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(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Tue 14 April 2026 16:00, UK <\/p>\n
Ringo Starr<\/a> didn\u2019t really have the same aspirations during his solo career as the rest of the former Beatles. <\/p>\n He was still one of the finest drummers that rock and roll had ever produced, but when you look at the kind of records that he was making, he was more than happy to have fun playing drums with his friends than worrying about getting that massive hit single. But even when the Fab Four were together. Starr admitted that there were far better musicians who were helping them along half the time.<\/p>\n Then again, there were more than a few people who could have earned the title of \u2018Fifth Beatle\u2019 over time. As much as their professional help, like Brian Epstein and Derek Taylor, turned them into a massive phenomenon, it was the musicians who worked with them that helped them become monsters. And it\u2019s not like there weren\u2019t people bending over backwards for a chance to work with the four cheeky lads from Liverpool.<\/a><\/p>\n Not everyone was a fan, like the session musician who walked out on the \u2018Hey Jude\u2019 sessions after getting too frustrated, but it\u2019s not like Eric Clapton didn\u2019t know what he was doing when he started playing. In fact, during the years when they were all fighting one another over creative direction, \u2018Slowhand\u2019 and especially Billy Preston could really be considered the glue that helped them stay together to make some of those final masterpieces.<\/p>\n But if you tell The Beatles\u2019 story without George Martin, you\u2019re missing a vital part of what makes every one of their songs great. He could be a stickler for what he wanted to hear on the early records, but as John Lennon and Paul McCartney started to become seasoned pros, it wasn\u2019t all that unusual for Martin to bring a lot of their songs to life, like creating the textures of \u2018Tomorrow Never Knows\u2019<\/a> and \u2018Strawberry Fields Forever\u2019.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean that it was always easy for Starr behind the scenes, though. He held a tiny bit of a grudge against Martin for not letting him play on their first single, \u2018Love Me Do\u2019, but even after the rest of the band started to grow up, even Martin had to admit that Starr had grown into the same kind of complex musician that the rest of the band did whenever he got behind the kit to play songs like \u2018Rain\u2019.<\/p>\n And compared to the rest of the band, Starr admitted that Martin was a far better musician than every member of the group when he passed away, saying<\/a>, \u201cHe was great, and kind, and loving. And understanding of four punks from Liverpool. At the beginning he was the boss. It was so crazy, he was the only man who could press record. I think he was always at a higher level. It\u2019s all to do with the record. It could have been the song; it could have been what we play; it could have been lots of things. But we were a great match. We were lucky to get him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n