George Martin disses Ringo

dsw · Post by **dsw** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:32 am

This cracks me up. From an article in Recording Engineer/Producer Magazine in 1971:

bw: Do you think that you?ll work with the Beatles again, or any of he Beatles?

gm: In the answer to the first question, I think it?s possible if the Beatles ever work together again. As to the individual Beatles, I don?t know. Each one of them is very talented, two of them in particular, in fact George, John, and Paul are obviously more talented than Ringo.

All four of them are very talented anyway, but none of them is as strong as the four of them together. The four individual parts were not as great as the entire whole. The Beatles, four people together, did something that nobody else had ever done before, and the fact that they?re not together I think is a very sad thing.

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:42 am

Q. Why do people become drummers?

A. So they can hang out with musicians.

The drummer almost never gets any respect.

jmiller · Post by **jmiller** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:31 pm

I still think Ringo is the Coolest Beatle (maybe not the best or most talented, but still the Coolest).

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:57 pm

Though it's entirely subjective, I agree with George Martin on that point, but that's not to say that Ringo isn't a greatly gifted musician in his own right.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:23 pm

I don't think that saying that someone is less talented than George Harrison, Paul McCartney, or John Lennon is necessarily a dis.

dsw · Post by **dsw** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:00 pm

these days I don't think producers would say things like that though...

seems a bit rough of a thing to say at all. think it maybe, true maybe....

not a dis? in my book saying you aint as good as that guy over there is a dis wether that guy over there is George Bush or Lady Ga-Ga.

I get your point, though.

junomat · Post by **junomat** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:02 pm

subatomic pieces wrote:I don't think that saying that someone is less talented than George Harrison, Paul McCartney, or John Lennon is necessarily a dis.

+1

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:41 pm

Bands from that era weren't any less shy about dumping people who didn't pull their weight than nowadays.

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:20 pm

Didn't Ringo make fun of himself in this regard all the time?

and listen to his songs....you know he doesn't hold a candle to the other three as a songwriter. he's a decent drummer, and a funny guy, but you know....he's Ringo. I thinks it's less of a dis, and more of an established fact.

E-money · Post by **E-money** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:42 pm

George Martin disses Ringo

Not as bad as John Lennon did:

Press Reporter: Do you think Ringo is the best drummer in the world?
John Lennon: I dont think he's the best drummer in The Beatles.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:13 pm

The fact that any one of us can type the word "Ringo" and we all know who it means says something.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:11 pm

But I still love him in "The Caveman"

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:10 am

Yeah; the way I take it in context (he said they are _all_ enormously talented) was in regards to Lennon/McCartney and Harrison's songwriting credits. Anybody would have a hard-time being compared side-by-side to arguably some of the greatest songwriters in history.

Plus, this interview was from 1971! People's opinions, and their skills at expressing them, change over time.

If you read "Shout!" (one of the plethora of Beatle-books out there), you know that George Martin did not have much respect for Ringo (musically) from the outset, but that that respect level grew exponentially by the time the band had broken up.

GJ

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:26 am

cgarges wrote:The fact that any one of us can type the word "Ringo" and we all know who it means says something.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Agreed. He's one of my favorite drummers, for sure.

junomat · Post by **junomat** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:28 am

mjau wrote:
cgarges wrote:The fact that any one of us can type the word "Ringo" and we all know who it means says something.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
Agreed. He's one of my favorite drummers, for sure.

I think one of the best qualities of a drummer is when not to play and Ringo perfected that.

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