More on the Bernard Purdie/Beatles claim

[toomanyhatz]

My suspicion is this is pretty much right on the money.

[Jimbo]

Though I'm a Purdie fan I can't believe he replaced Ringo. I recently heard some YouTube interview with Paul and he said they happened to hear Ringo play with Rory Storm and Ringo was so hot they felt that he was the guy they had to have - and not Pete Best - and so stole Ringo away from Storm and kicked Best out. That is something I can imagine happening, hearing a drummer so good you just have to have him and damn any hurt feelings. So with a bold and cutthroat move like that to get Ringo why replace his drumming with Purdie's?

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Though I'm a Purdie fan I can't believe he replaced Ringo. I recently heard some YouTube interview with Paul and he said they happened to hear Ringo play with Rory Storm and Ringo was so hot they felt that he was the guy they had to have - and not Pete Best - and so stole Ringo away from Storm and kicked Best out. That is something I can imagine happening, hearing a drummer so good you just have to have him and damn any hurt feelings. So with a bold and cutthroat move like that to get Ringo why replace his drumming with Purdie's?

Finally a conspiracy theory you disagree with!

[Jimbo]

Though I'm a Purdie fan I can't believe he replaced Ringo. I recently heard some YouTube interview with Paul and he said they happened to hear Ringo play with Rory Storm and Ringo was so hot they felt that he was the guy they had to have - and not Pete Best - and so stole Ringo away from Storm and kicked Best out. That is something I can imagine happening, hearing a drummer so good you just have to have him and damn any hurt feelings. So with a bold and cutthroat move like that to get Ringo why replace his drumming with Purdie's?

Finally a conspiracy theory you disagree with!

[pcqgod]

i can't watch that video at work. if the claim is that he overdubbed some of Ringo's drumming on later albums, I can see the possibility. I've read that it would basically be impossible to do overdub on the early recordings, however. But that's not the only dubious part, to me. He apparently claims that he was alone in the studio with Brian Epstein? Wouldn't it have been Martin? Also, on the albums up to Rubber Soul at least, there's no obvious overdubbing of drum parts that I can hear. Also, despite all the criticism he gets, Ringo was a perfectly fine drummer who at the very least was capable of playing the relatively simple parts required for Beatles songs -- this can be verified by listening to session tapes and live recordings. And again, if you're John Lennon and you want to be the biggest band in the world, why saddle yourself with an inferior drummer who can't even play 4/4 drum parts?

[yomptepi]

If any drums needed redoing, surely Macca would have stepped in.

[The Modernist]

If any drums needed redoing, surely Macca would have stepped in.

He would've if he hadn't been killed in 1966.

[Diamond Dog]

Trouble is Purdie is a bit like the drumming equivalent of Jimmy Page - he seems to have played on just about everything.... trouble is with Purdie (even more) is that he only seems to have played on - or can recall- big hits. He appears to have a 100% strike rate - which, oddly enough, isn't how session musicians generally work.

Add to that that his story seems to shift, depending on the date and need, and I think the vast majority of his 'recollections' can safely be labelled bullshit.

The explanation in the video is entirely possible - but, equally, it could be fucking anyone playing those drums. There is nothing that links Purdie to the music he claims to have drummed on for The Beatles - he may have, he may not have. It's just as likely (in fact, probably *more* likely) to have been Macca. Thing is, if it was McCartney, we'll have to wait for Ringo to pass away, because that's Macca's established modus operandi, isn't it?

[Goat Boy]

He's a self mythologiser (is that a word?)

Sounds like b-b-b-b-bullshit to me

[yomptepi]

More likely to have played in the Rutles than the Beatles. Did he know the difference?

[yomptepi]

He's a self mythologiser (is that a word?)

Sounds like b-b-b-b-bullshit to me

You would need a helicopter to stay above his bullshit.

[bobzilla77]

Trouble is Purdie is a bit like the drumming equivalent of Jimmy Page - he seems to have played on just about everything.... trouble is with Purdie (even more) is that he only seems to have played on - or can recall- big hits. He appears to have a 100% strike rate - which, oddly enough, isn't how session musicians generally work.

Add to that that his story seems to shift, depending on the date and need, and I think the vast majority of his 'recollections' can safely be labelled bullshit.

The explanation in the video is entirely possible - but, equally, it could be fucking anyone playing those drums. There is nothing that links Purdie to the music he claims to have drummed on for The Beatles - he may have, he may not have. It's just as likely (in fact, probably *more* likely) to have been Macca. Thing is, if it was McCartney, we'll have to wait for Ringo to pass away, because that's Macca's established modus operandi, isn't it?

One thing that connects Purdie to those tracks, is that he was a hired gun for Atlantic Records which released those in the USA. I would find it quite unlikely that McCartney could have possibly been bothered to play overdubbed drums on old session tapes right at the moment they were writing new songs in 1964.

The most plausible explanation IMO, is that yes, he did play overdubbed drums on some Beatles tracks, just not the ones he claims to have done. He just forgot the details.

Speaking as a student of drums, I think quite highly of Bernard. He's not the kind of guy that would need to make up stories about being on some geat records.

[Diamond Dog]

I'm not denying he's a great drummer. I'm doubting his recollection of events, full stop.

[toomanyhatz]

One thing that connects Purdie to those tracks, is that he was a hired gun for Atlantic Records which released those in the USA. I would find it quite unlikely that McCartney could have possibly been bothered to play overdubbed drums on old session tapes right at the moment they were writing new songs in 1964.

The most plausible explanation IMO, is that yes, he did play overdubbed drums on some Beatles tracks, just not the ones he claims to have done. He just forgot the details.

This is basically what the video says, and I agree. It is likely that he overdubbed the Tony Sheridan stuff in 1964, as the timeline is quite plausible. I don't think he made his claim in bad faith, just didn't remember the details (also plausible for a busy session drummer in 1964) and then embellished and exaggerated.

Purdie ALSO plays on the soundtrack for that horrible Sgt. Pepper movie, if that counts for anything. Maybe he qualifies that as playing on Beatles songs, which I guess it is, technically.

[yomptepi]

But he clearly says that Ringo did not drum on any Beatles records. he is a fantasist.

[bobzilla77]

But he clearly says that Ringo did not drum on any Beatles records. he is a fantasist.

Well yeah... that doesn't seem very plausible!

[Charlie O.]

I'm more puzzled by his claim (in the video) that "there were four drummers who played on the Beatles' records - and none of them were Ringo." In that same interview he mentions Pete Best, so that's one; Purdie himself makes two. I doubt he knew about Paul playing on "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence"... so who are the other two?

[Count Machuki]

I'm more puzzled by his claim (in the video) that "there were four drummers who played on the Beatles' records - and none of them were Ringo." In that same interview he mentions Pete Best, so that's one; Purdie himself makes two. I doubt he knew about Paul playing on "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence"... so who are the other two?

He's probably counting himself three times.

[Charlie O.]

[Snarfyguy]

I'm more puzzled by his claim (in the video) that "there were four drummers who played on the Beatles' records - and none of them were Ringo." In that same interview he mentions Pete Best, so that's one; Purdie himself makes two. I doubt he knew about Paul playing on "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence"... so who are the other two?

Jim Keltner and Hal Blaine!