Ringo Starr Copied a Famous 1960s Song for His Only Beatles Drum Solo
Ringo Starr had a bit of a rocky start with The Beatles. Producer George Martin replaced him when the band recorded the single “Love Me Do.” and Ringo got replaced again when he struggled to play the drums on his solo debut. Still, his timekeeping skills helped propel the Fab Four to international fame. When it came time to finally record a drum solo with The Beatles toward the end of their run, Ringo copied a famous 1960s song to get the job done.
Ringo Starr pushed back when The Beatles asked him to perform drum solos
Ringo called the B-side “Rain” one of The Beatles’ weird tracks because he played in a way he never had before. The song is almost like one big solo since he drops impressively busy fills throughout it. Still, he never grabs the spotlight for himself in the tune. Ringo never wanted to take center stage in The Beatles.
The drummer found solos boring. He preferred keeping a steadily precise beat to showing off. The Fab Four finally wore down Ringo on Abbey Road. It took until the last song on the final studio album, but Ringo finally performed a drum solo with The Beatles. Still, he shied away from his solo on “The End.”
Even then, Ringo copied another well-known 1960s song for his shining on his “The End” drum solo.
Ringo copied ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ for his drum solo on ‘The End,’ and we can hear the resemblance
Ringo never wanted to perform a drum solo with The Beatles, but the band and George Martin finally wore him down in 1969. His solo on “The End” might be one of his finest moments with the band.
And Ringo copied Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” to make his solo happen.
With a Little Help author Michael Seth Starr (no relation) writes that Ringo and Paul McCartney attended an Iron Butterfly concert in 1971. Butterfly drummer Ron Bushy revealed that Ringo confessed to copying his playing for “The End.”
“Ringo sent his man backstage and invited me out to a private club called Tramps. We had dinner and drinks and were up all night shooting the s—. He told me then that he kind of copped my solo for their song ‘The End’ on Abbey Road. And I just thought that was cool. It was the biggest compliment that I could ever get.”
Ron Bushy reveals Ringo Starr copied his playing on “The End”
It’s not hard to hear the similarities between Ringo’s “The End” solo and Bushy’s playing on “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” Bushy’s thumping bass drum and tom-heavy rolls (via YouTube) resemble Ringo’s playing on “The End.” Since “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” preceded “The End” by a year, saying Ringo copied his solo is more accurate.
Far from being upset that Ringo lifted his solo, Bushy was thrilled that the world’s most famous drummer thought his playing was good enough to copy.
The drummer copied his own playing for one of his solo songs
Ringo copied (or at least took much inspiration from) “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” for his only Beatles drum solo. The former Richard Starkey plagiarized himself on one of his solo songs.
The Fab Four’s infighting made the Let It Be sessions tough on the band members, but Ringo loved the song “Get Back.” He liked his playing so much that he copied the beat for his solo hit “Back Off Boogaloo.” The similarities aren’t as evident as Ringo copying Iron Butterfly for “The End,” but he clearly found inspiration from his earlier work.
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