The Beatles: Ringo Starr Claimed ‘Psychic’ Connection With John Lennon
The Beatles made landmark music in the ‘60s. Their connection may have been even deeper than professional, according to The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Starr describes his connection with bandmate John Lennon as psychic, and he was pretty close with Paul McCartney and George Harrison too.
Starr was a guest on The Q Interview podcast on Nov. 30, 2021 to discuss his EP Zoom In. Reflecting on The Beatles, Starr described the instinctive connection he had with his bandmates.
Ringo Starr had psychic intuition with John Lennon in The Beatles
Though each Beatle went solo after and many other bands came since, Starr said nobody could ever top them. When they were together, Starr said he just knew what beat to drum.
“I’m always so excited when we get the chance to play together,” Starr said on The Q Interview. “When we were playing together we were the best band in the land. I don’t care what anyone says and we knew each other. It was like psychic. I would be playing drums with my eyes closed, the headphones on, I’d know John was going to go somewhere and I’d drum in that. And I would hold it together while they went mad and bring it back.”
Practice made psychic for The Beatles
Starr said The Beatles got to know each other’s rhythms by sheer repetition. Starr was in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes when The Beatles were performing with Stuart Sutcliffe. The two bands would share gigs and get to know each other.
“There were two bands and at weekends we would do 12 hours between two bands,” Starr said. “We all admitted that’s really what made us what we are. We found our way of doing it.”
Ringo Starr is still close with Paul McCartney
Sadly, two of Starr’s Beatles bandmates died. Lennon died in 1980 and Harrison in 2001. Starr and McCartney still record and perform. When schedules permit, Starr said he still collaborates with McCartney and it’s like old times.
“He comes over here,” Starr said. “If he’s in and out and I’m doing tracks, I’ll say, ‘I’ve got this track. I’d love you to play bass on it.’ He says, ‘Well, I’m coming into LA whenever’ and he comes over and plays. He is the most melodic. John was incredible guitar rhythm, sometimes got too crazy with it and lost the spark but incredible. George, most of George’s solos are part of that record. If you just hear the intro, oh, it’s that one. So we all just gave our best and that’s all we can do. That was just like a fact. I miss the other two. I love them and I love Paul.”
Starr kept mementos from Lennon and Harrison. He had to settle for a replica of McCartney’s.
“I’ve got a fake bass that looks like his on the wall,” Starr said. “One day I was talking to him and said, ‘You know, John gave me a guitar. George gave me a guitar. You never gave me anything, man. You never gave me a bass.’ He said, ‘This is the only one.’ He’s still playing the same bass from 1962. It’s the same damn bass. So I let him off. In an auction I got one that looks like his, I hang it on the wall.”
