Don't Pass Him By.


This poll is rigged.


At least, I think it is. It’s hard to work out. Would a vote for Ringo be a vote for Ringo, or a block vote for the rest? If so, that's not democracy. It’s like a magician misdirecting you into thinking you’ve chosen a card of your own free will. It’s a ballot worthy of Machiavelli himself.

(How’s that for a reference?)

I feel sorry for Ringo to a point. He gets stick for his drumming (unintentional pun) for no reason. It’s a cliché in and of itself, hence the poll. People tend to criticise his ability out of context. They forget that when it comes to their live work, he couldn’t hear the rest of the band for the fans’ screaming. His playing, like the other Beatles’, matured at an alarming rate. Pick a track from each year of their career at random and you’ll hear it. As Lennon, McCartney and Harrison’s writing became deeper and more soulful, so did Starr’s drum-work. Listen to his fills on A Day in the Life and She Said She Said, or anything on Abbey Road. He conveys the emotion and feel of a song with subtlety, while steering clear of the vocal. I tip my hat to him for that.

Then again, it's worth remembering he’s a bit of a dick. His persona these days is smug and impenetrable. The gentle, witty Ringo of the Sixties is a thing of the past. He also stopped narrating Thomas the Tank Engine years ago. If Marge Simpson sent him a painting now, he wouldn't acknowledge it.

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