As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I got roped into participating in a research session for a local radio station. Brief snippets of songs were played--five or ten seconds--and we were asked to rate the songs.
Mostly, the snippets came from the chorus of the songs, or featured a distinctive riff. Hearing a randomly chosen piece of a familiar song can be disorienting--it actually allows you to hear the song in a different way.
Since most of the songs were from the sixties and seventies, many Beatles songs were featured. The cool thing was realizing that, without any knowledge of what song would be coming next, and the excerpted passage chosen seemingly at random, the Beatles tunes were instantly recognizable not by their melodies or harmonies, but by Ringo's distinctive drum patterns. You hear his drums, everything else falls into place.
Somehow, somewhere, Ringo got the reputation of being the "least-talented" Beatle, and a barely competent drummer. In fact, he's probably the greatest skin-basher in rock history, an ace keeper of the beat when needed, but his distinctive fills and slight hesitations are even more awesome, providing the solid foundation upon which the greatest band in history could erect their masterworks.
Sure, he's kind of turned into a joke in recent years (and by "years" I mean "decades"), but he did some great stuff outside of the band, particularly his fierce, raw, almost primal thumping on Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. Sure, I cringe everytime Ringo trots out a bunch of fellow has-beens and goes on tour with his "All-Stars", but Come Together, Ticket To Ride, Help, Sun King, Rain...these make up for everything. The only way to respond to musicianship like this is to genuflect.
