Just listened to My Bonnie, with Pete Best on drums. I have to say, listening to the drumming in particular for the first time, it really isn't bad at all ... wouldn't say it stands out from the rest of the instruments. After all the bad stuff I've read about his drumming, it's really much better than I expected to hear.

What do you guys and gals think?

Pete was a good (& probley still is) a good drummer. if he was rubbish in the first place,
i don't think the Beatles would have had him. i think he was a bit too Jazzy though for the group
& that's why they had to have Ringo in. & also pete wasn't in with the humour they had & of
course Ringo worked fantastically for them. so i think both Pete & Ringo were (& still are) great drummers!

I have to disagree. Pete could keep the rhythm steady, but that's about it. My Bonny surely lacks the energy a drummer could and in this particular case, should provide. It's Tony's vocals and the guitars/bass that keeps the song going, not the drums. Certainly not a power machine.

Quoted from Andy Smith

Pete was a good (& probley still is) a good drummer. if he was rubbish in the first place,
i don't think the Beatles would have had him.

They were happy to keep couldn't-play-a-note Stu in the band.

Pete was convienient for the boys back then. First off, they had a heck of a time keeping any drummers back in the early days of the Quarrymen and so forth due to the fact that they couldnt devote their time to a moneyless rock band. It was tough living back then. Secondly, Pete supplied a place for them to practice and that was nice for them. Third, Neil Aspinal was sleeping with Petes mother so that probably played a part. The Beatles knew what they had with Pete.

As for 'My Bonnie', i'm not real impressed, but it was decent drumming.

Quoted from tkitna

Pete was convienient for the boys back then. First off, they had a heck of a time keeping any drummers back in the early days of the Quarrymen and so forth due to the fact that they couldnt devote their time to a moneyless rock band. It was tough living back then. Secondly, Pete supplied a place for them to practice and that was nice for them. Third, Neil Aspinal was sleeping with Petes mother so that probably played a part. The Beatles knew what they had with Pete.

As for 'My Bonnie', i'm not real impressed, but it was decent drumming.

Yeah, most/all of the Decca songs were decent drumming, no worse than the decent guitar work on the same tapes.

It's almost like they said "We know WE'RE not so hot on guitars, but we're good enough for what we want to become. However, this drummer ....".

His drumming IS pretty bad on the 6-6-62 Love Me Do take from the anthology. Then again, the vox weren't up to par either ... maybe they were all just nervous that day (wonder why!).

Quoted from Kevin

They were happy to keep couldn't-play-a-note Stu in the band.

I've got a feeling this might be a bit of an urban myth - yeah, Stu couldn't play a note when he first joined the band but it has been acknowledged by the people that actually heard them play live as a five piece (i.e. with Stu and Pete) that they had an absolutely powerhouse sound - it seems Stu matched Pete's simple drumming with a four-in-the-bar bass-line. Now, if you can't play a single note you really are not going to get away with that.

I reckon it was like this - Stu bought bass - at first he couldn't play it and turned his back so people couldn't see where his fingers were - he learned to play (not brilliantly) and looks much more confident on stage in Hamburg (that's my over-simplified version of events of course!).

Regarding Pete - if you compare the recordings we do have of the songs that both Pete AND Ringo recorded with The Beatles, Pete's percussion seems very weak with many loose fills on the snare. His timing seems OK though - I think it's unfair to judge Pete by his performance on Love Me Do though as it was obviously a song they were still working on at that stage.

i think it's quite obvious why pete became the drummer of the beatles in august 1960. they had a change to go to hamburg and they knew it was essential. they needed a drummer. pete best had a drumkit. there you go. a plus that his mother ran a coffeeclub where they could rehearse and perform. but they knew from the very start that pete best was not the man for the beatles. it was alright as long as there was no one else. as soon as they had they chance, they ended the relationship. about his drumming: yeah, he kept the rhytm going. thats it.

Quoted from The End

I've got a feeling this might be a bit of an urban myth - yeah, Stu couldn't play a note when he first joined the band but it has been acknowledged by the people that actually heard them play live as a five piece (i.e. with Stu and Pete) that they had an absolutely powerhouse sound - it seems Stu matched Pete's simple drumming with a four-in-the-bar bass-line. Now, if you can't play a single note you really are not going to get away with that.

I reckon it was like this - Stu bought bass - at first he couldn't play it and turned his back so people couldn't see where his fingers were - he learned to play (not brilliantly) and looks much more confident on stage in Hamburg (that's my over-simplified version of events of course!).

Interesting

Quoted from Kevin

Interesting

Thanks

yes, interesting.