Listen to other drummers from that same era, they all shared that same weirdness. Ringo was a product of his environment. He was also more fun to hang out with which is also important in a band.

John +1 on Beethoven

That fact that Western Music exists as it does today lies in the work and theories first explored by these great composers is somehow forgotten about when people talk about "influential".

How about this for influential: You wouldn't have a chord to play had it not been for the extensive work done by composers in the study of Harmony. :D

'Beethoven wasn't even the greatest composer in his house' according to Mozart

But he was damn good for a deaf guy. :D

Who's Beethoven?

Who's Mozart?

konradh


John, I was just giving FastBikerBoy a hard time about acting like he didn't care about older music.

I grew up on the classics and they were very influential on me.  I actually started out classically trained, playing concertos, sonatas, and all that stuff.  I studied piano with a private instructor for many years and did a few years on organ (as in pipe organ) at TCU.  My first experience in a recording studio was with an ensemble (string section, horns, woodwinds) that I brought in to back my rock band which was doing strange music I wrote: an odd mix of drums, heavy guitars, synthesizer, piano, and small orchestra.  It was a little ambitious but interesting.
 
I leave it to a historian or anthropologist to figure out which musicians most influenced music, culture, politics, etc.  I think we can agree that Beethoven was an enormous force and that The Beatles were the catalyst for a huge change as well.  Of all the famous composers from the classical and romantic periods, Beethoven is far from my favorite, but that is just a personal thing.  He definitely was a genius.

I only wrote to be sure some others didn't get the wrong impression. I fully agree with you except on who is my favorite of them. I have too many to choose. I am not a fan of his string quartets though. I always fall asleep. 


I just love music.

KeithS

RogerH


John (or Paul) once got a question if Ringo was the best drummer in the world. The Answer was " He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles....."

John was the one who said this but if he ever believed it to be true, the entire group found out his worth during the recording of Back in the USSR.  Paul, John, and George each took a crack at the drums after Ringo left the group in a bit of a snit.   They thought they could get along without him but Back in the USSR just would not come together rhythmically for them.  They ended up sending Ringo a telegram begging him to come back. 

A)  I think Ringo was the best drummer for the Beatles.  For him, the song was the most important thing.  He had no interest in technical showboating and he hated drum solos - there is only one Ringo drum solo in the Beatle's catalog.   (Can you imagine the Beatles with Keith Moon on the drums?).
 
B)  Just for the record, Ringo was the only Beatle to not play drums on 'Back in the USSR'.  Primarily Paul, with a teeny bit of help from John and George.
 
 

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yorolpal


What "history" lists him as crap??  I can't say as I've ever heard anyone really disparage ol Ringo.  Who dast call him crap? 

Geoff Emmerick, for one. Did you read Here There and Everywhere? Paul is The Beatles (according to 'ol Geoff).