oh look the quarry men were there too.....

I'm not discounting his place in Beatle history. He was a means to an end and played a role in their develoment. As you said, most of the bands had subpar equipment, drums are probably the most expensive equipment to buy, but if other bands made due, and given the determination of the Beatles, they would have as well. My original post, having seen most if not all of the made for TV documentaries, Backbeat, the horrible one Pete did with Dick Clark in the late 70s, 'Two Of Us', etc., they were all lame, and one more of those (Allan Williams project) on the early days, I'm guessing would be equally lame. My point was that Pete would be the easiest to portray because he didn't say much, and had/has no charisma. You get these actors that try to portray Lennon and they are so over the top its ridiculous, and probably the thing that gets on my nerves the most is that they are works of semi-fiction. The dialogue is contrived and made up as hell, and its presumptuous at best.

I dont think the Beatles grabbed ahold of Pete with the intentions of canning him. Once they became solid and the ideas of strong studio time started to become a reality, they realized his short comings, but lets remember that Ringo wasnt even sure he was going to join the beatles (King Size Taylor and the Dominos also offered him a seat), but luckily they offered him a bit more cash and he joined.

damn power surge blew me off line.
where was i..........oh yeah pete was a little less ugly than ringo too another point.

granted he was going now wheres alone but i believe as teenagers go pete was the most exotic one.being as he was born in india and his mom owed a club...i say club lightly...hell if that was a club my bar b que gazebos a club.i just need a band.
no matter the point,he was an essential....

its kinda like the expression give the devil his due....

There's no doubt about his contribution. It was all part of the band's evolution. From a bunch of friends playing skiffle to getting into the rock and roll bit, then taking it seriously enough to forge ahead. It has been pretty well documented that Pete had a loyal following, Ringo just fit in, he was the missing piece to the puzzle, and the four had that chemistry that made them The Beatles. Didn't matter if Ringo was a great drummer or not, it was the sum total that made them complete.

and i say it did matter if ringo was good or not several better musicians' bands failed for shoddy drumming.....

And there were better drummers than Ringo.