To unravel the secret of the Beatles, it is helpful to visualize the four Beatles as the four corners of an album cover. The top left corner was John, the rebel. The top right corner Paul, the musical talent. The lower left corner George, the spiritual one, and the lower right corner Ringo, the ordinary one. The resulting mix was balanced and offered something for everyone.
There is this anecdote where John asks Ringo to drum the same as on a record he heard and Ringo says, “But John, these are two guys.” After which John answers, “Don’t let that bother you.”
The Boy Next Door
Ringo, the ordinary one, unintentionally, made sure that the Beatles did not become unattainable, especially at the peak of their popularity. He was and remained the normal one, the boy next door. We can still relate to these extraordinary people, especially John and Paul, through Ringo, who just seemed to be a nice chap.
We awe him very much. Congratulations Ringo!
Peter Eijgenhuijsen
The Beatles Era – A Quest for the Secret of The Beatles
If you like to unravel the secret of the Beatles. If you are intrigued by their unprecedented fame, by the fact that so many books were written about them, going into the smallest details of their supremacy. If you wonder, why their music has remained fresh after all these years. If you are intrigued by the secret of their music.
Then this book is a book for you.
Because this book is not about what happened, but about why it happened.
As we continue our celebration of Ringo Starr’s birthday, Angie McCartney gives her tribute to Ringo, and her late husband, and Paul’s father, Jim McCartney, who share the same birthday.
Angie McCartney Visiting Ringo
“Shortly after we were married, we took a trip to London to visit Paul. He drove us around each of The Beatles’ houses. When we visited Ringo and Maureen, our first impression was of little Zak, playing up in his tree house. We had a nice afternoon tea, and then Ritchie asked Uncle Jim (as he called him) if we would like a tour of the house, which we of course were delighted to do.
New Fangled Machines
“As a side note, I had been bugging Jim for a dishwasher, as we had so many visitors to Rembrandt in those days. Mike would frequently bring a gang home late at night after a Scaffold gig or some other gathering, and I would come downstairs to a sea of dishes in the morning. Jim wasn’t in favour of these “new fangled machines” as he called them. So before we set off, I mentioned this to Ritchie. When we got to their marvellous kitchen, he made a point of showing Jim their dishwasher, showing him how it all worked etc.
Angie McCartney
So later, on our way back to town in Paul’s car, Jim turned to me and said “OK, you win. You can order one from Brown’s of Chester when we get home.” I finally got a shiny new dishwasher. My pride and joy. My new toy.
Until Jim had seen Maureen’s machine, he had the impression that the dishes went round and around, a bit like a clothes washer.
Here, There & Everywhere: Legendary Locations for The Day Tripper
Angie’s travel-size book takes you down memory lane to Penny Lane and 85+ other points of interest on the long and winding road. You’ll be directed to spots in the Mop Top maps of Liverpool, London, Hamburg, New York and Los Angeles, you’ll discover nuggets and stories to satisfy the day tripper in you!
Born in Liverpool, England, “terminally cheerful” Dr. Angie McCartney has enjoyed a life of amazing ups and downs, tempered by a breathtaking blend of optimism and determination to succeed no matter what may befall her. Amid tragedy, World War II, illness and endless entertainment, McCartney gained a firsthand knowledge of Beatlemania when she married Sir Paul’s father Jim in 1964, and has amassed a collection of stories during and since.
Phil Kelly has been playing drums for the best part of his life, including playing in Beatles tribute bands and learning to play like Ringo. It don’t come easy!
Forty plus years later Phil has never looked back, playing with a number of Boston and local based ‘60s/’70s bands such as The Jammers, Sherman and the Waybacks, Mr. Peabody and Beatle tribute bands such as Instant Karma, BeatleTracks, and Glass Onion.
Phil Kelly
“Seemingly, all of that became clear when the camera zoomed in above John, Paul and George in the middle of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’. I was immediately awestruck by how easily Ringo swayed to the music behind his Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl kit. So, without even knowing his impact on the world, Ringo has inspired millions of kids just like me to pick up a set of stick and emulate every little nuisance of his playing.”
A Lefty on a Righty
Like many drummers, attempting to emulate Ringo wasn’t as easy as it appeared. “The problem is Ringo is a left handed drummer playing a right handed kit,” said Phil, “and as a result his drum fills are counter-intuitive and difficult to reproduce exactly.”
Kelly explained what it is like, as a drummer, and especially one who has played in a Beatles tribute band, to recreate Ringo’s drum patterns. “When a right handed drummer like myself does a drum fill around the kit, we lead with our right hand. Ringo, being a left handed drummer, leads with his dominant left hand. The end result of this unorthodox style of drumming produces a different sound because of the crossing of the left hand over the right. This nuisance is inherently Ringo’s playing style and ironically, it is what makes his drumming style challenging.
Tell Me Why
“A practical example of this uniqueness can be found when Ringo plays the opening measures to ‘Tell Me Why’. He leads with his left hand in the tumbling drum fill off the tom and snare. Later in that song, Ringo plays a measure of triplets (again leading with his left hand) that leads nicely into the final refrain and the tumbling drum fills to end the tune. The same can be said for Ringo’s drumming on ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’. In this song, Ringo attacks the snare and tom with powerful accents, again leading with his left hand that complements the phrasing by John and Paul on the song’s title.
The Swish
“Another nuisance that was revolutionary and a very much a part of the early Beatle recording (and one that I learned early in my Beatle tribute band days) was to play the hi-hat in a slightly opened position, playing the time sequence (usually in quarter notes) in a figure eight pattern. When Ringo played this unique style, it produced a totally different sonic than playing straight up and down quarter notes. The end result is a rhythmic pattern that gives the song a swing feel and because of the slightly open positioning of the hi-hats, creates a sizzle or swishing sound. Ostensibly, Ringo’s style of hi-hat play turned the hi-hat into what sounds like a ride cymbal. Evidence of this style of hi-hat playing can best be found in ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘All My Loving’.
Ringo’s Feel For The Song
“Ringo’s drumming is not overly technical but the strength of his drumming is his feel for the song. There are hundreds of technically superb drummers that are adept at sight reading from charts, but few have the feel for a song that Ringo possesses. Jim Keltner, the great studio drummer and long-time admirer of Ringo’s playing, said; ‘everything Ringo played had such great, deep natural feel. He’s a song drummer. Guys that sit down and they hear the song and they play appropriately for that song.’
The Relaxed Swing
“Anyone can learn how to play quarter, eights and sixteenth notes but having a feel for a song is a very special skill. I realized early on in my playing career that to accurately reproduce Ringo’s drumming style, I needed to master the use of my left hand in accentuating my fills around the kit, while focusing on that relaxed swing he brought to every note. The challenge for myself, even today, is to allow that feel to come through without rushing the tempo.
“One of the things that always amazed me about Ringo’s drumming is his ability to reproduce a nearly flawless tempo take after take. His drumming is always spot on; he never overplayed his part, and always provided exactly what the song needed. As a young drummer learning the craft, I try to model these tenets of playing into my own style.
No Beatles without Ringo
Ringo, for me, and I’m sure many others influenced by him, is the reference point used as to what a great drummer is and should be. I’ve always argued with my musical colleagues that the Beatles don’t become the Beatles without Ringo’s unique style of drumming.”
Discover more about Ringo and why he is rightly considered one of the all-time greatest drummers in Finding the Fourth Beatle.
David Stark recalls door-stepping Ringo one Saturday night in 1970, when he and a pal decided to ask him out for a pint.
Finding Ringo’s House
Compton Avenue turned out to be a secluded private road situated almost opposite the entrance of Kenwood House, a former stately home on the posh side of Hampstead Heath in north London. We parked on Spaniards Road, walked a few yards to our destination street and eventually found Ringo’s house, after getting a little help from Lulu and Maurice Gibb, who also lived in the road at the time. We’d rung their bell first, not knowing which house was Ringo’s, but they kindly pointed it out to us at the end of the street, a large double-fronted house named Round Hill.
Ringo’s house in London NW3
Ringo opened the door
There was obviously some kind of party going on judging from the cars parked in and around Ringo’s drive, but we mustered up some Dutch courage, rang the bell, then held our breath and waited. We didn’t have to wait long, as the door was opened by the famous drummer himself, casually dressed and holding a pool cue. He was obviously in the middle of a game and wondering what the hell we were doing there.
“How can I help you, lads?” he asked.
“We were just wondering if you’d like to come out for a pint,” I volunteered, feeling somewhat stupid but at least sticking to the plan.
“That’s very nice of you but I’m afraid we’ve got friends in tonight,” Ringo replied, looking rather bemused but taking it all in his stride.
“Another time maybe,” he added.
Eric Clapton
As he said this, I suddenly spotted Eric Clapton walking through the hallway just a few feet behind him, so he wasn’t just fobbing us off. We quickly said our goodbyes as Ringo closed the door, then off we headed up the street and back to the car, laughing our silly heads off. All great fun and definitely something a bit different to do on a boring Saturday night in London.
It’s All Too Much is the unique memoir by music industry veteran David Stark, who grew up in north London during the 1960s as a dedicated Beatles fan and was lucky enough to meet his musical heroes on various memorable occasions. From gate-crashing the Yellow Submarine film premiere in 1968 (aged just fifteen) and ending up sitting directly behind the group, to meeting all of them individually in some extraordinary circumstances, David has some highly entertaining stories about his many Beatles encounters which have never been told before.
While on the MMT in Cornwall the Beatles friend “Spencer Davis” who had recently had a hit with the single “Keep on Running” invited a few of us to the family owned “Tywarnhayle Inn”
The cast and the crew had an exhausted days filming and decided not to come but that didn’t stop Paul and Ringo and ME going there.
Ringo on the Mandolin
We walked in and when the regulars saw Paul/ Ringo the whole pub fell quiet-and then shouted give us a Beatle song which Paul didn’t want to do. He got a pint of beer and headed straight to the piano which was in the corner, put his beer down and started to play “Knees-up Mother Brown” and Ringo picked up a an old Mandolin which was in the corner which had only one string.
Blood!
After many drinks and many songs Ringo announced that he had worn his finger away while playing and blood was all over his hand.
We left after midnight and I expect the “Tywarnhayle Inn” is still talking about the night Paul and Ringo played there!
The Beatles’ hair changed the world. As their increasingly wild, untamed manes grew, to the horror of parents everywhere, they set off a cultural revolution as the most tangible symbol of the Sixties’ psychedelic dream of peace, love and playful rebellion. In the midst of this epochal change was Leslie Cavendish, hairdresser to the Beatles and some of the greatest stars of the music and entertainment industry.
“He never varied from that tempo. He had the greatest conception of tempo I’ve ever heard in my life. I have never heard anybody play that steady in my life, and that’s a long time.”D.J. Fontana (Drummer for Elvis and many more).
Like A Clock
D.J. Fontana’s recollection of two ‘jams’ (18 and 20 minutes respectively) recorded during the sessions for Ringo’s Beacoups Of Blues LP in 1970 were later echoed by B.B. King, who referred to Ringo as keeping time ‘like a clock.’ Yet despite being lauded for his legendary ‘feel’ and idiosyncratic drumming style, Ringo Starr is still undervalued by many for that most important of drumming skills – timekeeping. That is, after all, the most important job of a drummer. So how did that skill translate into the Beatles’ recorded output?
Many of the early Beatles releases were subject to extensive edits – the piecing together of different takes – or in numerous cases the ‘tagging-on’ of edit-pieces – the addition of separately recorded sections (usually endings) to the body of the main acceptable take. It is testament to Ringo’s ‘internal clock’ that he was able to recall the exact tempo of a performance, even after a couple of minutes of chatter had elapsed.
The IIlusion of Perfect Timekeeping
Ringo was capable of keeping perfect time, but he was also the master of creating the illusion of perfect timekeeping. Occasionally he would also quite deliberately alter the timing of a performance, be it in the studio or more commonly, a live performance. Rather like gently tapping your foot on a car’s accelerator (gas) pedal, he would allow the music to shift tempo backwards and forwards, ever so slightly, as and when the song required it.
This can be quite some feat to achieve, the trick is to make the listener (or more importantly your fellow musicians) blissfully unaware of what has happened, but wondering just what has happened! When recently asked if he could pass on one piece of advice to any young, aspiring drummers, Ringo offered – “Speed up during the guitar solo!” – surely a piece of tongue in cheek advice?
Ringo Starr and the Beatles Beat
Read more about Ringo’s legendary drumming style in Ringo Starr And The Beatles Beat, Ringo’s White Album, and Ringo’s Abbey Road – available from the Beatles Book Store!
Ringo Starr and The Beatles Beat
“The definitive account of Ringo Starr’s drumming with the Beatles”
EXCLUSIVE TO THE BOOKSTORE – SIGNED COPIES: From the authors of Ringo Starr And The Beatles Beat and Ringo’s White Album, Ringo’s Abbey Road explores Ringo’s contribution to the Beatles’ 1969 masterpiece.
First 250 Books Will Be Numbered, Signed, and Dated!! ******** And to enjoy RIGHT NOW, listen to a chat with John’s dear friend from the Liverpool College of Art, and fashion designerHELEN ANDERSON,Jude,& Recipe Records author Lanea Stagg
The John Lennon Series – Catch Up On the First 4 Volumes
Shoulda Been There (Vol. 1) 1940 – Dec 1961
In Jude Kessler’s stunning debut narrative biography, you’ll learn the truths behind the Lennon legend. You’ll discover why the popular, rich, famous singer called himself a “Nowhere Man.” There are no hard copies left, but you can get it on Kindle by clicking here for $9.99
But for John Lennon, the hectic rise to glory failed to cure the constant Shivering Inside. He was still searching for something…or someone…to fill the hole in his heart. There are no hard copies left but you can get it on Kindle here for $9.99.
1964 in John’s life! “A Hard Day’s Night”, and created/recorded the accompanying, best-selling soundtrack; a World Tour, a Scottish sojourn, a lengthy North American Tour hitting cities all across the U.S. and Canada.
Do we really understand why a band like The Beatles is considered a unique phenomenon? For decades historians, writers, media makers, and enthusiasts have done their best to discover and explain how it was possible that four friends from the north of England conquered the world. With their approach to song writing, recording and performing. But with so much more. What makes and keeps The Beatles unique and why are we probably still talking about them a century from now?
In his recently published book “The Beatles Era: a quest for the secret of The Beatles” Peter Eijgenhuijsen shares his search for the secret of The Beatles in a clever and compact way in a hundred pages. In doing so, Eijgenhuijsen reflects on what it means to live in “The Beatles Era” We are all in that happy circumstance. Although the band stopped decades ago: many of us experienced the rise, thedecline, but also the solo years of the Fab Four. Others only hooked up in those solo years. Anyway: with two living Beatles in our midst, we still belong to what Eijgenhuijsen calls The Beatles Era. And that, of course, makes us privileged people.
Discover more about this fascinating topic here (The first part is in Dutch, with an English translation further down the page).
The Beatles Era
Get your copy of Peter’s excellent book from the Beatles Bookstore now
The Beatles Era – A Quest for the Secret of The Beatles
If you like to unravel the secret of the Beatles. If you are intrigued by their unprecedented fame, by the fact that so many books were written about them, going into the smallest details of their supremacy. If you wonder, why their music has remained fresh after all these years. If you are intrigued by the secret of their music.
Then this book is a book for you.
Because this book is not about what happened, but about why it happened.
“Our first appearance was in Rosebery Street. They had this party out in the street. We played from the back of a lorry. We didn’t get paid. We played at blokes’ parties after that; perhaps got a few bob, but mostly we just played for fun. We didn’t mind about not being paid.” John Lennon, 1967,Anthology
Charlie Roberts
Charlie Roberts was a friend of The Quarrymen and he booked them for this appearance. Not only that, he decided to take some photographs of his mates. Little did he know that they would become historical iconic images, as the first ever photos of John Lennon and The Quarrymen.
In his new book, “Just Like Starting Over”, Charlie recalls his friendship with John, Paul and George and the other Quarrymen too.
“Our street party was held to celebrate the 750th anniversary of King John issuing Liverpool with a Royal Charter, to give Liverpool City status. I had asked the Quarrymen if they would play at the street party, and although they were a bit hesitant because Liverpool 8 had a bad reputation, I persuaded them that they would be safe. It should be remembered at this point that some of the lads were still at school and were not streetwise or accustomed to violence. To their credit, they agreed the ‘booking’, and arranged some practice sessions a week or so before.
The Poster that Charlie Designed for the Quarrymen’s Performance
“The poster generated a lot of curiosity and interest because at the time not many people knew much about Skiffle music, and nobody in the area ever seen a live Skiffle group. Nor had anyone in the area heard of the Quarrymen before, and of course, neither had most of Liverpool.”
The Quarrymen Turn Up
It was around 3.15pm when, to their credit, the Quarrymen sheepishly turned into Rosebery Street, having just visited the Windsor Hotel aka ‘The Clock’ pub on Kingsley Road where they ‘had a few’ for a bit of Dutch courage. I could tell that they had been drinking, as I ushered them into my house at number 84, where my mum, Marjorie Roberts, plied the lads with food and drink (tea or coffee that is) and definitely no more alcohol. We were all in a jovial mood, and although rather apprehensive, the lads were eager to get started.
They had used up a lot of time during the previous week practising for their appearance at what was to become a truly historic event in the story of the Beatles.
Time was up, and the six lads filed out of 84 and went left down to 76 and the flatback wagon. The wagon belonged to Mr. Fred Tyrer, who had also provided the basic microphone that was powered from a music system in his front room. The wagon itself was not as dirty as had been suggested in some previous publications. It wasn’t a coal wagon, but was normally used to transport all manner of goods, but never coal!
The Quarrymen Set Up
The Quarrymen in Rosebery Street, photographed by Charlie Roberts
It was beginning to get noisy while the Quarrymen were setting up, with lots of excited kids waiting in anticipation. At this point, Pete said that they weren’t due to start until 5pm and it was only 4.00pm. John replied; “It makes a change for us, we’re usually late”.
As a large crowd was now gathering and after a brief discussion it was decided that they should get started. John Lennon, in his customary check shirt took centre stage with his guitar. Colin Hanton on drums, Len Garry on tea chest base, both sporting crew cuts were at the rear.
The remaining Quarrymen – Eric Griffiths on guitar, Rod Davis on banjo, and Pete Shotton on washboard – surrounded John near the front of the crowded flat-back wagon. The audience were in awe as the lads started playing a mixture of mostly Skiffle and a little Rock n’ Roll.
Read the incredible full story by Charlie Roberts in his fascinating eyewitness testimonies of hanging around with The Quarrymen for a couple of years.
Get The Book Now
Just Like Starting Over: John Lennon and The Quarrymen
When John Lennon and his group The Quarrymen stepped onto the back of a wagon in Rosebery Street on 22nd June 1957, Charlie Roberts borrowed a camera and took a few photos of the event. It was just a group of friends having fun at a street party.
What Charlie didn’t know at the time was that he was capturing a piece of Beatles history. This was the first time that John Lennon had been photographed performing with his group. Skiffle was the new music and soon, John would meet Paul McCartney who would then introduce George Harrison to John.
