I think Ringo is looked at as a joke these days, instead of the legendary artist & great rock drummer that he is.  The mainstream media seems to dismiss him entirely, despite great albums that should be more popular & great tours with his All Starr Band.  He's a great drummer in his own right with an influential style, equal to the late, great Keith Moon & John Bonham, but is overshadowed by the likes of Tommy Lee for some reason.  RS made some great music as a member of the Beatles & as a solo artist that are timeless & shouldn't be dismissed at all.

Ringo is in his 60's, Tommy Lee is in his 30's. Which one do you think would appeal to the younger generation? Tommy Lee is in the news everyday for one thing or another. Lets face it, he gets way more exposure. Its not hard to understand that.

Quoted from Wayne L.

I think Ringo is looked at as a joke these days, instead of the legendary artist & great rock drummer that he is.  The mainstream media seems to dismiss him entirely, despite great albums that should be more popular & great tours with his All Starr Band.  He's a great drummer in his own right with an influential style, equal to the late, great Keith Moon & John Bonham, but is overshadowed by the likes of Tommy Lee for some reason.  RS made some great music as a member of the Beatles & as a solo artist that are timeless & shouldn't be dismissed at all.

Better yet, to even post this means that you dont even understand the artist. When Ringo makes an album, you dont see posters all over the music stores promoting it. Ringo does a few interviews here and there on the radio and in magazines, and he posts details online. Thats it. Ringo doesnt push it because he understands his audience. Millions of young kids arent going to rush out and buy a Ringo album. Sad but its the facts. I feel priveledged when Ringo makes an album because I feel that theres a very small populace that he's targeting and i'm one of them. As one of these people or one of his fans,,,,no, I dont feel that Ringo is looked at as a joke.

Now you on the other hand,,,,

and certainly his peers don't think so....

Quoted from tkitna

Ringo is in his 60's, Tommy Lee is in his 30's. Which one do you think would appeal to the younger generation? Tommy Lee is in the news everyday for one thing or another. Lets face it, he gets way more exposure. Its not hard to understand that.

Tommy Lee is in his 40's, like myself & he's a great drummer, but a big joke.

Quoted from Wayne L.

Tommy Lee is in his 40's, like myself & he's a great drummer, but a big joke.

i agree with you there wayne...

Ringo fit. Period. He helped to make the proverbial sum of the parts as special and unique as can be, and um, the best band ever. Put John Bonham or Keith Moon's style in your head, and put it into any Beatle's song. Doesn't work. I'm listening to 'Love Me Do' with Keith on drums right now and having a laugh (sorry folks).  Ringo completed the group, did a good workingman's job of drumming, offended no one, and in alot of ways, was the glue, especially towards the terse end of their days. He's no Keith Moon, John Bonham, Neil Peart, Buddy Rich--whatever, but he didn't need to be either.

Ringo isn't a joke at all. When I talk about the Beatles at school, the first one they mention is Ringo, because he was on Shining Time Station and gave them a lot of happy memories. No member of the Beatles will ever be regarded as a joke; rather as a genius.

Quoted from Mairi

Ringo isn't a joke at all. When I talk about the Beatles at school, the first one they mention is Ringo, because he was on Shining Time Station and gave them a lot of happy memories. No member of the Beatles will ever be regarded as a joke; rather as a genius.

I know Ringo isn't a joke, as well as John, Paul & George, but he's a little bit ignored these days, despite being a rock legend.

yeh he's definatley more ignored than paul, but he's not a joke at all, i loved his ringorama album, in fact i think its fantastic..i have'nt got his latest stuff because, well i'm not that interested but if i could access it i proberly would check it out.

I plan on listening to Ringorama, when I get the chance, as well as his recent one Choose Love.  

ringo says thanks wayne

The truth of the matter is Ringo is looked at as a joke these days sadly instead of the great rock drummer that he is & rock legend of the highest stature.  He couldn't hardly get arrested in the media during his last All Starr tour & he seems to be forgotten for some reason despite being a 60's icon.

I suppose Choose Love sold about 5 million copies in your mind even though it didn't.

Have you bought a copy yet Wayne? Thats what really matters.

Maybe I did, maybe I didn't.

Maybe it sold 5 million copies and maybe it didnt.

It was number one for about 12 weeks on Billboard I heard last year, whether it's true or not is up to you since you're so concerned.

Ringo doesn't get Half the credit he should,imo.

FWIW, I think Ringo's work was INDISPENSABLE in the Beatle's sound. I think that it would have been MUCH harder for them to sell records without Ringo.

Maybe this is dumb, but I really think it's true. For example, his drumming on "All I've Got to Do" is one of my favorite drum bits in the world. He's pretty hot on "Please Please Me" as well, the first single he ever played on. It goes on from there ...

13 Reason People Should Respect RINGO!    ~Read themwhen you get a chance~
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Ringo was the first true rock drummer to be seen on TV. All the Rock & Roll drummers featured with Elvis, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis were mostly R&B drummers that were making the transition from a swing drumming style of the 40's and 50's toward the louder and more "rocking" sound that is associated with "I Want To Hold Your Hand". They were dressed in tuxedos and suits and held the drumsticks in the "traditional" manner of military, orchestra, and jazz drummers. Ringo showed the world that power was needed to put the emphasis on the "rock" in Rock & Roll music, so he gripped both sticks like hammers and proceeded to build a foundation for rock music.


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Ringo changed the way drummers hold their sticks by making popular the "matched" grip of holding drumsticks. Nearly all drummers in the Western World prior to Ringo held their sticks in what is termed the "traditional" grip, with the left hand stick held like a chopstick. This grip was originally developed by military drummers to accomodate the angle of the drum when strapped over the shoulder. Ringo's grip changes the odd left hand to match the right hand, so that both sticks are held like a flyswatter. Rock drummers along with marching band and orchestral percussionists now mostly play with a "matched" grip, and drum companies have developed straps and accessories to accomodate them.


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Ringo started a trend of placing drummers on high risers so that they would be as visible as the other musicians. When Ringo appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, he immediately caught the attention of thousands of "drummers to be" by towering over the other three Beatles. Elvis's drummer was looking at a collection of backs.


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These same "wannabe" drummers also noticed that Ringo was playing Ludwig drums and they immediately went out and bought thousands of these drumsets, thus establishing Ludwig as the definitive name in Rock & Roll drums at that time.


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Ringo changed the sound of recorded drums. About the time of Rubber Soul (released Dec. 6,1965), the sound of the drumset started to become more distinct. Along with help from the engineers at Abbey Road studios, Ringo popularized a new sound for the drums by tuning them lower, deadening the tonal ring with muffling materials, and making them sound "closer" by putting a microphone on each drum.


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Ringo has nearly perfect tempo. This allowed the Beatles to record a song 50 or 60 times, and then be able to edit together different parts of numerous takes of the same song for the best possible version. Today an electronic metronome is used for the same purpose, but the Beatles had to depend on Ringo to keep the tempo consistant throughout the dozens of takes of the songs that you know and love so well. Had he not had this ability, the Beatles recordings would sound completely different today.


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Ringo's "feel" for the beat serves as a standard for pop-rock record producers and drummers alike. It is relaxed, but never dragging. Solid, yet always breathing. And yes, there is a great amount of musical taste in his decisions of what to play and when to play it. In most recording sessions, the drummer's performance acts as a barometer for the rest of the musicians. The stylistic direction, dynamics, and emotions are filtered through the drummer. He is the catcher to whom the pitcher/songwriter is throwing. If the drumming doesn't feel good, the performance of any additional musicians is doomed from the start. The Beatles rarely if ever had this problem with Ringo.


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Ringo hated drum solos, which should win points with quite a few people. He only took one solo while with the Beatles. His eight measure solo appears during "The End" on the "B" side of Abbey Road. Some might say that it is not a great display of technical virtuosity, but they would be at least partially mistaken. You can set an electronic metronome to a perfect 126 beats per minute, then play it along with Ringo's solo and the two will stay exactly together.


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Ringo's ability to play odd time signatures helped to push popular songwriting into uncharted areas. Two examples are "All you Need is Love" in 7/4 time, and "Here Comes the Sun" with repeating 11/8, 4/4, and 7/8 passages in the chorus.


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Ringo's proficiency in many differen styles such as two beat swing ("When I'm Sixty-Four"), ballads ("Something"), R&B ("Leave My Kitten Alone" and "Taxman") and country (the Rubber Soul album) helped the Beatles to explore many musical directions with ease. His pre-Beatle experience as a versatile and hard working nightclub musician served him well.


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The idea that Ringo was a lucky Johnny-on-the-spot-with-a-showbiz-stage-name is wrong. In fact, when Beatle producer George Martin expressed his unhappiness after the first session with original drummer Pete Best, the decision was made by Paul, George, and John to hire who they considered to be the best drummer in Liverpool - Ringo Starr. His personality was a bonus.


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The rumors that Ringo did not play on many of the Beatle songs because he was not good enough are also false. In fact, he played on every released Beatles recording (not including Anthology 1) that include drums except for the following: "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence", on which Paul played drums due to Ringo temporarily quitting the band, "The Ballad of John and Yoko", again featuring Paul on drums because Ringo was off making a movie, and a 1962 release of "Love Me Do" featuring session drummer Andy White.


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When the Beatles broke up and they were all trying to get away from each other, John Lennon chose Ringo to play drums on his first solo record. As John once said, "If I get a thing going Ringo knows where to go, just like that.." A great songwriter could ask no more of a drummer. Except maybe to smile and bob his head.  

What a great list, DarkSweetLady! Thanks for posting.

Great list DarkSweetLady!

I think a lot of Ringo's records lately have a very strong Beatle sound in them,
Vertical Man would have worked nicely in a Beatles record (maybe).

George also said something about Ringo... he said like you don't have to tell Ringo what to do, you start playing a song and he just knows  what to do....

Wow, DarkSweetLady...can I borrow that to shove in some people's faces? With one addition?

Number 14 - He was just a great guy in general.

It would be great if Ringo was thought of in the same terms as the late, great Keith Moon, John Bohnam & Ginger Baker instead of being slightly dismissed.  

Quoted from Wayne L.

It would be great if Ringo was thought of in the same terms as the late, great Keith Moon, John Bohnam & Ginger Baker instead of being slightly dismissed.  

Why are people thinking he's slightly dismissed? Who are this dismissing people?

Quoted from DarkSweetLady

13 Reason People Should Respect RINGO!  

I'm a bit late, but... great list, DarkSweetLady!
Hehe, I remember reading it before on one of those Ringo sites... "Ringo Starr Homepage"... quite a good site actually.

And that site's got some more reasons to respect Ringo and to give him the credit he deserves:

http://web2.airmail.net/gshultz/drummer.html
("Ringo's importance as a drummer")

http://web2.airmail.net/gshultz/hartsoul.html
("Ringo's importance as a person")

Quoted from The Fox Drummer

With one addition?

Number 14 - He was just a great guy in general.

*strongly agrees*
Yeah, we should definitely add this one to the list. Go Ringo!  

Quoted from Andy Smith

I think a lot of Ringo's records lately have a very strong Beatle sound in them,
Vertical Man would have worked nicely in a Beatles record (maybe).

Sorry, I'm going slightly off-topic here, but... do you recommend Vertical Man, Andy Smith? That's about the only Ringo album I can find in the CD shops 'round here (besides "Ringo", which I've got   ), and I was thinking of buying it...

Quoted from Octie

do you recommend Vertical Man, Andy Smith? That's about the only Ringo album I can find in the CD shops 'round here (besides "Ringo", which I've got   ), and I was thinking of buying it...

I highley recommened it, it's one of Ringo's finest albums's, it's in line with Choose Love
& Ringo Rama. He seems to be making better albums in recent years & they are very
enjoyable! I'd say get Vertical Man & enjoy!!

^ Thanks Andy Smith!   "When I got to town" I'll probably get it!
And I'd love to get the other two that you mentioned as well... I only have 2 songs from Choose Love, and 1 from Ringo Rama...   One day, I'll get 'em all  

Yeah, nobody takes much notice of Ringo, even though he was part of the best band ever! I wish they would, but maybe it's because he just isn't the best musician ever. But, it should be that way. I like how he's just given the people that are his fans pleasure with fun music. It's not really his personality to be the best songwriter ever, he just has fun doing what he does best: drumming and making music for enjoyment for himself and fans. I love Ringo and his music just the way it is, I think he's great!

the truth is he doesn't sell, thats why he could be playing a huge gig and liam gallagher could be taking a **** and liam will be printed and ringo wont, ringo is just a really nice guy, thats why  lennon is always brought up in music magazines, he was edgy besides the music you could fill a paper with stories of what hes done besides the beatles, in the same way george and to certain point paul arent always on the covers of magazines, it used to make me angry when i would see the oasis guys all over papers but other bands like blur... who were  far better and accomplished musicians would be ignored, and it would then also gaurantee them an number one album, also i think the whole peace sign thing he always does maybe makes them think of ringo as a bit of a joke  

Quoted from Beatlemaniac64

I like how he's just given the people that are his fans pleasure with fun music.

Yeah, I like it too.  
And one could argue that he's not the best musician ever, and that there are others more accomplished than him, but... I really enjoy Ringo's music. It always manages to make me happy, to put a smile on my face... in some songs he sounds sincere, and in others he's just so funny!   But I don't think he's a joke at all - I think he's wonderful. ^___^
Great drummer too (of course!  )
Go Ringo!