The Drum Mystery in The Beatles' Most Beautiful Song | Dear Prudence

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  • Опубліковано 26 тра 2022
  • Dear Prudence is one of The Beatles' most beautiful and widely beloved songs. Within the song's many captivating layers, however, is an odd anomaly that has been a source of dispute among Beatle fans for decades: who is really playing the drums - is it Ringo Starr, or is it Paul McCartney? As a fair warning, once I point it out...you can't unhear this!
    **Correction: in this episode, I mistakenly mentioned that Ringo fled to Greece for his vacation. In fact, he flew to Sardinia, Italy for rest and recuperation aboard Peter Sellers' yacht.
    Image Credits for Photographs used @0:51, @0:56, @1:00, @1:16 and @1:25 :
    Copyright Paul Saltzman. All Rights Reserved.
    www.thebeatlesinindia.com/
    Sources:
    - Dave Rybaczewski www.beatlesebooks.com
    - The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn
    - The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 4: The Beatles through Yellow Submarine (1968 - early 1969) by Jerry Hammack and Gillian G Gaar
    - www.beatlesbible.com
    - Recording the Beatles by Kevin Ryan & Brian Kehew
    Listen to the full isolated tracks here:
    @DLD2Music • Deconstructing Dear Pr...
    Special thanks to:
    Brian Panek
    My supporters on Patreon:
    Eli Rosen
    Christopher Foss
    Jeremy Ribakove
    Kheng Lai Tan
    Dash Cole
    Help support my channel on Patreon and get early access to new episodes: www.patreon.com/youcantunhear...
    ----------
    Questions / Comments / Ideas:
    youcantunhearthis@ gmail.com
    Dedicated to: Pierce T.
    #TheBeatles #YCUT #Music

КОМЕНТАРІ • 6 тис.

  • @YouCantUnhearThis
    @YouCantUnhearThis  2 роки тому +413

    New episode is here!! Who do YOU think played 🥁? Paul, Ringo...or both? Let me know in the comments!

    • @elirosen1391
      @elirosen1391 2 роки тому +20

      To reiterate what I said earlier, based on the evidence you have presented here, the idea of Ringo playing the drums on "Dear Prudence" is ostensibly illogical. It doesn't seem right that neither the Beatles nor EMI crew would have mentioned his involvement on it if he had contributed to it after he had nearly called it quits.

    • @joemartin35541
      @joemartin35541 2 роки тому +11

      Hey I love your videos and I think personally it’s Paul could you ever look into doing a video on Blue Jay Way such a good trippy one from George

    • @TheNewSoda
      @TheNewSoda 2 роки тому +11

      Honestly I thought Ringo was on the background vocals

    • @damianmoon
      @damianmoon 2 роки тому +86

      As a drummer for 12 years, I'm 99% sure that's Ringo playing. The feeling and fills used in the ending of the song are his signature. Paul is a great drummer, but no way he could play it that way.

    • @jasonnewman4152
      @jasonnewman4152 2 роки тому +20

      It's not out of Paul's range, listen to Kreen Akore (from McCartney), but regardless os who played it, it is an absolutely amazing song.

  • @WowIndescribable
    @WowIndescribable Рік тому +1600

    Why doesn't someone simply ask Ringo and Paul about this to find out (while they still can)?

    • @kinsarangel5267
      @kinsarangel5267 Рік тому +65

      Great idea.

    • @lauraval4757
      @lauraval4757 Рік тому +79

      Exactly what I was wondering!

    • @crystalbelle2349
      @crystalbelle2349 Рік тому +127

      Being a person born in 1961, of these men remember I’d almost bet they both remember it differently LoL. I agree that would be a great conversation.

    • @kpk124
      @kpk124 Рік тому +95

      I asked Paul when he did an ask me anything on Twitter during early pandemic or so. No dice

    • @cameronthomas826
      @cameronthomas826 Рік тому +69

      Absolutely. Another thing, Im not sure why no one has attempted to get Ringo and Paul to sit and chat for an hour or so. Now i speculate they have some sort of aversion to each other which only makes sense being the biggest band in history and the way things were ended and all but im sure they could put that aside and understand a sit down with them would be bigger than whatever differences they have. I dont know if any attempt has been made for something like that but it would be a killer Dateline or 60 Minutes special probably go down as one of the greatest television moments ever. Times running out for an event like this…

  • @endthisnonsense7202
    @endthisnonsense7202 5 місяців тому +59

    It doesn't matter who plays what. The switch in style of drumming is one of the many things that makes the song great!

    • @javierfueyo6871
      @javierfueyo6871 3 місяці тому

      ALASBUENAS Otia Tôy Flipando He Hacido un Guapo capicúa. SALUD

    • @shaft9000
      @shaft9000 2 місяці тому

      Agreed; it's not interesting or anything to 'un-hear'.
      If Ringo didn't play in the session... well, so what?

  • @feelthejoy
    @feelthejoy Рік тому +320

    Those fills definitely feel like Ringo. His drumming style is often described as “shuffling” and he himself described it as “like falling down the stairs”. That being said, Paul is a gifted mimic and a decent drummer. The question is, is/was he good enough to imitate Ringo’s style that well? I’m not sure!

    • @feliscatos4435
      @feliscatos4435 Рік тому +7

      The sound of the snare drum changes. You can hear the ringing when the stick catches the rim and the head when the drum is tuned for it and there is no muffling on the head.

    • @streamofconsciousness5826
      @streamofconsciousness5826 Рік тому +21

      Maybe he could imitate the feel, but not the confidence, those drums are hit with confidence, a bit of "SEE!!" and some territorial swagger.

    • @proteus244
      @proteus244 Рік тому +23

      It's Ringo. The unique style and the snare hits behind the beat leave no doubt. There is no song where McCartney plays drums that sounds like that. As Ringo pointed out, Paul is a good, but limited, drummer.

    • @stevenflack2763
      @stevenflack2763 Рік тому +12

      Yer right ... Paul is a decent drummer ... but in no can anyone in the whole wide world that can, as you say, can imitate Ringo's style of , as Ringo himself says, "falling down the stairs" ...spot on

    • @johnmcminn9455
      @johnmcminn9455 Рік тому +1

      @@proteus244 Band on the Run, tho

  • @MrCook1227
    @MrCook1227 Рік тому +84

    I have always found the way the guitars build up in complexity and volume throughout the song so thrilling to listen to that I never noticed the change in the drumming. Even after watching this I can't stop focusing on the guitars.

  • @johnyarusso4953
    @johnyarusso4953 2 роки тому +1129

    As a drummer myself, it has always sounded like Ringo playing during the end section, especially the very last fill LRRLRRL which Ringo often used and McCartney never used. However, McCartney probably could have pulled it off with numerous takes.

    • @seralouise.
      @seralouise. 2 роки тому +58

      i think he couldve pulled it off just fine. hes a perfectly fine drummer who knew his friend and his style very well. it mightve taken practice but its not like a ludicrously hard part or anything

    • @jethrox827
      @jethrox827 2 роки тому +18

      Just sounds like a variation of the Purdie shuffle to me, Billy probably got the shits with Ringo being a bitch and just pulled Bernard in for a quick single take, no big deal lol

    • @BigSky1
      @BigSky1 2 роки тому +1

      @@seralouise. I thought i was responding to someone else and not you. Damn UA-cam. I will delete my comment to you and put it where it should be. Sorry.

    • @BigSky1
      @BigSky1 2 роки тому +1

      Don’t you mean could have pulled it off and not couldn’t?.

    • @BigSky1
      @BigSky1 2 роки тому +1

      @@seralouise. I was trying to reply to the person at the top and not you. They have contradicted themselves.

  • @gspublishingdirect1749
    @gspublishingdirect1749 Рік тому +422

    Paul’s drumming is unmistakable in the ‘Ballad of John & Yoko’. That’s the way Paul drums. In my opinion, Ringo definitely dubbed the drum fills on ‘Dear Prudence’. Those fills are something I never heard from Paul. 🥁

    • @jasperhalsey8574
      @jasperhalsey8574 Рік тому +19

      @@healthywaves4706 Good point. You cant fake experience and the second bit was definitely played by an experienced drummer

    • @2ridiculous41
      @2ridiculous41 Рік тому +21

      With you there. While Paul is a perfectly good drummer, the style at the end is completely different and fits Ringo perfectly.

    • @85geoffm
      @85geoffm Рік тому +2

      @@healthywaves4706 true, but this is something Paul would have understood as well. Given the uncertainty as to whether Ringo would return to the band at all, Paul could have come to this same realization and adapted a more Ringo-esque style so as not to have to explain to fans that Ringo was no longer in The Beatles while recording a new album, which was the most ambitious and experimental album of their career. It certainly does sound like Ringo, though. Occam's razor may apply, but Paul was good enough to sound like Ringo.

    • @Lorddavud
      @Lorddavud Рік тому +8

      @@85geoffm I suppose that Paul is the featured drummer in the earlier portions, and then Ringo over-dubbed in the later portions, possibly as a way of the boys making up for pissing him off and driving him away. This is the first time I'm hearing of this though. Has anybody asked either Paul, or Ringo, what's what?

    • @85geoffm
      @85geoffm Рік тому +5

      @@Lorddavud well, the problem there is that Paul has misremembered things in past interviews. Hard to blame him though. He's forgotten more than I could even remember.

  • @JaneNewAuthor
    @JaneNewAuthor 4 місяці тому +16

    While My Guitar Gently Weeps is my favourite song, ever.
    I'm 70, I remember when it was released. I was working in a cafe with a jukebox, I think I wore the record out.

    • @angelotro
      @angelotro 11 днів тому +1

      My wife used to critique my lack of yardwork, one time singing "While My Mower Gently Weeps".😒

  • @gturner9533
    @gturner9533 Рік тому +173

    I think it's fairly well documented that Ringo's return occurred in early September at Abbey Rd, when George had arranged for Mal Evans to deck out Ringo's drum kit with flowers. Mark Lewisohn's Recording Sessions book documents this as taking place on 5 September, the day after Ringo had in fact rejoined for the shooting of the Hey Jude / Revolution promo clips at Twickenham (out of interest, this was also the same day the Beatles 'liberated' the EMI 8-track machine from Francis Thompson's office...). While Dear Prudence, by all apparent evidence, was wrapped at Trident the week before, I always had it in my head that it would have been an apt gesture for the Beatles to have Ringo overdub a drum part onto Dear Prudence to pump up his tyres and emphasise his worth to the band. There's no evidence of this of course, and the Beatles history is ridiculously well recorded in intricate detail... However, you just never know. For example, with the release of Get Back last year, it has become apparent that the Beatles had almost certainly engaged in additional Let it Be recording sessions at some point in February 1969 - sessions for which there is no documented evidence.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +9

      Whatever you've got "in your head" and feel to be "apt" - as you also admit, there's absolutely no evidence of this.
      End of story.
      It's pure fan-fiction.
      All Paul, no Ringo, no mystery.

    • @allenjones3130
      @allenjones3130 Рік тому +1

      Actually that tape machine that the Beatles appropriated was made by 3M, not EMI.

    • @tomjoad9447
      @tomjoad9447 Рік тому +8

      The latter half drums sound like Ringo ...it's brilliant as are the guitar parts...George's leads are cosmic psychedelic and even bluesy

    • @saucyjk6453
      @saucyjk6453 Рік тому +7

      why doesnt someone ask Ringo for fucks sake. lol

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому +1

      @@saucyjk6453 Its unlikely anyone would remember details like that, even a few years later. it certainly could have been Ringo. There is no 100% evidence of what overdubs they did or didn't do.

  • @robpassavanti
    @robpassavanti Рік тому +381

    Ringo, absolutely. Every drummer has a certain way that he addresses the drums, even if they play the same exact notes. As a drummer I I hear Ringo in the more complex part.

    • @michaelbarat3212
      @michaelbarat3212 Рік тому +15

      That's good enough for me.

    • @kevinwilliams1602
      @kevinwilliams1602 Рік тому +4

      I agree, just, as in my post above, it could be from earlier recordings dubbed in

    • @_Dalton_
      @_Dalton_ Рік тому +5

      As a drummer it just sounds like he just flipped the switch on the snare strainer to me. As a recording musician the drums you can hear bleeding through don’t contribute anything as evidence as laying down a simple beat just to play on before re-recording a better wrote groove later down the line at the start of a recording is pretty common. I’ve known plenty of people that can’t play to a metronome while recording, so had to resort to using a simple drum track

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +8

      Since Ringo wasn't there and there is ABSOLUTELY no documented drum overdub anywhere and NOBODY from the Beatles EVER claimed this for Ringo that is highly unlikely.
      And WHY would he even go there and overdub this certain part??!! Absolutely no logical or musical or technical reason for it.
      Furthermore, that ending is in fact quite messy and rhythmically all over the place.
      Ringo would have been much more precise.
      It totally sounds like what Paul did on "Keen Akrore", it's just him fooling around trying to come up with an interesting drum part.
      It sounds more complex as it is because there are indeed two drum tracks - both played by PAUL.

    • @abneryokum
      @abneryokum Рік тому +13

      @@gutgolf74 Your use of all caps has convinced me that you must be correct.

  • @nateds7326
    @nateds7326 2 роки тому +794

    Paul really was a jack of all trades. Not as good a drummer as Ringo, but pretty damn good by most standards. Great drummer, great guitar player, fantastic pianist, and one of the best bass players and singers ever.

    • @emanuelmota7217
      @emanuelmota7217 2 роки тому +101

      Not to mention one of the greatest musical composers in rock \ pop music history.

    • @boxsterman77
      @boxsterman77 2 роки тому +65

      And one of the most versatile tenors of all.

    • @mikaelsjoberg1894
      @mikaelsjoberg1894 2 роки тому +10

      Sounds like i've would have written that comment myself!

    • @adamdavidsoddities8573
      @adamdavidsoddities8573 2 роки тому +23

      Still is. I just saw him in concert a few weeks ago, granted he didn't play drums. He did play a few other instrument though.

    • @InstantKaarma
      @InstantKaarma 2 роки тому +17

      Great in everything, very basic in drumming

  • @be_reel
    @be_reel 11 місяців тому +49

    The drums at the end have the leading left-hand rolls from right-to-left which are Ringo's trademark, as he can't roll around the kit from the other side. All of Paul's examples such as Back in the USSR have the left to right rolls (snare, high tom, floor tom). Both Paul and Ringo (on the outro) are on the track.

    • @cgall4444
      @cgall4444 10 місяців тому +5

      Anyone that spent their youth listening to the Beatles know it’s Ringo.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому +3

      @@cgall4444 LOL, only it's impossible to be him.
      He wasn't there when they recorded it, and Ken Scott confirmed they didn't do later overdubs.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому +1

      Quite right. Ken Scott never ruled out that they did overdubs, nor ruled out that it was only Paul drumming. They frequently overdubbed and its quite likely John would consider a passage by Ringo to be better for that song. As literally dozens of experienced drummers have observed on this thread alone, the style does not fit Paul at all.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому +1

      @@mikem9001 Every single of your statements is false, and there is nothing you can do.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      @@gutgolf74 Single what? Everything I have written is correct, and you know it.

  • @francispaulmarottikal1839
    @francispaulmarottikal1839 Рік тому +17

    I once was in a electronic devices showroom. They played, Dear Prudence, on Bose speakers. I thought that the Beatles were in the next room playing live. I had heard this song but to me it was just another Hit musical piece from the Beatles. Now I was completely hooked on this classic masterpiece. Sometimes you need to hear on a real good sound system and know the worth.

    • @andrewarthurmatthews6685
      @andrewarthurmatthews6685 Рік тому +1

      For me it’s nothing to do with the audio quality and everything to do with drumming style. I M O this has Ringo’s hands all over it

  • @wilberforce95
    @wilberforce95 2 роки тому +85

    the "new snare drum" could literally just be a tea towel (which they often used as dampening) accidentally falling off the snare and allowing it to ring out

    • @leowatley
      @leowatley 2 роки тому +3

      or the mics were moved/changed. it could also have been a different eq setup. getting overdubs to match perfectly back then would have been much more difficult ti nail.

    • @lisag18
      @lisag18 2 роки тому +1

      exactly

    • @peteskyrunner4845
      @peteskyrunner4845 Рік тому +1

      If the tea towel had 'accidentally' fallen off surely they'd have stopped and put it back on again. It's not like it was a live performance. I guess they could have deliberately taken it off if they'd decided they wanted the sound to change.

    • @mmjahink
      @mmjahink Рік тому +3

      @@peteskyrunner4845 Certainly a valid theory. The Beatles by this point in their recording career would allow for random things like that to exist and help develop the track they were working on.

    • @AlIguana
      @AlIguana Рік тому +1

      yeahbut... the Beatles were into multiple takes and overdubs, if the sound wasn't deliberate (or a happy accident) then they wouldn't have left it in

  • @Stonkzy
    @Stonkzy 2 роки тому +375

    Another thing I heard about the sound change of the snare drum near the end may have been due to the tea towel on it falling off, but your theory is also an interesting take on it

    • @YouCantUnhearThis
      @YouCantUnhearThis  2 роки тому +88

      Good point! I hadn’t considered that, but it’s certainly a possible explanation for the change in sound.

    • @SamHarrisonMusic
      @SamHarrisonMusic 2 роки тому +9

      exactly my thinking!

    • @elirosen1391
      @elirosen1391 2 роки тому +11

      Or maybe Paul decided to take it off midway into the song. Regardless, how do you account for the fact that the drums leaking into the vocal track are different from the released version?

    • @SamHarrisonMusic
      @SamHarrisonMusic 2 роки тому +6

      @@elirosen1391 There's definitely a punch in when the fill drums come in - I'm 100% certain about that. It's the mid way change between ringing snare and tea towel snare that could have been accidental :)

    • @TheHSIHP
      @TheHSIHP 2 роки тому +2

      Especially because the "new"snare sounds is ringy.

  • @travistownsend6750
    @travistownsend6750 Рік тому +28

    So interesting! The second drum part is what made this my favorite Beatles song back in the day! I definitely always felt like it sounded like Ringo.

  • @siriusfun
    @siriusfun 5 місяців тому +10

    One of my all time favourite Beatles songs. Just perfect.

  • @BeatlesCentricUniverse
    @BeatlesCentricUniverse 2 роки тому +36

    NOWHERE in Paul's entire drumming catalogue are there back-to-back tumbling fills like those heard in Dear Prudence. Yes, including My Dark Hour.
    (edited for spelling.)

  • @couriertx
    @couriertx Рік тому +47

    I like to think that the Beatles found Dear Prudence to be incomplete without Ringo, and when he came back, He put his mark on this (of many) Beatles masterpiece.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +3

      Since Ringo wasn't there and there is ABSOLUTELY no documented drum overdub anywhere and NOBODY from the Beatles EVER claimed this for Ringo that is highly unlikely.
      And WHY would he even go there and overdub this certain part??!! Absolutely no logical or musical or technical reason for it.
      Furthermore, that ending is in fact quite messy and rhythmically all over the place.
      Ringo would have been much more precise.
      It totally sounds like what Paul did on "Kreen Akrore", it's just him fooling around trying to come up with an interesting drum part.
      It sounds more complex as it is because there are indeed two drum tracks - both played by PAUL.

    • @bobsquires4521
      @bobsquires4521 Рік тому

      @@gutgolf74 ya? no documentation except the recording.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +1

      @@bobsquires4521 Indeed.
      But at least Ken Scott has confirmed they didn't do any later overdubs, he was quite sure about that.

    • @OzBloke
      @OzBloke Рік тому

      Just as an aside - you may like to have a listen to Australian ‘Doug Parkinsons’ cover. I am a Beatles fan from early 60’s but even so, some of their song were covered magnificently over the years.

    • @JFFM730
      @JFFM730 Рік тому

      @@gutgolf74 honestly i cant really decide my opinion on whether ringo is playing the final drum section on this song, so im definitely not disagreeing with you, however it is possible - just because theres no documentation it doesnt mean that it definitely didnt happen. its known that the beatles re-recorded parts of dont let me down at an undocumented recording session. and there wouldnt be “no reason” to add some complexity to the drums for the outro of the song, all of the fills make the general outro of the song sound a lot better. in conclusion, theres a decent chance your right about there being no ringo at all on this track, but its not impossible.

  • @aschneider70
    @aschneider70 5 місяців тому +43

    I met Ringo in a backstage gig in Brazil around 2011, my friend is a drummer and his company was promotion his All Star Band in Porto Alegre.
    I asked him many things, one of the question was "who is the drummer in Dear Prudence?" He said: " - Paul did it because I was on vacation, and I put my rolls before".
    He told he told: You make a lot of questions, what are you, a MI5?

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 5 місяців тому +5

      What do you mean with "I put my rolls before "?

    • @R.Akerman-oz1tf
      @R.Akerman-oz1tf 3 місяці тому

      Great anecdote. Ringo's style; after that it's moot. When asked, "Is Ringo the greatest drummer in rock"? Mr. Lennon replied, "He's not even the the best drummer in The Beatles". Total fun for Us either way.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 3 місяці тому +8

      @@R.Akerman-oz1tf Dude, get INFORMED before parrotting debunked anecdotes.
      It was NOT Lennon who said that.
      Jeez...

    • @R.Akerman-oz1tf
      @R.Akerman-oz1tf 3 місяці тому

      It was a long time ago; so sorry. Still, it does sound like Ringo.@@gutgolf74

    • @plinn777.
      @plinn777. 3 місяці тому +2

      @@gutgolf74 You are correct. In fact, NO one ever said it. Its from some parody/ comedy sketch.

  • @jamesshugart8015
    @jamesshugart8015 Рік тому +10

    One of my favorites, I bought the album the day it hit the stores in Pasadena Texas and took it to School with me the next Monday and played it in art class ,Miss Reid was cool like that.

  • @justfelix6171
    @justfelix6171 2 роки тому +26

    I’m glad someone finally talked about this! These small Beatles mysteries are what absolutely intrigue me

    • @AtomicLobotomy
      @AtomicLobotomy Рік тому +1

      Just a note--Took a summer Arabic class at UC Berkeley -- summer of 78 or 79 -- and there was a young woman enrolled named Prudence. Actually, at first nobody thought twice about her name. But at some point, in a break somebody asked her about it and mentioned the Beatles' song. Well, sure enough, it was Prudence Farrow -- she was married to grad student at Berkeley and would herself get PhD from Berkeley. A few weeks later she threw a party--living in very modest grad student housing. A very, very nice, gentle person--somebody you could understand Lennon being attracted to. She was very, very deep into Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's teachings, and apparently spent all of her time either listening to lectures or in her bungalow meditating. (Sorry, I can't tell difference between Paul and Ringo's drumming.)

    • @williamvanvugt9117
      @williamvanvugt9117 Рік тому +1

      Me too--and no other group or artist can touch me as deeply.

  • @stephenquinn106
    @stephenquinn106 2 роки тому +18

    It's been 6 mouths and I here been waiting for the day when he releases a new vid. Can't wait

  • @dynjarren7523
    @dynjarren7523 8 місяців тому +59

    Dear Prudence is proof of Lennon’s genius. It wasn’t a single or a top 40 hit but it is brilliant and moving. I also enjoyed his beautiful tribute song to his mother Julia. He was a great artist.

    • @davidcarter5038
      @davidcarter5038 5 місяців тому +2

      Agreed, but it's interesting that the cover by Siouxsie and the Banshees reached #3 in the UK singles chart.

    • @garethde-witt6433
      @garethde-witt6433 5 місяців тому +1

      John was a crap singer

    • @P.Galore
      @P.Galore 4 місяці тому +2

      The Beatles considered singles different and in addition to an album....

    • @s.w.3604
      @s.w.3604 3 місяці тому

      You must be a Bieber fan? Lol.@@garethde-witt6433

    • @PC4USE1
      @PC4USE1 29 днів тому +1

      @@garethde-witt6433 OMG to have that 'crap' voice would be a blessing to any singer. Not as versatile as Paul but a fantastic singer.

  • @karenvillaneda
    @karenvillaneda 8 місяців тому +6

    Ringo has a style you can’t deny. It’s him.

  • @paulnovosel9359
    @paulnovosel9359 Рік тому +77

    That's Ringo's feel. There is no doubt in my mind (I'm a professional drummer of 30+ years and big Beatles fan too lol). Paul could well have been able to play the piece technically speaking but that feel man ..we all know it.

    • @ADHSR
      @ADHSR Рік тому +11

      You nailed it Paul. I couldn't agree more. Paul's drumming never had that same feel. He was a pretty good drummer, but Ringo had an obvious groove and feel.

    • @jeffreyr.pettibone8746
      @jeffreyr.pettibone8746 Рік тому +8

      Agree 100! Ringo has authority to his hit, but also a laid back lagging feel. So distinct!

    • @NicanTlacaWarrior1
      @NicanTlacaWarrior1 Рік тому +3

      ..Paul copied it

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +3

      Since Ringo wasn't there and there is ABSOLUTELY no documented drum overdub anywhere and NOBODY from the Beatles EVER claimed this for Ringo that is highly unlikely.
      And WHY would he even go there and overdub this certain part??!! Absolutely no logical or musical or technical reason for it.
      There drums where overdubbed even before the vocals, so they can't have been added later.
      Furthermore, that ending is in fact quite messy and rhythmically all over the place.
      Ringo would have been much more precise.
      It totally sounds like what Paul did on "Kreen Akrore", it's just him fooling around trying to come up with an interesting drum part.
      It sounds more complex as it is because there are indeed two drum tracks - both played by PAUL.

    • @stephenellis2866
      @stephenellis2866 Рік тому +1

      Was Ringo!

  • @thomasriley5830
    @thomasriley5830 2 роки тому +54

    People often undersell Pauls drumming. Check out “My Dark Hour” by Steve Miller from 1968! Paul Plays drums and sings backing on it. The drumming is very intense and uncharacteristic of Paul’s drumming!

    • @ChromaticHarp
      @ChromaticHarp 2 роки тому +6

      Wow I just listened to My Dark Hour. I had no idea that Paul played drums on that!

    • @evertvdb000
      @evertvdb000 2 роки тому +2

      its 1969

    • @waynecameron4579
      @waynecameron4579 2 роки тому +2

      Wow didn't know that

    • @zakmike8615
      @zakmike8615 2 роки тому +7

      Yeah, Paul's a competent drummer... Blah blah blah. I am a better drummer than Sir Paul McCartney. Ringo obviously contributed to Dear Prudence.

    • @evertvdb000
      @evertvdb000 2 роки тому +1

      @@zakmike8615 i agree

  • @beckylynn209
    @beckylynn209 Рік тому +7

    Probably my favorite Beetle's album! I remember sitting in my room singing every word to every song on this album.. I still owe it.. Thank you.. I learned a lot.. 🎶🤗🎵

  • @bhornannawindeedeigh5007
    @bhornannawindeedeigh5007 4 місяці тому +3

    ... love, Love, LOVE "Dear Prudence" - one of my Top 5 Beatles tunes. In my humble opinion, it was Ringo's drumming on the final cut... it has his spirit in it. 🥁 Why won't someone simply clear up the debate by posing the question to him? "Did you, Sir Ringo, play all of Dear Prudence?" Inquiring minds want to know. 🤔... 😃 Thank you for this vid! I appreciate your work, dear channel owner! 💐🙏🏽❤️

  • @williamvanvugt9117
    @williamvanvugt9117 Рік тому +54

    After hearing and seeing this several times (and after a half-century and more of listening and studying the Beatles--whatever that is worth) I am convinced that Ringo did the overdub at the end. Not that Paul could not have done that just as well--but it would have sounded different. For me, the most brilliant drum track of all time is Ringo on "A Day in the Life." Listen to how sophisticated that is! No one else could sound quite like that, and it has similarities to the last drum track on "Dear Prudence." I agree that the real joy in this is the consideration and discussion. The genius of the Beatles becomes more and more apparent with superb documentaries like this. Thank You!!

    • @ronnienaidoo3249
      @ronnienaidoo3249 Рік тому +4

      Brilliant views !!!

    • @Mike-ri6ez
      @Mike-ri6ez Рік тому +2

      I couldn't agree more with your comment on Ringo on "A day in the life". One of my favorite drum tracks of all time. I'm not even sure why

  • @gardner78
    @gardner78 2 роки тому +27

    The guitar work in this song is beautiful. It's just so calming.

  • @olegyamleq7796
    @olegyamleq7796 Рік тому +3

    man, this video was brilliant!!!!!!!!!!! it's unbelievable the quality of the independent artists posting their own work here on youtube. upvoted!!!!

  • @chrismac9640
    @chrismac9640 Рік тому +7

    The Beatles were a super talented group who grew from humble beginnings in the 1950's, endured hard life experiences while in Germany (Stuart Sutcliff Death), replaced the original drummer (Pete Best) with Richard Starkey (Ringo Star), to end up producing some of the best music of the 1960's which is still current today. Their music will live on forever.
    The pressure placed on Ringo Star causing him to walk out was and is understandable, with the remaining beatles improvising by using Paul McCartney as a drummer, and or supplementing some of Ringo's other drum recordings onto other tracks is a reflection of how the band survived and produced so many good songs. THEY WERE SO GOOD.

  • @lladnar69
    @lladnar69 2 роки тому +15

    The over dubbed is Ringo imo. I've been playing drums since I was 13, now 60, b/c of Ringo (and Ginger), and duplicating his leading left hand fills are still a challenge. It is likely that George Martin gave Ringo a chance to contribute to what he missed, so that Ringo feel more sewn back into the band. Fantastic video, great job!

    • @MontagTheMagician
      @MontagTheMagician Рік тому

      I knew people in high school who were drummers in a marching band who could very easily play any Beatles song.

    • @onlyyuknow1
      @onlyyuknow1 Рік тому +1

      Ginger Baker certainly was among one of the best drummers of his time along with Bill Bruford.

    • @hppnq
      @hppnq Рік тому

      The strongest argument that it is Paul, to me, is that if Ringo had done the overdub, he would have played the entire song and not just the last bit.

    • @lladnar69
      @lladnar69 Рік тому +2

      @@hppnq You can tell that there is a simple guide drum pattern with fills over dubbed. I think George Martin had Ringo come in and overdub the wild part at the end to help soothe the rough feelings of a drummer who was thinking of quitting.

  • @NilsMontanEsq
    @NilsMontanEsq Рік тому +23

    I was 19 when I first heard "Dear Prudence" in 1968 and it has remained one of my favorite songs of all time - regardless of who played the drums.

  • @davidbritnn
    @davidbritnn Рік тому +4

    Ringo says Paul did the drumming on it. I'd have to track down where I heard him say it. I don't think it sounds like Ringo, though he loosens up later, Paul is kind of stiff in the first verses. Very similar drumming technique can be heard on 'McCartney' a year and a half later and even on the 'Band on the Run' album.

  • @june241976
    @june241976 Рік тому +19

    And yet one of their most underrated songs.
    What a masterpiece!

  • @aidannolastname
    @aidannolastname Рік тому +157

    Paul and Ringo have a kind of distinct style for drumming. Paul, being a perfectionist, has a very straightforward type of play style. Ringo is left handed and plays a right handed kit which gives him a "lagging" kind of style to his drumming, which is heard in Dear Prudence. As many people have said, it isn't impossible for Paul to have played that end section but the lagging kind of style just screams Ringo to me.

    • @titmusspaultpaul5
      @titmusspaultpaul5 Рік тому +8

      Totally agree, me ears tell me all the nuances are ringo. Having said that there is no proof, but I believe my ears. Paul doesn't dwell on the past and creates new music all the time and given he played on the song originally he wouldn't be able to give an answer. Unless someone played it on the spot for him and I don't see that happening. Plus the intrigue is better for everyone.... cheers.

    • @JH-si9oe
      @JH-si9oe Рік тому +33

      Paul is also left handed

    • @SOcialHIPpie
      @SOcialHIPpie Рік тому +4

      @@JH-si9oe Good point

    • @siroswaldfortitude5346
      @siroswaldfortitude5346 Рік тому +5

      @@JH-si9oe yep good point...I didn't even realise that Ringo was left handed lol

    • @cbennett196631
      @cbennett196631 Рік тому +8

      Paul is left handed YES….but he didn’t play on a Righty kit…

  • @feeberizer
    @feeberizer Рік тому +22

    Ringo was, and is a massive talent. Personally, I don't care who played what, when, or how. What I pay attention to is the final cut and the mastery these four men had making music that changed the culture around the world.

  • @jayalajay5974
    @jayalajay5974 Рік тому

    Beautiful work! Thank you

  • @hektor6766
    @hektor6766 Рік тому +11

    Ringo played drums on all those songs you mentioned plus Strawberry Fields Forever. No mistaking that unique "tumble-over" style. This is definitely Ringo dubbed in. I would play this song over and over on the first day of summer vacation. It is sonically the month of June. And I didn't know the backstory about Prudence Farrow at the time, but she fits the image I had perfectly.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +1

      Yeah, only Ringo wasn't there and they didn't do later overdubs, as Ken Scott confirmed.
      So it can't be Ringo, and it totally sounds like Paul anyway.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      @@gutgolf74 Ken Scott didn't confirm it, and he wouldn't necessarily know.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому +1

      @@mikem9001 LOL, yes he DID confirm it, and if you would follow his content and interviews you'd see that he DEFINITELY knows what he's talking about - in SHOCKING contrast to Emerick.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      @@gutgolf74 Ken Scott declined to say that it was definitely all Paul on the drums, he was recollecting years after the event, and he wasn't the only engineer involved. His words give no basis for concluding that there were no additional overdubs.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому +1

      @@mikem9001 LOL, nice try.
      Ken said he can't say what happened in the studio while they recorded it.
      He mixed it, so he surely DOES know if there were any overdubs, and since he's very clear about remembering that, we have no reason to doubt him.
      Please give us some verbatim quotes from any other engineer involved who confirms it's Ringo, overdubbed.
      Wait, I even accept a quote confirming the POSSIBILITY it was Ringo overdubbed later!
      See, YOU are the one who has "absolutely no basis" for your claim.
      See 9:44.
      Bye!

  • @Chiggerticky
    @Chiggerticky Рік тому +7

    "Dear Prudence" almost always leaves me with tears in my eyes. Thank you for this amazing backstory.

  • @scalzmoney
    @scalzmoney 2 роки тому +15

    You got it right when you said they can sound like each other. Paul was great a mimicking George's guitar style. Maybe with overdubs and bounced tracks he was able to achieve the drum sound from the second half of the song.

  • @joethelion6016
    @joethelion6016 Рік тому +21

    This is one of the Beatles most interesting songs, very haunting.
    Siouxsie and the Banshees cover was rather good too

  • @christianakre7324
    @christianakre7324 Рік тому +5

    All documentation from that time is clear on Paul providing the drums on this track. The last part with the fills is clearly more technically advanced and required overdubs and most likely parts spliced together. As Paul is a self taught drummer, he lacks the grip proficiency and thus doesn't have the same attack as Ringo. This distinguishes Paul's drumming from Ringo's, and on this track it's noticeable all through, so Paul is playing and kind of emulating Ring in the fills at the end of "Dear Prudence".

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +1

      LOL, some people will read this and think you said it is Ringo playing!

  • @ScaryStoriesNYC
    @ScaryStoriesNYC 2 роки тому +114

    It sounds like Paul on the McCartney album. The fact that it's cut in at least three sections increases the possibility that it was Paul because Fingo could have played it straight through LOL It's very good, whichever of them did it.

    • @rachezzel
      @rachezzel 2 роки тому +26

      ✨fingo btarr✨

    • @mgscheue
      @mgscheue 2 роки тому +15

      A friend sent me an email with “Ringo” autocorrected to “Fungi”.

    • @rachezzel
      @rachezzel 2 роки тому +7

      @@mgscheue funnily enough, as I was writing my previous comment, the same thing happened

    • @mgscheue
      @mgscheue 2 роки тому +3

      @@rachezzel 😂

    • @tyrannosauruszeppelin2205
      @tyrannosauruszeppelin2205 2 роки тому +9

      Ah yes, Fingo, the famous Beatles drummer

  • @maxxxmodelz4061
    @maxxxmodelz4061 Рік тому +13

    I can't believe Dear Prudence wasn't a massive hit back in 68. I wasn't alive back then, but having been introduced to The Beatles by my dad's extensive collection of their albums, I always found that song to be one of their best. It was remade in the 80s by Susie and The Banshees and became a hit for her. Great song.

    • @blackletter2591
      @blackletter2591 Рік тому +3

      It's because it was an album song and it was in no way up to the standard of the big hitters from that album. There was no need to make Prudence a single release - we all had it on the album. Back in the USSR, ObladiOblada, While my guitar gently weeps, Blackbird, Julia etc. "Beatles most beautiful song"? Nah, not even close. Not even the best song on the album which had at least 8 good songs, with Prudence coming in about 7th. In those days, everybody bought every Beatles album, because we knew you'd get your money's worth. Other bands and artists, you'd get maybe one or two hits and a bunch of duds.

    • @larryglusak8176
      @larryglusak8176 Рік тому +2

      Dragonize is correct. We didn't buy singles and we learned that most of the Beatles music was of the same caliber. I bought the white album at least six times. Every time the girl I was living with back then and I separated, it seems they got the albums that I paid for. Fortunes of war I guess.

    • @frankjamesbonarrigo7162
      @frankjamesbonarrigo7162 Рік тому

      you were alive. Just in a different form

  • @josephr.lejeune4539
    @josephr.lejeune4539 2 місяці тому +1

    Brilliant observations and such fun to put this song under the microscope. Beautiful and very inspirational. Thanks!

  • @ramonarellano4988
    @ramonarellano4988 10 місяців тому +7

    To me, this is the greatest Beatles song ever.

  • @jrlaudio
    @jrlaudio 2 роки тому +11

    Please do not ask how I know this, I can't respond. That being said, at the time EMI did not have the ability to mix down an 8 track recording, so the tracks were mixed down at Trident to four track. Once back at EMI two of the four tracks were bounced down to a single track in order to overdub additional drum tracks. These were performed by Ringo upon his return. This was after the group played the tracks for Ringo and he had some ideas to supplement what was already done. They decided to let him add the additional parts as a way to bring the group back together as a unit and ease some tensions. This is why some tracks were bounced to one, to make room for Ringo's new parts. So yes, those overdubs were Ringo.

    • @lancegould
      @lancegould Рік тому

      Cool. That sounds about right. It seems that, over the years, I’ve read something about an appeasement of Ringo for his return. The story was about George’s song, so the details in the article were vague, but I could totally believe that it was viewed as incomplete if that’s not Paul playing. Although there’s quite a bit going on at the end of that song, I the we can all agree that it wouldn’t be the same with only, in essence, a click track in back. Plus, I’m convinced, after watching this video, that you can tell that whomever is playing that end part, is doing so whilst smoking a cigarette.

    • @ebkesq72
      @ebkesq72 Рік тому

      If we cannot ask you how you “know” this, then we have no way to judge the accuracy of your comment.

    • @bobsquires4521
      @bobsquires4521 Рік тому

      @@lancegould They ALL smoked cigs and THEY ALL played the drums. lol But I bet none of them could claim to hold a match to Ringo's ability. You can hear it - night and day. Anyone with ears PLUS half a musical brain (that's important) can recognize Ringo's niche in the Beatles - just because Ringo wrote the song and played the piano for his only 1 Beatles song that he contributed ("Don't Pass Me By") doesn't mean he was a pianist.

    • @jrlaudio
      @jrlaudio Рік тому +1

      @@ebkesq72 It's bad enough I made this comment, but the reason is NDA's I signed many years ago which have yet to expire. To hint at it, I had access to original multitracks when doing some archival A/D conversions for Abbey Road, which means I could hear conversations during recording between takes. It was Ringo on those tracks. I really can't say more.

  • @WhileMyGuineaPigGentlyWheeks
    @WhileMyGuineaPigGentlyWheeks 2 роки тому +25

    Dear Prudence is one of my favorites. Paul’s bass playing is the best part for me. Some of his best I think.

  • @jguitarify
    @jguitarify Рік тому +7

    This is an interesting video. I never knew people thought Paul played drums on this song. I think it definitely sounds like Ringo (huge compliment to Paul if it’s Paul). Either way it was definitely recorded on Ringo’s drum set. This is one of my favorite Beatle albums and I hope they’ll release some White album film footage one day.

  • @EverendeverGroup
    @EverendeverGroup Рік тому +4

    Great analysis with an evident love and reverence for the material. Great job.

  • @drvee1983
    @drvee1983 2 роки тому +17

    I'm really happy to read and hear these audio tracks.
    I read drum music before English when I was 5 years old.
    McCartney played a decent drum track going back to their Hamburg days and white album/solo albums/career. He was a human click track, and his tempo ( meter) was spot on, and still is.
    All of the later fills are completely Ringo chops.
    As a lefty drummer, turned righty , he had fills that are difficult to reproduce/imitate today for right-handed drummers.
    No one plays like Ringo.
    His signature is unique.
    It's Ringo.
    Thanks for posting!

    • @lauskanaal4260
      @lauskanaal4260 2 роки тому +1

      Only thing is, McCartney was also left-handed. For the rest I agree with you completely. The end is definitely Ringo.

    • @drvee1983
      @drvee1983 2 роки тому +1

      Yes.
      But he always had to play right handed drums.
      He can also play right handed guitar, (upside down ) or proper position....growing up in a right handed world.
      Most lefty guitarists can play something on righty instruments, drummers also.
      It's the great upside down guitarists that will confuse you as a righty jamming with them.
      See Albert King for further reference.
      It's Ringo.

    • @lauskanaal4260
      @lauskanaal4260 2 роки тому +3

      Dave Grohl at 2:53: "You hear his drumming, you know exactly who it is". ua-cam.com/video/wJTjjAXDZSY/v-deo.html People don't recognize how great a drummer Ringo is. They think Paul can just imitate Ringo's drumming. Even Beatles fans don't see that Ringo is a drummer that Paul can never be. It amazes me.

  • @brandonmshrock
    @brandonmshrock 2 роки тому +41

    I’m not the most huge Beatles guy, but I have always liked this song and have learned this drum part. To me, it feels like it was something played by someone who doesn’t normally play drums, but still has some major skills (like Paul). It was wild and very outside of the box with lots of movement. To me, it sounds like something a bass player would come up with. I totally get the Ringo theory, but I personally believe it was Paul.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 2 роки тому +3

      Well said!

    • @brandonmshrock
      @brandonmshrock 2 роки тому

      @@gutgolf74 Thanks!

    • @francoismariedru5581
      @francoismariedru5581 Рік тому +1

      "I’m not the most huge Beatles guy."... all is said. it's Ringo

    • @mcnultyssobercompanion6372
      @mcnultyssobercompanion6372 Рік тому +3

      @@francoismariedru5581 His preface about not being a "huge Beatles guy" was him being intellectually honest. It actually _enhances_ his argument a bit. Beyond that, he's clearly a drummer, which means his ability to discern technique cannot be dismissed just because he likely cannot name every track on "Rubber Soul".
      He at least presented an argument. To be fair, your argument consists of two words: "it's Ringo". We all know you believe that. Why? Who knows.
      BRANDON SHROCK'S argument doesn't *prove* who's on the recording, but it's an informed opinion from a drummer and, for me, that makes it interesting and worthwhile.

    • @sportsmediaamerica
      @sportsmediaamerica Рік тому +3

      Can someone just go ask Paul?? He's still alive, you know. Ringo too.

  • @jsat1526
    @jsat1526 Рік тому +6

    I think the very powerful fills are Ringo. I have heard similar from him and although I've heard Paul on drums, I don't recall him laying down such similar fills.

  • @cobar5342
    @cobar5342 7 місяців тому

    Great video. Thank you.

  • @chrisp4962
    @chrisp4962 Рік тому +48

    Listening to Paul's tracks in the other songs, Dear Prudence sounds like Ringo's style to me. I am not a musician, just a fan of 55 yrs.

  • @damiend5050
    @damiend5050 2 роки тому +17

    That’s definitely Ringo at the end, you can hear it instantly in his style. Paul is a great drummer but he wouldn’t try or be able to emulate Ringo’s fills like that. You can hear the similarity in style at the end of Helter Skelter just before Ringo got blisters on his fingers!

  • @jackfletcher9530
    @jackfletcher9530 Рік тому +1

    Thanks pat. One of my favorites
    I learned it years ago. Reminds me to pick up my guitars

  • @bonalba20
    @bonalba20 Рік тому +22

    Revolver is in my opinion the best album the Beatles ever made and is also my favourite Beatles album. The Taxman track is as good as anything John or Paul ever wrote. Also the most distinctive cover as well! The count in sounds like George to me. I was 18 years old when it was first released and I still remember how different it sounded from previous albums.

    • @tokingreens
      @tokingreens Рік тому

      I rank it at the top three - love it...

    • @paulrickford6154
      @paulrickford6154 Рік тому +4

      George wrote the song and was the band’s lead guitarist, Paul played the famous guitar solo on it.

    • @gregoryschleitwiler9601
      @gregoryschleitwiler9601 Рік тому

      Exactly the time I knew the Beatles were better then the early years.
      Wasn't much impressed until REVOLVER

  • @HauntedHarmonics
    @HauntedHarmonics 2 роки тому +58

    This is such an underrated channel. Such a fantastic intersection of history, art analysis, and video essay content. All with top notch production value. You’re probably one of my favorite channels on the entire platform right now.
    Keep up the good work dude👍🏻

  • @lg4360
    @lg4360 2 роки тому +9

    As a drummer too, this is a sticky question all the more so because Paul is left handed like Ringo. Any right handed drummer will listen and re-listen to Ringo's fills because they do not follow the normal pattern a right handed drummer would follow. Subtle but astonishingly significant. Ringo, rightfully so (no pun intended) could not round the set from left to right because his fills were lead by his left hand and not his right. That made Ringo's drumming VERY unique. Paul would have the same trouble, actually more so as Ringo was somewhat ambidextrous by playing his kit set up for a right handed person. His grandmother forced Ringo to use his right hand as it was more socially acceptable than being a "lefty". Thus, Ringo "appears" to be a normal right handed drummer, when in fact he had to lead his fills with his left hand. Again, Paul did NOT play his instruments as a right handed player. He played as a lefty. Paul thus would have very similar fill characteristics as Ringo although clearly not to the extent or capability of Ringo. I agree the drumming sounds very inline with what you would expect from Ringo yet I believe it most likely was Paul for the said reasons as well as the fact that Paul often "instructed" Ringo how he wanted the drums played, ie. fills, tempo etc. So much so that during these session for the White Album Ringo left the band because he was fed up with Paul constantly telling him what to do. A small break in the Mediterranean and Ringo was back.

  • @jabbermocky4520
    @jabbermocky4520 Рік тому +5

    Fascinating. As a child I listened to this record on a rudimentary stereo hi-fi. I'd switch the bass, treble and balance knobs to listen to discrete parts separated from the whole. The drum complexity towards the end is like fireworks on a quiet night. Gotta be Ringo. The host is correct, I cannot unhear this. Thank you!

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому

      Since Ringo wasn't there and they didn't do later overdubs, it can't be Ringo, end of story, no mystery at all.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      @@gutgolf74 They may well have done a later overdub, even just to put some of Ringo into the song. Nobody knows for sure. Most people lost memory of incidents (unless particularly significant) after a few months, let alone years.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому

      @@mikem9001 Yeah, only Ken Scott DOES know they didn't do any later overdubs.
      Also it remains a fact that NOBODY who was actually involved EVER claimed this for Ringo.
      Also, it's nothing Paul couldn't play, it's even sloppy, so I just don't get why so many people have such a hard time accepting official facts on this one that have NEVER been disputed by ANYONE involved.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      @@gutgolf74 Ken Scott was being interviewed decades later. He wasn't prepared to say that Paul was the only drummer on this song, and he wasn't in a position to be sure there were no other overdubs. He was not the only engineer working on the album. Literally scores of drummers on this thread alone have explained why it doesn't sound at all like Paul, but does sound like Ringo.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому

      @@mikem9001 Please quote ANY other engineer who claims this for Ringo.
      Truth is not a matter of majorities on UA-cam comments, LOL!

  • @buddycushman2851
    @buddycushman2851 4 місяці тому +2

    So interesting. Always a favorite Beatles song, and now more joy than ever.

  • @barneybyron2094
    @barneybyron2094 Рік тому +84

    Paul's drumming always sound solid but quite simple. This really does sound like Ringo to me.

    • @andrewgardner3092
      @andrewgardner3092 Рік тому +5

      Yeah, after hearing it next to Strawberry Field’s concluding drums, it seems obvious to me to.

    • @marcstevens8576
      @marcstevens8576 Рік тому +4

      I think it was Paul. He'd been playing with Ringo for so long, he knew Ringo's style & was most likely asked by producers to overdub a duplication of it in order to keep the same sound. Do remember, unlike The Who, who took years off between albums, The Beatles came out with at least one every year. Nobody really noticed at the time..

    • @mega4m
      @mega4m Рік тому +1

      @@marcstevens8576 "...asked by producers" 😂

    • @royharper2003
      @royharper2003 Рік тому +1

      Quite simple describes Ringo's playing

  • @williardbillmore5713
    @williardbillmore5713 2 роки тому +10

    By the time this happened they knew each others styles and techniques so well, and they were both so good, that Ringo could convincingly play an imitation of Paul, playing an imitation of Ringo, that could fool and confuse anyone. They were both capable and both had the mischievous personalities that would pull such a thing off in any combination just to mess with people.
    I will, as I always have, enjoy the song and I will never lose any sleep over who played what where.
    I know it's a Beatle song and that is all I need to know.

  • @disneyscott98
    @disneyscott98 Рік тому +2

    I don't know why anyone is saying that someone should just ask Paul or Ringo.. They're both in their 80s now, and this was recorded well over 50 years ago. They've done a lot between now and then..

  • @zarzee8925
    @zarzee8925 Рік тому +2

    Those examples of Paul's drumming sound... middling. No triplets, no flourishes. Makes me lean towards the camp of "Dear Prudence was overdubbed by Ringo." Man, to have been a fly on the wall of every Beatles recording ever!

  • @davetir
    @davetir 2 роки тому +201

    I am in the camp that Ringo came back and added drums later, simply because it sounds too "Ringo-ee" not to be him. But I never knew this story so I also always assumed "round round round..." was sung by Ringo because it sounds just like his voice. Is it a far fetched idea that Ringo came back and then added drums and backing vocals when the others welcomed him back?

    • @SurferJoe1
      @SurferJoe1 2 роки тому +7

      The vocals (always jumped out at me, too!) are documented: Mal and Neil, I think, and maybe someone else.

    • @elirosen1391
      @elirosen1391 2 роки тому +8

      @@SurferJoe1 Mal, Neil Aspinall, etc. were in the chorus. Mal probably provided that bass D2 in the background, him being a 6'6 man mountain.

    • @SurferJoe1
      @SurferJoe1 2 роки тому +6

      @@elirosen1391 Yeah, a voice that low is something you don't expect to hear on a Beatles record! I had wondered about it since I was a kid before finally looking it up, some years ago. A couple songs later we get the highest voice on a Beatles record from Yoko...

    • @Mediawatcher2023
      @Mediawatcher2023 2 роки тому +3

      Paul did all the drumming

    • @heggy_69
      @heggy_69 2 роки тому +1

      I still like to think Ringo did backing vocals

  • @jhanimalluvr5932
    @jhanimalluvr5932 Рік тому +22

    This is fascinating! I love to have experts deconstruct a song by the greats. As a music major, I learned there is sooooo much more to a song than many of us hear and appreciate. More please 🙂

    • @bjoybeads
      @bjoybeads Рік тому +1

      Well, the Beatles made sure of that! It was exciting waiting for their newest release!

    • @jhanimalluvr5932
      @jhanimalluvr5932 Рік тому

      @@bjoybeads so true. They and George Martin really explored a lot of new territory.

  • @GlobetransEc
    @GlobetransEc Рік тому +6

    Altogether an excellent presentation; visually, content, and commentary.
    As to the question was it Paul or Ringo drumming which finished off the song, it certainly has Ringo's signature backbeat drumming, slightly off time, yet perfectly timed. If this was achieved through 8 track mixing, including Ringo as the source, or just Ringo joining in on near the end of song's final mix and adding his own drumming track, only Ringo can truly answer that question, but it most definitely sounds pure-Ringo, no matter who and how the sound was created. Paul is very talented on multiple instruments including the drums, but that's not his drumming style or sound. I say all this with nearly 60 years experience listening the Beatles music library, beginning prior to their US debut on the Ed Sullivan show through the 2022 Get Back movie release - its music that never gets old.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому

      Sorry about your "experience", but since Ringo wasn't there and they didn't do any later overdubs, as confirmed by Ken Scott, it's impossible to be Ringo.
      Also, it totally sounds like "Kreen Akrore", especially the cymbals. Nothing Paul couldn't do.
      No Ringo, no mystery.

    • @GlobetransEc
      @GlobetransEc Рік тому +1

      @@gutgolf74 Suggest you listen to "Don't Pass Me By" for further supporting guidance, supporting that it was Ringo, in the final final mix closing out the recording. Kreen Akrore is a misplaced analogy and poor reasoning in support that it was all McCartney on drums. Again the two surviving Beatles and subjects of this discussion know the real truth, they were there. Revisiting the original White Album (and 2010 CD mix), and I'm only further convinced that Ringo owns the end drumming section to Dear Prudence.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому

      @@GlobetransEc Make big speeches as much as you like, it remains a fact that you don't have any evidence.
      Ringo wasn't there, and there were no overdubs.
      AND if YOU listen to Kreen Akrore, best with headphones, you'lll find that it TOTALLY sounds like the end solo, especially the cymbals.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      @@gutgolf74 Make big speeches as much as you like, it remains a fact that you don't have any evidence. We do not know that there were no overdubs. And no, Kreen Akrore doesn't remotely sound like it.

  • @doofs
    @doofs Рік тому +2

    i remember hearing this theory when i was 10, i had just picked up drumming the same year and was an avid beatles fan, dear prudence was by far my favourite song at the time too, so seeing the discussion in early youtube comments saying it was paul really blew my mind.
    as a kid, i thought it was paul just 'cause i thought itd be funny probably the most difficult drum solo in the beatles wasn't even ringo, but after 13 years of drumming experience i can confidently say that's ringo. no discredit to paul, but those drum examples you pulled are super stripped down 1 & 2 type beats. the flavour of the solo is distinctly ringo, the phrasing of the kit, the triplets on the toms, and moreover (this sounds bs but humour me) solos required a trained ear to create, and there's a lot of drum-feel and intuition you can only hear if youre a drummer too; things like the double cymbal crash on the second bar is a habit you sometimes develop, and to me that screams experience. without a doubt ringo.

  • @ericingham9925
    @ericingham9925 Рік тому +32

    I did notice Ringo's terrific drumming in She Said She Said is very much his own unique style. Thanks for this great video and comments.

  • @christophernoto
    @christophernoto 2 роки тому +8

    I have no idea who played any of this, but I have been listening to this album since it was first released, and I love what you are doing here. The Beatles's oeuvre definitely rewards this kind of close listening! Many thanks!❤🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🖤

  •  11 місяців тому +2

    7:42 I believe that the tea towel muffling the snare drum fell as there were fills with the muffled snare in 7:37

  • @flipflopmcgurt3403
    @flipflopmcgurt3403 Рік тому +7

    When people say "The Beatles weren't the best band" and crap like "Yellow Submarine? She loves you? Yeah, that sucked" I laugh cause obviously haven't heard their whole catalog and know the little things that made this band legendary. They were and will always be THEE absolute greatest band EVER: Period

    • @mikebeckham55
      @mikebeckham55 Рік тому

      Ditto. Their music is timeless. It changed rock-n-roll forever and had a huge impact on the culture of the 60's, some good , some bad... Your correct when you say if you haven't heard their whole catalog, you won't know what made them legendary. There is much more to them than their top radio-played hits.

    • @bW9taeH4
      @bW9taeH4 6 місяців тому

      Yellow Submarine is a weak song. But it was meant to be a kids song. She Loves You isn't a weak song, except lyrically it lacks maturity. But that was before the Beatles realized that songs should be about something less superficial. The lyrics aren't as bad as Love Me Do. But you can't discount the energy and drive of the earlier tunes. And as a whole, finding a few songs that are weaker in some respect than another, given that so many musicians are successful because of a handful of hits that rose above everything else they did, is ignoring context. I'm not saying that a musician who wrote a handful of hits isn't deserving of recognition for that work. It's quite the opposite. But with the Beatles, the outstanding work is the rule, not the exception.

    • @BiggieTrismegistus
      @BiggieTrismegistus 5 місяців тому

      "She Loves You" is the record The Beatles ever made, which also means it's the best record anyone has ever made.

  • @z-mackdos6echo311
    @z-mackdos6echo311 Рік тому +7

    This is a bit of trivia that neither adds nor detracts from how I connect to this track. Listening to this track just now after decades of not hearing it played brought a flood of all the images, the feelings it created for me back at the time I was a pre teen. There’s so much of my memory sensory entrenched in this track. I hadn’t realized that a lot of the atmosphere of that time period was encapsulated of what life was like back then in this song. It was a bit overwhelming, because it wasn’t something I was anticipating of being jolted with to my emotional equilibrium. Whether Ringo or Paul was the individual playing the drums doesn’t matter to me, because it doesn’t change anything of how I feel about it, and those dormant memories within me this song brings back to life. The final product is the final product and it’s a masterpiece not be be trifled with.

  • @beatlesrgear
    @beatlesrgear Рік тому +48

    Even tho Paul was a competent drummer, the ending part reeks of Ringo's style. The touch and finesse that Ringo played with
    would not have been possible for Paul to perfectly duplicate as this human element is unique to musicians and singers.
    No matter when Ringo came back off holiday, he most certainly is playing at the end of the track.

    • @RUfromthe40s
      @RUfromthe40s Рік тому

      what´s sad is that in cd the drums don´t sound like drums in Beatles Lp´s or any other sound ,the same happens with a lot of other bands

  • @jtveg
    @jtveg Рік тому

    Thanks so much for sharing. 😉👌🏻

  • @Forklift-ck5iy
    @Forklift-ck5iy 9 місяців тому +2

    Once I play it you can’t unhear it!!!!!!

  • @sqidvishus
    @sqidvishus Рік тому +42

    The last part on Dear Prudence was definitely Ringo. Paul's style and technique at that point in time was very straight forward. With the dynamics and accents as well as the groove, it certainly feels and sounds like Ringo.

    • @JimmyBComputerGuy
      @JimmyBComputerGuy Рік тому +4

      Paul (on drums) is more of a "chipper", meaning he just sort of chips away undynamically with very little groove. Also, his fills are completely linear - a hallmark of the beginner. "Back in the USSR" is definitely Paul.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому

      Since Ringo wasn't there and there is ABSOLUTELY no documented drum overdub anywhere and NOBODY from the Beatles EVER claimed this for Ringo that is highly unlikely.
      And WHY would he even go there and overdub this certain part??!! Absolutely no logical or musical or technical reason for it.
      There drums where overdubbed even before the vocals, so they can't have been added later.
      Furthermore, that ending is in fact quite messy and rhythmically all over the place.
      Ringo would have been much more precise.
      It totally sounds like what Paul did on "Kreen Akrore", it's just him fooling around trying to come up with an interesting drum part.
      It sounds more complex as it is because there are indeed two drum tracks - both played by PAUL.

  • @josiahcole3186
    @josiahcole3186 Рік тому +27

    I’ve studied Ringo’s drumming style for many years as a drummer, and also have a good grasp of Pauls ability. His timing and fills do not have the same clean ghost notes and rhythms as Ringo. It’s good sure, but a little more all over the place and simple. There are certain elements to the fills where you can just tell its ringos hands on those sticks, beyond what Paul would be capable in terms of so closely emulating rudiments and tight timing (when using Paul drumming references such as come and get it)

    • @jamesfaivre1197
      @jamesfaivre1197 5 місяців тому +1

      Exactly. I bought the album when i was 9, began (lefty) drumming Xmas, '72... Paul's drum fills are stiff, rudimentary and "un-drummery", played like a guitarist, or bassist... drummers know drummers. :-)

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 5 місяців тому

      @@jamesfaivre1197 9:44

  • @kurikokaleidoscope
    @kurikokaleidoscope Рік тому +1

    Excellent episode.

  • @micheletempera8869
    @micheletempera8869 4 місяці тому

    Very well done content, great!

  • @Igor_Vinicius
    @Igor_Vinicius Рік тому +92

    I can't imagine this kind of debate involving any other band. That's just one of the reasons the Beatles are and always will be the most fascinating act of all time.

    • @jimreadey4837
      @jimreadey4837 Рік тому +3

      I think it's the other way around -- _because_ the Beatles are and always will be the most fascinating acts of all time, this kind of debate has arisen.

    • @williamvanvugt9117
      @williamvanvugt9117 Рік тому +2

      Spot-on, my friend. Spot-on.

    • @robfaulhaber8204
      @robfaulhaber8204 Рік тому +1

      Grateful Dead

    • @vollsticks
      @vollsticks Рік тому

      I see you're not familiar with The Fall's online community...

    • @vollsticks
      @vollsticks Рік тому

      @@jimreadey4837 I get why a lot of people, especially serious muso types, would believe that but calling The Beatles *the* most fascinating act of all time is a tad hyperbolic, no?

  • @BikeVermont71
    @BikeVermont71 2 роки тому +14

    Nothing explains the corporate genius of the Beatles like this analysis of Dear Prudence. The group is greater than the sum of its parts. The Muse worked through all of them together -- even when Ringo was absent.

    • @johnhenrycurry8209
      @johnhenrycurry8209 Рік тому

      I agree. For me the Beatles were an artist's collective more than a band. It didn't matter who did what, they were all part of all the music called The Beatles. They early broke many pop music molds; first as a fabulous vocal group that wrote its own material *and* played its own accompaniment. After they gave up on touring their collective dominated. They became a single artist with four heads. Who did what didn't much matter and, as you suggest, it was greater than the individual parts. Which played a roll in their disbanding. The compromises a collective requires became a drag. In "Get Back," George asks about adding Billy Preston to the group but Paul says (something like); it's hard enough for the four of us!

    • @ronnienaidoo3249
      @ronnienaidoo3249 Рік тому

      A great assessment !!!

  • @lukeskyflyer5211
    @lukeskyflyer5211 Рік тому

    Wow! What for a thrilling song analysis! I have never heard such before, thank you very much. I would like to know, if someone have ever asked this Ringo or Paul in an interview? If not, hurry up, journalists!

  • @lewisfirth6502
    @lewisfirth6502 2 місяці тому

    Great interesting vid, well done

  • @albeatle17
    @albeatle17 2 роки тому +9

    Ringo, in my opinion. If ever this issue is to be settle it will be because of the style and the character of the drumming.
    1. Own perception. The drum pattern at the end of Dear Prudence resemble those of A Day in the Life, Strawberry Fields, Blue Jay Way, Cry Baby Cry, Hello Goodbye, Here Comes the Sun, She Said She Said, Yer Blues, Good Morning Good Morning, Rain, etc.
    The hallmark of Ringo's style is unmistakable, mainly I think, in the use of silence at the heart of a complex fill (e.g. A Day in the Life) as well as the particular and "chaotic" alternation of the snare drum with the toms and even the hi-hat (e.g. She Said She Said). In Dear Prudence there is and example of his "signature beat (especially the falling-down-the-stairs, swampy rolls)".
    2. Argument from authority. I found on the UA-cam channel of batmankozyy the best drum covers of Beatles songs: precise, dynamic, fluid, forceful and faithful. He's been uploading videos since 2008 and I consider him an authority, being able to master Ringo's style and drumming intention. He even has a drum lesson video for Dear Prudence final part, with a transcription of the fills and an execution by himself (ua-cam.com/video/oBUsR48j6ew/v-deo.html&ab_channel=batmankozyy).
    In the comment section, when asked specifically if he thinks the final part is done by Paul or Ringo, he answers that he's convinced it's Ringo. He even points out Ringo's drumming in the song Vertical Man (exactly between the minute 2.35-2.42) arguing it's almost the same feeling as in Dear Prudence (ua-cam.com/video/yEUVh8c230U/v-deo.html&ab_channel=hotttomali).
    3. Counterarguments for Paul's drumming. Although Paul is able to mimic John's vocal tone in many songs it's not the same as trying to mimic Ringo's drumming due to the technical dexterity needed in the execution. Not even the counterexamples of Paul's drumming as in Kreen-Akrore, Miss America or My Dark Our matches the blueprint of Ringo's style. Even in videos of Paul playing drums, although his capability, he is seen with some stiffness (ua-cam.com/video/JZ_H-xrMM8A/v-deo.html&ab_channel=LaEstrellaInglesa) that wouldn't allow such a fluid section as in Dear Prudence.
    4. Extra hypothesis. Maybe when Ringo returned and asked for contributions in the already recorded tracks, he wanted to print decisively his style and, at least in Dear Prudence, he might wanted to show with strictness the power of his musical contribution to the Beatles. He was first replaced with Jimmy Nichols (in a different context of course) but he felt insecure of his position in the band ever since (as he declared in the Anthology). His intervention in the final section of Dear Prudence might be taken as a drummer statement, as saying "if I ever leave again, let's see if you can replace this".

    • @ColinWilliamsDrums
      @ColinWilliamsDrums Рік тому +3

      The effort in this comment is underrated

    • @rebecapasillas
      @rebecapasillas Рік тому +1

      You are, indeed, the guy in the audience with the score on his knees.

  • @orendungan3455
    @orendungan3455 Рік тому +19

    Totally agree. Dear Prudence is not only one of the best Beatles songs, but has to rank as one of the greatest songs period. The picking pattern, which John used all over the album, is really in its element for this. I adore Paul's bass line, and George's fanfare type solo at the finale is just icing on the cake. The drumming might have been done by Paul in the first part, as the rhythm is straightforward and grounded, but as it builds to the climax I do think it was Ringo. Once you isolated the transition, I thought immediately of Strawberry Fields. If it was Paul, he would have had to choose to specifically emulate Ringo's sound, and been good enough to do it at the drop of a hat, whereas Ringo could just walk in the door and...Act Naturally.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 Рік тому +1

      Ringo wasn't there, and Ken Scott confirmed there were no later overdubs.
      No mystery, no Ringo.

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      Great points. There is no proof that they didn't overdub Ringo later on, and it certainly sounds much more like him.

  • @greensombrero3641
    @greensombrero3641 Рік тому +5

    It's one of the most beautiful songs in the history of music

  • @KITLEVEY
    @KITLEVEY 5 місяців тому

    The change in the drumming style and the snare sound change is absolutely fascinating. The reality of it all is theirs to keep and to hold for all time. This is one of those musical
    groups that I have to respect as beyond superior talent and having what it takes to persever through what it takes to hang in there for so long for the sake of the band.

    • @BiggieTrismegistus
      @BiggieTrismegistus 5 місяців тому +1

      I've always suspected that the drumming at the end of "Dear Prudence" was Ringo and not Paul. McCartney was certainly a decent drummer but those fills sound like 100% Ringo.
      Incidentally I play the drums and Paul's drumming sounds like a non-drummer. It's competent but there's a lack of "groove". It's something that good drummers have and others don't.

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 5 місяців тому +1

      @@BiggieTrismegistus Ringo wasn't there when they recorded it and Ken Scott confirmed they didn't do later overdubs on this one.
      No mystery, no Ringo.
      9:44

  • @wchambers3849
    @wchambers3849 2 роки тому +4

    IMHO John's greatest under rated song and my favorite Beatles track...period! I listen to it nearly everyday. Absolutely a joy to listen to! "Won't you come out to play..."

    • @markhunter8554
      @markhunter8554 2 роки тому +1

      For me it's a tie between Rain and Prudence.

  • @hobbzee77
    @hobbzee77 2 роки тому +9

    The thing that seals it for me is the playing coming out of the fill section when it straightens out for the last 6 bars. For me there's no question that's Ringo's famed backbeat swagger & not Paul's on top of, if not pushing the beat style. So i've always thought it's Paul right up until the fills come in & then it's a chopped up overdubbed Ringo all the way home \m/

  • @marcoquinonez352
    @marcoquinonez352 11 місяців тому +1

    Greet video! I always understood this was Paul’s drumming. From what I had read over the years. The one thing that really catches my ear, is that, I can hear Ringo’s background vocals. Maybe we will
    never know about his background vocal contribution. Cheers!

    • @gutgolf74
      @gutgolf74 9 місяців тому

      It's very well and clearly documented that it's Mal Evans, Jackie Lomax and John McCartney doing the backing vocals.

  • @brucekain7097
    @brucekain7097 Рік тому +11

    The sound is pure Ringo. With so many “conspiracy theories,” I’m surprised that neither of the main players has ever definitively ‘fessed up. If Paul could pull it off, then more power to him, but I choose to believe that the Fab Fourth found a way to be heard.

    • @terrylodercreative
      @terrylodercreative Рік тому

      Since the "sound" changes right in the middle of the track, I'm curious as to why it wan't an issue. No way Dave Grohl lets you change his drum sounds half way through. Odd. Like I've always said: ASK PAUL OR RINGO. You'll get their answer and we can move on to whether Paul is still dead.

    • @PedroAmA
      @PedroAmA Рік тому

      It was Paul the credit od the songs says so

    • @mikem9001
      @mikem9001 9 місяців тому

      Good point. Ringo could easily have been dubbed in later after his return.

    • @joellebrodeur1015
      @joellebrodeur1015 8 місяців тому

      I say it's Paul on the main drum guide track and added overdubs is Ringo. Paul has a very distinctive, nearly one dimensional drum fill that Ringo never plays. It's best hear on The Ballad of John and Yoko. Clearly it's Paul. George and Ringo were on holiday during that session.
      For Dear Prudence, it's clearly two drummers using the same kit (Ringo's). You can tell the feel of each drummer are clearly differentiated in one track.
      Irrespective of who played what in the end, Dear Prudence is one of the highlights of the White Album.

  • @mickavellian
    @mickavellian Рік тому +10

    As a kid being more and more fascinated with music in general than just drumming grooves I remembered my utter infatuation with"Dear Prudence " because it broke pretty much EVERY rule my young drumming career has exposed me to. The vocals playing on top of ta lengthy drum fill (which became a groove and THAT was never mentioned as a UNIQUE drumming technique ( which has not been repeated again by anyone)

  • @andypozzuto7612
    @andypozzuto7612 Рік тому +10

    I believed Paul was the drummer but after listening to this it really does sound like Ringo. Not sure either would still remember but I wonder if anyone ever asked one of them.

  • @almostbeatlessongs
    @almostbeatlessongs Рік тому

    This is one of my favorite Beatles videos.