The Beatles were a unique group because the Fantastic Four had no frontman. While Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the main contributors, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were still indispensable in their roles. The Beatles began as McCartney, Lennon and Harrison, and the trio searched for the perfect drummer to round out the group. McCartney once told of the moment he knew Starr was the ingredient The Beatles needed.
Paul McCartney believes the Beatles were “lucky” to find each other
When The Beatles emerged in the 1960s, they were just four kids from Liverpool with a passion for music. In an interview with Rolling Stone, McCartney said he was lucky to grow up with a passion for music that came from his father’s generation. He was even more fortunate to meet Lennon and Harrison who shared the same passion and they were able to bring out the best in each other.
“We got lucky, but I think the luck came from the passion,” McCartney explained. “Just growing up, I loved my dad’s era of music. The chords were fascinating. I loved listening to my dad play. So that passion just grew and grew and then you would meet… in my case I would meet someone like John or George. You will see that they had the same passion. You’re just drawn to each other.”
Paul McCartney believed the band was complete after the first session with Ringo Starr
Although Ringo is the Beatles drummer most people know, the band had several drummers before finally landing on Starr. The band had a total of 5 drummers, including Colin Henton, Tommy Moore, Norman Chapman and Pete Best. Starr joined the band in 1962, and McCartney knew during his first sit-in that he was the missing piece.
“I don’t want to replace the previous drummer. he was good and efficient and he got the job done,” McCartney told Rolling Stone. “But Ringo was a wizard. So it’s nice to remember that first moment when he sat there. But he kicked in and it was just goose bumps, pins and needles. “Okay, this is it. This is the band.” And so it happened.”
John Lennon was not a fan of The Beatles’ previous drummer
Before Ringo joined the band, The Beatles’ drummer was Pete Best. Best accompanied The Beatles to their residency in Hamburg, Germany, and was fired shortly thereafter. In an interview shared with the Express, John Lennon said he never thought Best was a great drummer, but they needed someone to do the job in Germany. They always knew they would get someone else and that the next drummer would be Starr.
“The only reason [Best] It came first in the band because the only way we could get to Hamburg was to have a drummer,” recalls Lennon. “We were always going to throw him in when we could find a decent drummer. When we got back from Germany, we trained him to go up and down the stick. He couldn’t do much.’
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