Ringo Starr tells how he learned to play the drums without practicing

All the Beatles they seemed predestined to, in some way, work with music. However, the story of Ringo Starr is the most peculiar in this sense.

The drummer, born Richard Starkey in 1940 in the English city of Liverpool, he did not have musician parents. His mother, Elsie Gleavesang as a hobby and liked to dance with her husband, also called Richard. She had a childhood marked by several health problems — which is why she had initial contact with a percussion instrument only during her stay in a hospital, as a way to alleviate boredom.

Starr He ended up joining the hospital band. Recovered, he had trouble adapting to the school rhythm, so he started to see music as his salvation — even more so because he tried to get jobs, but didn’t seem to have much discipline.

Interestingly, however, his skills as a drummer were developed in one of these jobs, in his free time at a factory. Having learned the instrument in a less didactic situation, Ringo He never liked training. Even so, he was one of the hottest drummers on the Liverpool circuit before being called up to the Beatlesreplacing Pete Bestin 1962.

In an interview with AXSTV (via Rock and Roll Garage), Starr assured the interviewer Dan Rather who learned to play the drums without any practice. All of his training took place in situations involving other musicians. In other words: no playing alone.

“I hate practicing, I hate sitting around training. I even tried it when I got my drum kit, but it was the most boring thing ever. I did all my learning with other musicians, other bands. I was lucky because there were a lot of people around and not all of us were great musicians. We were learning, so I learned everything from everyone else at the time at Liverpool.”

He then shared some memories of the period. He even mentioned the names of some musicians he played with.

“The guy who lived next to me on the street worked at the factory. It was Eddie Miles, a great guitarist. He was one of those guys who could learn to play anything. My best friend, Roy, had a bass, I had a snare drum and broomsticks. We used to play at lunchtime, in the basement of the factory. That’s how I started — and today I’m here talking to you.”

Ringo Starr’s greatest reference

Still during the interview, Ringo Starr pointed out a characteristic that would end up becoming a great differentiator in his work with Beatles: the fact that he prioritizes composition rather than drumming technique when creating his lines. This, he says, comes from his appreciation for the songs he listened to in his formative years.

“I never stood there listening to the drummer. When I listened to the records, I paid attention to everything. There was a song from Al Green call ‘I’m a Ram’ and the guy (the drummer Al Jackson Jr) hit loudly ‘boom, boom, tiss’. It’s like magic to me.”

The musician guaranteed to remember these moments as if they had happened just a few days ago. Finally, he once again highlighted what may have been his greatest reference in learning the drums: Al Jackson Jrdrummer of Stax Records who worked with Al Green, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Bill Withers, Wilson Pickett, Leon Russellamong many others.

“Al Jackson — yes, I know the names of the musicians and they played on great records. But it wasn’t like I was paying attention to the drums.”