Ringo Starr and the Beatles Beat

With over 80 years drumming experience between them, Liverpool drummers Alex Cain and Terry McCusker explore the percussive elements of the Beatles songbook, providing intuitive descriptions and detailed notation of the drumming and percussion in every original Beatles release. Scratch beneath the surface of the Beatles' musical output to discover percussive layers which display just how much care and attention to detail John, Paul, George and Ringo put into their music. With comprehensive song by song analysis, there's something for the drummer and non-drummer alike - from the tentative, nervous recording of Love Me Do at Abbey Road in 1962, to the final recording of I Me Mine by George, Paul and Ringo at Apple Studios in 1970. Discover how Ringo's sympathetic and instinctive drumming interacted with the personalities of his bandmates and recording engineers to shape the Beatles' beat. Terry's recollections of witnessing four lads in the famous Cavern Club provide a focus on how the 'beat' in Merseybeat altered the musical and cultural landscape forever, while Alex's experiences as a sound engineer shed light upon the studio experimentation that enhanced the Beatles' sound.The shortcomings of Pete Best and the reasons he was forced to relinquish the Beatle drum stool and Ringo's ascendancy are also discussed in detail. Foreword by Don Powell of Slade.