- In 1963, Ringo Starr buys a Ludwig Downbeat kit in Oyster Black Pearl finish in London, which becomes the most famous drum set in rock.
- The Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 causes Ludwig sales to explode, with the factory running day and night.
- Left-handed on a right-handed kit, Ringo invents offset rolls that give their unique swing to Rain or Come Together.
- His first Ludwig kit sold for more than 2 million dollars in 2015, a record for a drum set at auction.
February 9, 1964, New York. Four Liverpudlians in suits launch into All My Loving in front of 73 million viewers. On a platform behind them, a drummer with a bowl cut shakes his head smiling. On his bass drum skin, two names: Ludwig, and just below, The Beatles.
That night, Ringo Starr keeps the tempo for the most anticipated band on the planet. Without knowing it, he also helps sell thousands of drum sets. Ringo has long been presented as the lucky Beatle, the one who was in the right place at the right time. Just listen again to Rain or Come Together to dismiss that idea. Here is the story of a kid from Liverpool and an American drum set that together set the Beatles' tempo.
From Dingle to Hamburg, Ringo Starr's youth
Richard Starkey was born on July 7, 1940, in Dingle, a working-class neighborhood of Liverpool. His childhood was largely spent in hospital: peritonitis at six, then tuberculosis at thirteen that confined him to a sanatorium. It was there, in the improvised orchestra of young patients, that he hit his first percussion. He came out with a fixed idea: to play drums.
In the late 50s, he played in Liverpool skiffle bands, then joined Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. That's where he earned his nickname, because of the rings he stacked on his fingers. The band played the season in Hamburg, at the same time as the Beatles, and the musicians crossed paths in the clubs of the Grosse Freiheit. In August 1962, John, Paul, and George thank Pete Best. Ringo takes his place and plays his first concert with them on August 18.
On the single Love Me Do, recorded on September 11, 1962, it is not Ringo who holds the sticks. Producer George Martin called on studio drummer Andy White, and Ringo was limited to the tambourine. A version with him on drums, recorded a week earlier, was released on the first pressings of the 45 rpm.
1963: Ringo Starr chooses a Ludwig kit at Drum City
In spring 1963, the Beatles really start making a living. Ringo was then playing on a Premier drum set, an English brand. He walks into Drum City, Ivor Arbiter's shop in London, and spots an American kit in a finish that catches his eye. It would be a Ludwig Downbeat Oyster Black Pearl: 20-inch bass drum, 12 tom, 14 floor tom, with a Jazz Festival snare.
The bass drum skin remains. Brian Epstein wants the band's name, Ringo wants to keep the Ludwig logo. Arbiter sketches a design that fits both, with this T that drops below the line. The Beatles' "drop-T" logo was born on a shop counter corner. The kit hits the stage in May 1963 and is used on over 200 concerts until February 1964. Even today, Ludwig drum kits in pearly finish bear the mark of this choice.
Ringo's 1963 setup is almost exactly found in this Classic Maple 20/12/14: 20-inch bass drum, 12 tom, 14 floor tom, and a Vintage Black Oyster finish that embraces the heritage. The shells are North American maple, made in the USA.
The tom is mounted on the Atlas Mount system, which lets it resonate freely, and the triple-flanged hoops give a singing sustain. With coated heads and a low tuning, you have a base very close to the sound of the first albums.
Pros
- 20/12/14 configuration faithful to 60s kits
- Classic Maple shells made in the USA
- Atlas Mount suspension for a breathing tom
Cons
- Delivered without snare, to be chosen separately
February 9, 1964: the night Ludwig changed dimension
That Sunday night, about 73 million Americans watch the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. The camera often frames Ringo, perched on his platform, and the Ludwig logo is shown close-up in living rooms across the country. William F. Ludwig, the brand's boss, summed it up: "Literally overnight, everyone wanted a drum set like Ringo's."
The Chicago factory switches to a 24-hour pace, and turnover doubles. The Oyster Black Pearl finish becomes the most requested in the catalog, and thousands of garage bands form around a black pearly drum set. In September 1964, in Chicago, the Ludwig family thanks Ringo by giving him a gold-plated snare, a unique piece that the New York Metropolitan Museum exhibited in 2010.
For the big tour halls, Ringo then switches to a Super Classic, with a wider bass drum. The principle doesn't change: a four-shell kit, Zildjian cymbals, and a Ludwig Speed King pedal under the right foot.
Ringo's playing: a lefty on a right-handed kit
To understand Ringo's style, you have to look at his hands. He is left-handed, but plays on a right-handed drum kit. His rolls therefore often go from the floor tom to the snare, the opposite of the usual logic. He himself says it with humor: « I'm your basic drummer, with weird rolls because I'm left-handed on a right-handed kit. »
These "weird" rolls have become his signature. Listen to the tom pattern on Come Together, the offbeat kick drum on Ticket to Ride, or the slow, heavy rolls on A Day in the Life. Ringo never goes for showmanship: he plays for the song, with a solid tempo and a slightly laid-back placement that gives weight to each track.
He holds his sticks in matched grip, both hands in the same position, while the traditional grip still dominates among jazz drummers. Millions of young drummers saw him on TV and did the same. If you want to get the feel, the Zildjian Signature Ringo Starr hickory sticks, with their oval wooden tip, are a good starting point.
- To get close to Ringo's sound, tune your toms quite low and mute them with a cloth laid on the head.
- Play the rolls starting from the floor tom to the snare, to get that very particular offset.
- Stay slightly behind the beat on the snare: that's where the Beatles' groove hides.
Ringo Starr's studio sound, from Revolver to Abbey Road
At Abbey Road, Ringo's drum kit evolves with the band's ambitions. On Revolver, in 1966, engineer Geoff Emerick moves the mics closer to the shells and stuffs the kick drum with a wool sweater. The sound becomes tighter, duller, very ahead of its time. It's also the year of Rain, which Ringo considers his best recording. He said he felt like "someone else was playing."
At the end of the 60s, Ringo muffles his toms with cloths to get that muffled, woody sound heard on the White Album and Abbey Road. On The End, in 1969, he records the only drum solo in the entire Beatles discography, despite hating solos.
The Ludwig Hollywood kit from the rooftop concert
In September 1968, Ringo got a new kit: a Ludwig Hollywood in natural maple, Thermogloss finish. That's the one you see on January 30, 1969, on the Apple rooftop in London, for the Beatles' last public concert. The kit comes with a Supraphonic snare, but Ringo often kept his old 1963 Jazz Festival. The Supraphonic, meanwhile, became one of the most recorded Ludwig snare drums in history.
The Supraphonic LM400 uses the iconic 14 x 5 inch format of the series. Its 1.7 mm seamless Ludalloy aluminum shell, with a central reinforcement, delivers a fast attack, clear midrange, and controlled brightness.
The 10 Imperial lugs allow precise tuning, and the 2.3 mm triple-flanged steel hoops facilitate rimshots. A snare drum easy to place in a mix, both in studio and on stage.
Pros
- Seamless Ludalloy shell, fast and defined response
- Versatile 14 x 5 format, from jazz to rock
- Stable tuning with 10 Imperial lugs
Cons
- Bright sound to tame with some muting for a sixties vibe
The false quote stuck to Ringo
The phrase "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles" is often attributed to John Lennon. Lennon never said it. Biographer Mark Lewisohn traced its origin to a sketch by English comedian Jasper Carrott in the early 80s. Yet the joke stuck to Ringo for decades.
Drummers, though, know better. Ringo was knighted in 2018, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2015, and still tours with his All Starr Band. His first Ludwig kit, the one from the 200 concerts in 1963, sold for about 2.2 million dollars at Julien's in 2015, an all-time record for a drum kit.
To get Ringo's spirit, you don't need a vintage kit. A four-piece setup with a 20-inch kick drum, coated heads tuned low, and some muting is enough. The rest is in the hands: simplicity, placement, and the song above all.
At heart, Ringo's lesson boils down to one sentence: a good drummer serves the music before serving himself. Put on Rain, turn up the volume, and listen to what the snare does. You'll hear why the Beatles wouldn't have sounded the same with anyone else behind the kit.
