember that he became famous too and still is.
God I feel for this guy. I just wanna give him a hug and say "You're a beetle to me!!! You're a beetle to me!!!" Then he'll look at me with his big blue eyes and say "SECURITY!!!!"
You're absolutely right, he is a Beetle, not a Beatle.
+xxbotzz LOL ^
Ha. Beetle.
Hahaha me too with jimmy nicole and all the other that were part of the beatles drums
AS OLE' BLUE EYES SANG...THAT'S LIFE.
I watched many of his interviews and he comes across as a very nice person! I’m glad he was able to get some Royalties from his work with The Beatles!
He seems like a real gentleman. Pure class.
I remember as a kid seeing photos in magazines of "The Beatles." And I'd wonder--what happened to that great-looking drummer, Pete Best? Could have been a movie star. I believe it must have been very difficult for him. However--I can't dislike Ringo, who is very likeable. I think Ringo had a great drinking problem during his life. Do you think that was maybe because of guilt?? Romans 8:28 - All things work together for good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.
He finally got a settlement after the anthology work.
In 1995 the Anthology 1 album contained a number of tracks with Best on drums. He is estimated to have made up to £4 million in royalties, although he did not participate in the book or documentary series.
After taxes and everything, probably equal to about a million bucks American. I'm glad to see him get something.
@@Brammy007asource? A drummer that didn’t write isn’t entitled to ANY royalties. Do you believe everything that you read? Some guy in his underwear sitting in his mothers basement wrote that one time.
He also got a settlement after he sued The Beatles.
Having seen some of Best's drumming gigs, I personally didn't think he was all that bad. It must be understood that at the start, he was IMMENSELY popular with female fans. His dark good looks and quiet manner attracted huge attention and it is believed, I think with considerable credibity, that the other Beatles resented it. Whether this was the primary factor or not is still debated. Ringo was a good drummer and more openly personable. And he was willing to be easily molded into a fellow Beatle. Often overlooked is the fact that Pete's mother was their greatest early promoter, giving them a place to practice and a place to play. They owed Pete a lot for their early years.
Paul was especially jealous
Everyone knows who Pete Best is. Nobody knows who any of you people are who are criticizing him. Game Over-You Lose
Buzzmoogy Everybody knows who Ted Bundy is too. Being known doesn't equate to success.
@@thagrammarnazi - Ted Bundy? Who's he? Or is it she? Don't assume because she/he's known in the States that she/he's known, anywhere else, in the World.
@@thagrammarnazi You're a shinning example of a complete loser troll.
@obbor4 Thank you for your kind response. If I hadn't run out of permitted text characters I would have raved about Ringo's unique, indeed if it is possible, melodic drumming. There's an early take of Hello Goodbye where Ringo's drumming is blisteringly brilliant...but it always is. From the great playing on Please Please Me to his magnificent skin and cymbal selections throughout Abbey Road. He was and is a fabulous MUSICIAN, not just 'drummer'. The other Beatles loved what he added.
Pete got the best end of the deal. He got the money and music but not the fame that ruins people. Stay humble
He's a very articulate and witty guy. Respect.
SO WAS HITLER.
Here's what a contemporary drummer of Pete's said when he was asked in an interview what he thought of Pete's drumming: *"He was a genius. You could sit Pete Best on a drum kit and ask him to play for 19 hours and he'd put his head down and do it. He'd drum like a dream with real style and stamina all night long and that really was the Beatles' sound, forget the guitars. I was amazed when they replaced him. I even thought about learning guitar so he could be the drummer in my band. The Beatles didn't hate Pete Best, but they didn't want to be outshone by their drummer. Ringo was a good drummer but he was more ordinary."* - Chris Curtis, drummer for The Searchers, a great Liverpool band who scored a 1964 Top 3 Hit in the US charts with their classic, "Love Potion # 9". Chris saw Pete Best play many times in both Hamburg and Liverpool during Pete's two years as The Beatles' drummer.
Then why didn’t Pete play like that when he was with the Beatles? He was an awful drummer. And ringo was a fantastic drummer. A “contemporary drummer of his” yeah right lol what an appeal to authority
@@ExcitedAnacondaSnake-hg8ec Wow, your ignorance on music is astounding. The Beatles were the worst band in Liverpool the day before they hired Pete Best. They hired Pete and went straight off to Germany. The band struggled for the first few nights as they could not be heard over the raucous German crowds. So Pete got creative and invented, "The Atom Beat", which revolutionized rock drumming, causing every drummer in the Hamburg-Liverpool circuit, including Ringo, to try to copy it. Suddenly, The Beatles gelled like they never had before, and within weeks they were the hottest ticket in both Hamburg and Liverpool. Writing home from Hamburg to an old school friend in Liverpool, George Harrison wrote, *"Mona Best's lad, Pete, is drumming good for us."* George also said years later, *"Before we went to Germany we were awful. But we got so good there they kept inviting us back. When we first got home to Liverpool people were amazed at how much we'd changed, we were as tight as a band can be. Then later when we got signed to a recording contract, we deteriorated as a live band, and never reached that level again."*
John Lennon said the same thing about the Pete Best era: *"The Beatles were at our best as a live group when we were in our leathers playing straight rock n' roll in the clubs and halls of Hamburg and Liverpool. No one in England could touch us. But it wasn't recorded so the world never got to hear it. And then once we got signed we fell apart as a live band."*
Now if you know anything about music, which you obviously do not, then you'd know that a band cannot be great with a drummer who's, "awful". It's simply not possible. A poor drummer drags the whole band down. And it doesn't take TWO YEARS to find out a drummer is bad, it takes two weeks, at the most. Yet Pete lasted two years, all the way up to the band getting a recording deal. In Pete's first year as The Beatles drummer, they knocked Ringo's band, Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, out of the top spot in the 1961 Mersey Beat Top Band Poll. And speaking of Ringo, he recognized how great they'd become just weeks into Pete's tenure on drums: *"My band, Rory Storm & The Hurricanes, got to Hamburg about 2 months after The Beatles had arrived there. We played on the same bill a lot so I was always running into them. I'll never forget the first time I heard The Beatles, they were already great. They were the only band I would go see on my time off."*
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@@Cosmo-Kramer a band is only as good as its drummer, is true and I agree, am familiar with it. You make an awful lot of assumptions based on a few sentences and go onto character assassinate, de facto insult, instead of sticking to substance. Yes, you are holier than thou and have every right to judge me and correct my flaws…
John also made comments about Pete best how he never improved as a drummer, how he wasn’t keeping up with the other members growth as musicians, and could barely keep a beat, in his words “he was a lousy drummer and never improved”. What sounds like what happened is the Beatles started out as a lousy bar band, improved by performing ten hours a day for a few years, and when they notice one member namely Pete wasn’t improving like they were, they fired him and got a drummer that was already at the level of musicianship they achieved working desperately with Pete. Pete was a dead weight in a sense.
Now that I think of it the Beatles remind me a lot of Nirvana. Nirvana like the Beatles start out like anyone. Horrible. But they improved, Kurt particularly and to be honest Kurt taught bass parts to krist and kind of schooled him how he wanted him to sound, regardless as a unit Nirvana was improving. The songs were improving. They ended up playing with a drummer named Chad for a year or two. He was a mediocre drummer and wasn’t keeping up with Kurt’s progression. So they fired Chad, got Dave Grohl the powerhouse drummer, by that time they were ready for a drummer like Grohl if it was Nirvana from 87” it wouldn’t have worked like it did by 90”. They rehearsed with Grohl for about 6 months and became what they were, at their peak.
Beatles were that way. John Paul and George were improving and got to a high level of chemistry and performance, Pete kept the beat for them more or less (according to John he couldn’t even do that too well) and when they did jump to a higher level of excellence they got a drummer that could keep up with them, which would be ringo Starr.
George Martin also remarked how poor of a drummer Pete best was.
I’ve also personally heard recordings with Pete on drums. He wasn’t a good drummer.
As far as the Beatles being this amazing club band, in their own minds maybe and I’m sure they did have a quality. Like you remarked, they couldn’t have been that good with a dead weight like Pete.
It's sickening to see how many so called Beatles fans subscribe to the whole popularist 'Ringo is shit' story. Pete was at very best an average drummer, and that is being very generous. He was no loss musically, listen to any of the early recordings and see for yourself. He was just abit of eye candy for the ladies. Saying he was kicked out solely because of the jealousy relating to his status among female fans would imply he was on the same musical level as John, Paul and George, he clearly wasn't. Granted, his dismissal was handled awfully, but it was the best thing that could have happened to him and the band.
Ringo was the final piece of the jigsaw, without him they simply wouldn't have had their sound.
Anyone who can't understand and appreciate Ringo', not just for his beautifully crafted, imaginative drumming , but for his overall contribution to The Beatles, can lay no claim to being a true fan.
I thing you are the one who is wrong man. Ringo was a loser, no merits at all. Wake up man.
Solomongrundy68 history has proved you wrong there, no Ringo = no Beatles. With Pete they would have faded away like the rest.
listen to The Beatles - Decca Audition, January 1 1962 on UA-cam
Rob Taylor Music Vlogs, I have been a Beatle fan since I discovered music and I have NEVER heard anyone endorse your, 'Ringo is shit' theory. Musically, he was the least talented Beatle, but that is not a put-down to Ringo, rather a tremendous compliment to John, Paul, and George. Ringo was the perfect drummer for that group and his contributions to the Beatles were vast, well beyond the music. That stated, the Beatles became a hit band with Pete! He was a good drummer by Liverpool standards and helped the Beatles hit several career milestones. Pete wasn't Ringo, but deserves his place in Beatle history.
You've missed out that Ringo was talked about, as the best drummer in Liverpool, at the time. He'd been playing for a couple of years with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes - Liverpool's top group. You probably weren't around, at the time, so wouldn't know all of the facts.
I'd say that, just as big achievements, were his performances in A Hard Day's Night and HELP and his excellent interaction with the great comedy actors who were in the films - especially Wilfred Bramble.
Pete Best is the most famous person in the world for not becoming famous
Jean D. Do you blame him??
Jean D He's not a whiner at all you fool. What are you talking about?
😀😀😀😀.......anyway, He is famous !
Not the Kardashians?
Peter Blake "Ringo is one of the most important drummers of the 20th century. His feel is absolutely tremendous. He got some great sounds on the Beatles records. He has tremendous basic ability. Obviously there were people playing in a straight-forward manner before him, but he had a definite feel and he changed pop drumming around. He changed the sound from hat of the high-pitched jazz drummers. I think he's tremendous." (Speaking Words of Wisdom)
This is a special man and is so down to earth. He hold's no bad feeling's concerning what happened from how it seems. he is still a really nice looking man. Bless Pete's mom Mona who helped them by letting them entertain in her place
I saw him perform in 2011, and he ROCKED! It was the best show on the festival.
Well, Ringos drumming is very special, no matter how good Pete is. But he's a cool guy, too!
You have to admire the guy for not getting annoyed when talks about him being told he was no longer wanted in the group
Once the Beatles hit it big the TV interviews were an integral part of the bands promotion because they came across so well. Witty and funny - no other pop stars ever came across like them on TV. Best would just not have come across in that media. Being an unsmiling drummer with pictures on posters is very different when you hit it big and personality is also a part of the package. Ringo endeared himself to the US public immediately, I doubt Best would ever have.
Ringo was the right man
Pete may have missed out on Beatlemania, but in the long run, you know, he's done alright.
I know I could not have handled it as well as Pete, I am afraid I would be in jail still! Pete seems to be a really nice guy and I wish him the best, No pun intended!
+kevin noneya well I mean he did try and kill himself when the beatles were at the height of their fame. He didn't handle it that well, but I don't think anyone would have done.
how do you know this?
Because it's well documented. See this:
"By the mid-Sixties he was so low he tried to commit suicide by gassing himself, only to be saved by his mother and brother, Rory. 'They gave me the most sensible talking-to I've ever had in my life,' he remembers. 'They asked me what the hell I thought I was doing, saying that committing suicide was what people would expect me to do because of what had happened."
Pete Best, always a Beatle.
@julbim Well written and that perfectly sums it up. There can be no "Beatles" without Ringo Starr. There was a good reason for making him the focal point of their first two movies. Who can watch Ringo and not have at least half a smile (like he has) on his or her face? The drumming, of course, speaks for itself. He was a percussive machine set to The Beatles beat. A style all of his own and one that can baffle the best of drummers. He was, and is, the one and only...
Pete Best is the BEST Beatle, because he's got money, can go shopping without a bodyguard and does not have to be concerned about the Papparazzi!
mountaingoat1003 he doesn’t have money? Are you high?
And celeb net worth is a reliable source of info when it comes to a guy's personal finances? Pete is always appearing on shows, he tours with his band and he's been cashing in on the Anthology for years. easy a millionaire
Plus he is alive.
Because ten tracks he played on were reissued on Anthology 1 Pete Best received a six figure payday. He also did a funny Carlsburg Lager Commercial which aired during the original run of the Beatles Anthology on ABC. Not bad!
He earned about £1.5 million from the anthology so he's doing very well.
He deserves all the attention he gets! The fact that he was in the band and was an integral part of its history. He's never really exploited any of it in a bad way. It would be interesting to hear what you need to say Paul McCartney would say about that sort of thing. Because all the Beatles have been exploited in such extreme ways. But he's as much as of a beetle as any of the other Beatles regardless.
Jim Keltner -- "He (Ringo) is like an idol. He's everything to me. I still think of him musically every time I sit down and play drums. He's a very important guy to me. (Discoveries magazine, April 1993)
people shouldn't say aahhh !! about pete best. when it comes down to it, he IS part of the whole beatles story.
Pete Best fué el primer baterísta de The Beatles y, momentos antes de saltar a la fama, fué reemplazado por Ringo Starr
Good man! To hear him recollect about John, Paul & George and the memories of being with The Beatles without bitterness or remorse, and recounted with a matter-of-fact attitude and delightful countenance, I have nothing but respect for Pete. Rock on Pete!!
Seems like an honest person. I Bet he would have done a fine job as a beatle, who knows what he could have brought to the table. I feel for him, He deserves to have his voice heard. A fabulous drummer indeed!
this is a very beautiful person, one of the most interesting Brits ever. his retention of character outweighs the achievement of mere celebrity fortune.
+Peter Jackson My thoughts exactly! That's character! Him & Sutcliff were the ones with integrity & class. Real men! True Stars!
Peter Jackson You are exactly correct
Hello you all!
Based on his dvd Pete Best of The Beatles he was the greatest fan of himself - despite trying to be fair, sorry; The others in beige suits, him in a dark one. The others in leather, him in a t-shirt. The others with a beatle-hair, him in a Fabian-hair etc.
Based on the Radio Bristol live, the Decca sessions, the Love me do sessions and the Polydor sessions; Pete wasn't a match with Ringo. The Polydor sessions; the one I have is a Phoenix10 -lp. The ones I found here are etc.
Ringo has a memoroable face and persona.
Life is so fragile
Tommy Hutchison of the Big Three was the best drummer in Liverpool. Hutch had also played as fill-in with the Beatles.
Bill Harry states that Epstein offered him the job before Ringo. Epstein also managed the Big Three. Tommy Hutch turned it down as he knew Pete. Hutch sat in for three gigs until Ringo came in.
Epstein insulted Best by asking him to do the gigs until Ringo came in. Best rightly said no.
His consolation was receiving some of the proceeds from the Beatles 1990's Anthology compilation which included some of the early tracks he performed with them.
I think of Pete as a time capsule. Almost in a spiritual way, it was saying in 1962, Pete, we're leaving you here to tell the stories of Beatles pre-fame as a guardian of that history. Pete never told a fame-skewed story like the others did. They should've included an interview with him on the Anthology.
John summed it up well when he said; "Pete was a good drummer but Ringo was a better Beatle".
Don't worry Pete, John and George are six feet under and you're still going strong. As the saying goes what goes round comes round!
+odeon64 What a weird thing to say. Goon.
+lennonroey Oh put your toys back in your pram. Weird, not at all. True, absolutely. Incidentally If the "Goon" was meant as an insult, that's rich coming from a Twat! Still angry with Yoko are we? Your username pretty much sums you up, so it's wrong of me to mock a cretin.
+odeon64 Yes it was a very weird comment. You wouldn't realise that though, being the weird one. Angry with Yoko? Goon remains.
+odeon64 Try me.
I bet you say that to all the boys? No thanks, I've better things to do.
If they were jealous of his looks they would have got rid of Paul too. But they didn't, because that would be crazy
what a modest sweet talented man.
The only thing I feel bad about is that it happened right after they signed a record contract.
Ringo's the man... Peace and love, peace and love✌️& ♥️
You're completely wrohg! Phil Collins, drummer (Genesis): "He's vastly underrated. The drum fills on A Day In The Life are very complex things. You could take a great drummer today and say, 'I want it like that.' They wouldn't know what to do." (interview for The Making of Sgt. Pepper, 1992)
George Harrison:
"Ringo's got the best back beat I've ever heard and he can play great 24-hours a day."
John Lennon:
"Ringo's a damn good drummer. He was always a good drummer"-Playboy interview
Incredibly engaging and wonderful personality is Pete Best. Shows no ill feeling toward any of the Beatles.
Yeah right. You obviously haven't watched enough Pete Best. He had very bad feelings towards them.
Well, Pete, you were part of the Beatles and then you weren't, because frankly, you didn't have the talent to be up there with them.
You had a choice of either being bitter about it, or to be grateful for having the chance of being in the center of history. You made your choice, man.
Sammie Blane No, he is a bitter old man. Yes, the way he was kicked out wasn't particularly nice, but being bitter about that for next 50 years truly shows what kind of personality he is. You go through hard times, people hurt you, but if you are a grown up man, you go on with your life and you forgive. He had a choice - either he could grow into a grateful person, who is happy to have been a part of history, or he could have grown into exactly what he is. A bitter old man who never moved on and who is an embarassment. He made his choice.
Apart from that, you forgeting that Beatles were about music in the first place. Ringo was a much better drummer, he could do really advanced stuff with his drumming and he was extremely creative. Not even in the same league with Ringo. Even today it's hard to find a drummer who could do things like Ringo did on Rain or Happiness is a warm gun. No way Pete Best could do what Ringo did. He would be an obstacle on the Beatles musical journey.
And by the way - the Beatles didn't need Pete Best for their success, did they?
But mate, Ringo wasn't even the best drummer in the beatles, as said John Lennon
Hal9000ize John didn't say that. That was a line by comedian Jasper Carrott and it became an urban legend that Lennon said that.
Sammie Blane Sammie Blane, what did you write? You're an idiot.
Pete is Pete and Ringo is Ringo, they are both great drummers and they are both part of Beatles history.
"Turned round" - over and over!
Pete was with The Beatles when they were the punk rock band of their time in Germany.
Sir Ringo Starr don't
Worry Pete you set
The standard for
enduring almost
the worst imanginable.
Thing
Epstein hated him because he hated gays.
Dominic Joseph Fontana, an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years: "I was playing maracas or something behind him, just listening to him. I swear he never varied the tempo. He played that back beat and never got off it. Man, you couldn't have moved him with a crane. It was amazing. He played a hell of a back beat, Man, and that's where it's at." (interview for The Big Beat by Max Weinberg)
Any former member of a band that goes on to success finds theirself in the same position, except in this case it was so magnified.
What a humble man , Great guy! And by the way , the man still rocks on the drums! All the "Best" to you! Keep rocking brother!!!
Best regards,
re-Pete lol.
(yeah, you guessed it )
I love the track, "The Way I Feel About You".
poor guy should never be sacked like that and be forgotten to the history of rock and roll
I have always felt sorry for this man!
Apart from Stuart Sutcliffe, Pete was the most educated out of the Beatles, with passing 11+ and going to grammar school, which is why he had successful career as civil servant.
John did go to art school, but got his girlfriend Cynthia to do most of his work, as he concentrated more on band before dropping out of college.
The basic fact was Pete was the heart throb of the band much to the other's chagin!!!!
Don Was -an American musician, bassist and record producer - "As a drummer, Ringo influenced three generations of rock drummers. It's not very flashy playing, but it's very musical. Instead of just counting the bars, he's playing the song, and he puts fills in unusual places that are directed by the vocal." (The St. Louis Post Dispatch, 1992)
This is a sincere recall of the life of the Beatles, not the vague and unpersonal memories of Faul when he talks about the Beatles past!
@CountThrillhammer When Ringo was asked about being one of the best drummers in the world he said he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!
Pete Best is the most noble and dignified human being ever and the best drummer to have played in The Beatles.
Betty Rose I totally agree.
I listened earlier to a song by Pete Best Band called Gone and I was more impressed by that than any recent music by McCartney
People get kicked out of bands, yes it's hard, but that's life. It's usually for musical reasons. Young guys in bands are fiercely ambitious, they have dreams and illusions, they are ruthless, it's a school playground mentality.
Pete went through his Collegiate years with my brother, Arthur Thomas.
Check out Pete's new album, " The Best of the Hamburg Helper"...
Mike Finkelstein -- "Ringo Starr was no slouch. Those drum parts were very tricky and subtle. He did have a special ability to create interesting rhythmic structures within the music. This gave the Beatles a unique sound without loosing that distinctive drive in rock and roll.Ringo moved smoothly from verse to chorus without loosing the groove by subtly changing a texture in the rhythm. Ringo is an important drummer to study well." (Teach Yourself Rock Drumming, 1979)
Best is and always will be the Beatles Drummer. 🥁
I got to meet him briefly-He sat in front of my girlfriend and I at Barbera B Mann-Theatre-in Ft Myers Fl where his group-All you need is Love-Played-Pete played one song-*MY BONNIE*-and came back to his seat-We got to talk to him after the show
That's nice. I met his daughter and grandchildren and went to their house, they are really nice people.
+ExtremeTalker2000 So lucky!
Pete Best, the most humble Beatle! Would love to have a Pint of Guinness with him and play some music as well.. If you are ever in Florida would be Honored to meet you!!!
Pete Best did pass EMI's demands. He never failed them for sure. He was told to leave the band. Drummers in those days did not mic up drums and needed to get volume to fill large dance halls. This made them heavy. It was normal to get in a sessions drummer who was familiar with studio ways.
Ringo played on Love Me Do - the single. For some reason the Tommy White version got onto the album track, but only in the USA. The British album had Ringo on it.
Andy Sturmer, drummer for Jellyfish -- "Ringo is a great guy and really amazing drummer. He has that feel that's between a shuffle and straight eights -- Ringo territory that nobody else can do. He played some amazing stuff on that (Time Takes Time) album." ( Modern Drummer, Aug. 1993)
Pete Best is a very nice person. and a great drummer aswell. He deserved better, really.
Alex Van Halen -- " One of the most interesting things about Ringo is how he manage to maintain a level of self-esteem -- in addition to being a great player, of course. But he wasn't overshadowed as a human being by McCartney, Lennon or Harrison. I think he did a wonderful thing for drums because drummers would see him and think, "Hey, he's part of it, too." (Modern Drummer magazine, July 1993)
Pete Best is a great fellow indeed. It wasn't in the stars for him to be a part of the Beatles unfortunately. It was meant to be Ringo. Ringo came up with key expressions that became signpost songs such as A Hard Day's Night, Eight Days A Week and Tomorrow Never Knows. He was the everyman element that flavoured songs like With A Little Help From My Friends. In the movies, from A Hard Day's Night and Help to the animated Yellow Submarine, Ringo was the focus and was very good fun.
Man, Pete played with The Beatles in hundreds of gigs in Hamburg. Just think about that! Sure, he didn't get to experience Beatlemania after all that hard work, but you can't buy those memories. The man is a historic treasure. And a nice bloke, too. Paul should go have a pint with him before it's too late.
As Creetar says below..I agree. Ringo has been very under rated. He has a special smooth sound to his drums that just fit in perfectly. I'm not a musician but I think Ringo helped make the band succeed. I'll never forget the cute scene in It's a Hard Day's Night, when he gets away from all the craziness and is just walking and kicking stones on a riverside I think. Ringo had charisma for sure. Best's hair may have been a problem with the famous Beatle's mop tops. Hey they were kids.
My left ear loved this.
Thanks for reply, but I think you'll find it was not Tommy but Andy White, a Scottish session guy at the time, and Andy's version was at 1st issued in the UK with Ringo on Tambourine until about it hit the mid 60's & the compliation albums came in then Ringo's version was put in instead of the session guys, by that time, ie 64 as you said Ringo's 1 was issued in the States.
He used to be fantastic in Brookside. Show was never the same after he left.
@Jazzigator Rolling stone magazine voted him as the 5th best drummer of all time and the rest of that John Lennon quote went on to say that he was joking and that the Beatles wouldn't be the Beatles without Ringo. Pete went for the good of the band.
Ringo stood in with the Beatles and was also in a recording session in Hamburg with them.
Theres a little bit of pete best in all of us.
My mistake, Tommy White was The Beatles drummer before Pete best.
Mr.Best's drumming was a brilliant (I like 'the decca session tapes' much more than the rest Beatles' recordings) and I'd like to say, that his style of drumming was absolutely "surgical", Neat & Stylish !
Much Respect !
Kind Regards,
Nick Z-Gibarian
@Jazzigator i can,so can zillions of fans world wide.Ringo Starr is my fav drummer of all time ever,the who's kit and style i copy when i play.Fantastic unique drummer,didnt hit the drum,sort of swiped it.Great personality,exactly how a drummer should be.I dont really care who Bowie sleeps with
I read a biography on the Beatles back in the sixties and that's when I first heard of Pete Best and his story. I was a teenager myself at the time and thought, how sad this must have been for Pete.
Then I began to contemplate what I might have done in his place and at that age. I am not physically a big guy, I was attending military school at the time I read this biography, and I am of Italian and Irish descent.
Military school can be a tough place with a lot of “jocks” and I didn’t want to be in any of their cross hairs. So, without going into too much detail, I had access to the commandant’s office, paper work, information, and week end town passes. I befriended two of the larger, meaner “goons” that were football players, had girlfriends in town, and also had disciplinary issues disqualifying them from getting town passes every now and then. I demonstrated to them I could make this go away and in return I wanted them to keep everyone else off my back. It worked great! I love it when a plan comes together.
So now back to Pete Best. Back in those days in Liverpool there was a type of guy described as a “Teddy Boy”, goons. I would have walked right out of Brian’s office after he given me the bad news and rounded up two “Teddy Boys”, cut a deal with them, and have them explain to Ringo why he did not want to take the job and then keep the two “Teds” on retainer for a while just in case.
If someone tells me again that The Beatles were a Boy Band, I'm gonna whack 'em.
Pete Best has that look of charismatic- but also very introvert and photogenic. Think that was his fault, more then lack of talents. Still- Ringo's right hand swing is endlesly amazing.
@steamingpoopfart George Martin apologized to Ringo years later for wanting to replace him too. The rest of the Beatles came to Ringo's defense because they liked him not because of his drumming ability.
Best left his own band the Blackjacks in the lurch when he suddenly left them to join the Beatles.
Everyone in these interviews always claim how good and popular pete was, yet despite all this he got nowhere in the other bands he formed after being kicked out.
Best did very well out of not being in the Beatles when they were famous, if he had stayed and they got no-where, today he would not be rich and in demand for paid interviews, so he should be thankful
I'm a musician and just listen to Pete's drumming on of Love Me Do,he's all over the place,it's not very good,that;s the reason Pete Best was replaced. Bob
John Lennon said we were sick of Pete and were looking for a way to get rid of him ringo set in Paul said they fell in love with ringos drumming and out of love with petes i don't hate Pete he has a lot of class he does not take bad about the other beatles but in the long run he has done pretty good and he was not trapped by the beatles fame
Best and his mother were running the band before Epstein. Best was still helping out in admin. Look at the timeline. 2.5 months from recording session to dismissal.
Al Kooper -- "Sgt. Pepper was the album that changed drumming more than anything else. Before that album, drum fills in rock and roll were pretty rudimentary, all much the same, and this record had what I call space fills where they would leave a tremendous amount of air. It was most appealing to me musically and the sound of the drums got much better. What I had to figure out now was what am I going to do to get drums to sound like that." (Summer of Love by George Martin, 1994)
@observer9670 If that's the case, why did John Lennon say that' Ringo wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles'.
@jimidee33 Yeah, I got to meet him briefly when my husband's band opened for his a few years ago. He's a very nice guy.
Hi Pete! Its the cute little girl you stood up at my Dad's bowling alley in LA. We were supposed to go out after your show, remember? Awww, its ok if you don't. (Smart guy as I was WAY underage. . . LOL. . . ) You played in the lounge and gave me a copy of "Best of the Beatles." I was jazzed! : )
dang producer to ever live) told them they would not be successful with Best. Martin also said "How Do You Do It" was a #1 song. He was right. He also said "Love Me Do" was good enough to be a #1. Right again. So when the man says you aren't going to make it with this bloke on the drums, you let him go. Sorry. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison were NOT cowards or in any way "bastards." Pete's a nice guy, nothing against Pete. Just don't blame the other 3. That's just how the cookie crumbled.