The Beatles were big.  Huge, as DJT might say.  They were too big for one little blogger to cover in four-hundred odd words.  Ringo Starr just fit that band perfectly.  What I know about drumming is built upon personal taste and no actual percussive experience.  These are opinions; I'm not presenting anything as absolute fact.

Most drummers are just there.  A great drummer offers sparse but contextual fills while gently pushing a groove.  Go back and listen to Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with an ear for the rhythm section and try to sort out that mess of bells and whistles.  Even today, the Steve Gadd remains rare.

The best early pop music drummers seemed to spring forth from country roots; a big snare sound that never overplayed.  Roy Orbison adopted that sound on "Pretty Woman" and early punk music turned it into an art.  We still reap the benefits of one or two well placed hits.

As for Ringo, on the first recordings, if he was allowed to play, he was literally pushed off to a far corner in the mix.  It wasn't a big or well tuned sound — often it's ringy and clangy — but it was never in the way.  I think George Martin once produced comedy records, and, like the Beatles themselves, he might have been a little raw.  The guitars were driving the whole show anyway, so Ringo just didn't matter.

But Ringo added a fourth and intriguing voice that created the overall balance necessary to holding audience interest.  The voice was shy and uncertain sometimes but had an unmistakably honest quality.  It could pull off lighter pieces, so the Beatles used him sparingly but wisely.

"With a Little Help from My Friends" is as perfectly placed on Sergeant Pepper's lineup as Ringo's voice is placed in the mix.  John gave him "Good Night," and Ringo rocked it from there — just enough loneliness mixed with affection and optimism. 

All of them got better, better at everything.  The boys up front got better at achieving space in composition, way better at utilizing rhythm, and Ringo more than kept up his part of the bargain.  He became a cleansing additive, sometimes just using a tambourine because that's all the setting needed.  Listen to "Norwegian Wood" — Ringo allows the guitars to handle it until the second time through the middle eight.  An often ignored rule number one for the practicing musicians is give the other guy space. 

It would be hard or mean to find fault in anything Ringo plays on Sergeant Pepper; he's just great.  Different in a very good way, always finding what is central to the song.  At the end, his drum kit was tuned and centered in the mix; he became just too good to ignore.  The brief solo on Abbey Road reflected modesty in a moment filled with gaudy and self-indulgent drumming.

Ringo more than proved himself up for the extended learning curve and the long career.  I saw him a few years ago, and, though pop concerts aren't my thing anymore, he played all the right modern sounds and put on a truly fun show from top to bottom.  He's trim and fit and still going; I smiled all the way.

The Beatles were the sum of the band's parts, and Ringo held that crazy band together with wit and musical elasticity.  He rarely gets credit for doing exactly what a great drummer should do: make it all work.

Michael James has been a professional guitarist and public school music educator for over forty years.