Ringo was terrible

[sg]

What justifies people saying Ringo "couldn't play drums"?
As as far I can tell I can hear Ringo was a faultless drummer.
They had played thousands of gigs before
they were succesfull, , so they all had years as full time musicianss to perfect their craft, not to mention the recording of their music. If Ringo wasn't a songwritng genius - which is obviuos- then at the very least he was an excellent drummer who had honed his craft and grafted just like the others to get where they were.
where does this common belief stem from?

any thoughts
sg

[ELVIS68]

Probably because John, Paul and George were more talented in the singer/songwriting stakes it undermined Ringos talent

[saxy_jag]

Ringo is an extremely gifted drummer and held in great esteem by the drumming world. His riffs are deceptive. They sound simple enough until you analyse and try to copy them.

Just because he doesn't go in for all the showy solos a la Cozy Powell, people think he's nothing special. But it takes more than that to make a decent drummer.

[ambassabuild]

as like a lot of profesions ones who are good at theirs make it look so simple, as with ringo. Saxy jag's answer is on the button.

[spudqueen]

Ringo wasn't with the Beatles when they played in places like Hamburg, which is where they honed their craft. But he was with other successfulish Liverpool bands.
Maybe you could blame John Lennon, as it was him who when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world replied that he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles.

[andy-hughes]

Saxy_jag has it exactly right.

I am a writer for 'Drummer' magazine, and we all know that Ringo is one of the fiest back-beat drummers in the world, and a major influence - including his son Zac who is a superb player.

John was probably exercising his famously caustic wit with his throwaway comment, which stuck - not that Ringo was at all bothered I'm sure.

Although - if you listen to 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko', you will hear the excellent drumming skills of Mr McCartney. Ringo was away filming 'The Magic Christian', and George was on holiday. so Lennon and McCartney worked on the record themselves - Macca on bass and drums, and Lennon on lead and rhythm. A fine record - but hey, Ringo was the drummer in The Beatles, and his work stands the test of time for anyone who knows anything about drums.