Ringo Starr Once Said He Had a ‘Self-Centered’ Reason for Loving the ‘Abbey Road’ Sessions
Ringo Starr has fond memories of making The Beatles’ Abbey Road despite the band’s status as the time. Intraband fighting had the Fab Four on the verge of shattering for good, but the group pulled together and made a rare album — one whose reputation seems to continue growing nearly 55 years later. Ringo said some of his strongest memories from making Abbey Road are of the band playing together again, but he admitted he has a more selfish reason for loving those sessions.
Ringo’s best drum work with The Beatles happened on ‘Abbey Road’
Ringo once called “Rain” a weird Beatles song because he never played a beat like that. He also laid down a performance for the ages on “Tomorrow Never Knows,” but Abbey Road was Ringo’s shining moment.
“Come Together” and the drum solo on “The End” that he shied away from performing are obvious examples. Yet, Ringo also adds deft drum work to George Harrison’s tender ballad “Something,” and he goes all out on the Side 2 medley. Songs such as “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Polythene Pam,” and “Carry That Weight” are sneakily powerful Ringo performances. It might be why he called the medley his favorite album moment with The Beatles.
The fact that all four Beatles set aside their differences to make a masterpiece is one enduring highlight of making the album. Yet Ringo once said he had a self-centered reason for loving the Abbey Road sessions.
Ringo Starr’s self-centered reason for having fond memories of the ‘Abbey Road’ sessions
The Beatles encountered some rough patches recording The White Album. Ringo walked out on the band, Paul McCartney and John Lennon nearly brawled in the studio, and John and George Harrison actually did.
Not that all was forgotten or forgiven when they made Abbey Road, but Ringo told the Australian Today show (via YouTube) that sitting and playing together is a lasting memory of the sessions. Yet the impressively skilled drummer had another self-centered reason for loving the Abbey Road sessions:
“One of the self-centered memories was, I had this new kit, the maple kit we called it because it was [made of] maple and it had cloth heads. I never had cloth heads before in all those years; they were always plastic. And the depth of them blew me away. So if you listen to that album, every track has tom-tom boogie on it. ‘Bathroom Window’ is a fine example.”
Ringo Starr reveals his self-centered reason for loving the Abbey Road sessions
Watching the rooftop concert or The Beatles: Get Back docuseries, you can see what looks like dish towels draped over Ringo’s drums. The fabric deadens some of the noise and makes for a smoother sound. Combined with the maple construction, Ringo achieved a sound like he never had before. It’s no wonder some of his most inspired playing happened on Abbey Road.
How The Beatles’ final album stacks up to the others
Despite the clashing egos and ever-present tension, The Beatles turned in a gem with Abbey Road.
It shows each individual Beatle at the height of his powers. Ringo gets a track of his own with “Octopus’s Garden.” The medley was a pieced-together hodgepodge that somehow worked. Listening to the album from start to finish, it’s easy to see how it ranks as one of The Beatles’ best albums.
All of the Fab Four’s albums sold well, but Abbey Road stands out among the others. The Recording Industry Association of America certified it gold a week before its release, meaning it sold more than 500,000 copies based on pre-orders alone.
Fans loved the album, and Ringo Starr loved making it, even if he had a self-centered reason for that opinion.
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