 Hello and welcome to the drum history podcast. I'm your host Bart van der Zee and today I am joined by my friend Gary Astridge, who is the curator, historian and lecturer on everything Ringo. Gary, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Nice to see you again, Bart. Yes. So I'll say upfront that we're talking about the amazing get back Beatles documentary, which is just unbelievable. I mean, it's for Beatles guys like us and especially like you, who's the king of the Beatles history. It is just so cool. You get a glimpse into their life and we this is coming out a little bit after the initial boom of the the documentary coming out. But we had some scheduling stuff and then the holidays and it just happened. So I think it's better, better late than never. And we have some questions from people on social media. We have a ton of them. So as many as we can. But yeah, Gary, so why don't we just start off with maybe you can tell us a little bit about maybe for people who don't know what get back is and then your reactions to this. And I'm sure you knew about it kind of earlier than the rest of us folks. But yeah, so tell us about get back just in general. With get back from what I understand is that the Beatles wanted to make an album and John was a little insistent of saying, Hey, you know, let's just go back to our origins at the beginning. You know, I go, let's just do a record. What comes out comes out. We're not going to overdub. We're not going to add things. You know, we just we just want to do it basically live. And that was the premise. And at the same time, you know, the Beatles understandably, we're going through some turmoil. And you know, there was what 50 plus close to 60 hours of film. And so when let it be came out, you know, it's kind of depressing, you know, and being older, living through it, it was, you know, you tried to be positive or I remember I was because you're hearing all these new songs. And it's and you're watching them, you know, perform them. And and what I like about the documentary is you get to see the magic, you know, and it's so rudimentary. You know, I mean, it's funny where I mean, they're not talking about notes and details. It's just like, Hey, let's move this bit. You know, we seem to be a common word. And the only thing that that really made it would make it extra special is now with decades of that have gone by, we know the songs. But it would have been cool to see it then. If you never heard the album, never heard a song, and then you're watching Paul McCartney create get back. I mean, that would have been, you know, mind blowing for to be in that mindset. Yeah. Well, that's I mean, let me poke in with some, you know, pop in with some questions here. So why did it not get released? Why was all that footage not used? And I mean, I love the Beatles and I try to watch everything and listen to everything. But there was a film that came out earlier on, correct? That was using some of that footage, but it wasn't a just let it be the movie, right? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Which which I, you know, it's it's crazy that I've again, I love the Beatles. I don't think I ever watched Let It Be the movie somehow, which is miraculous. Maybe it's just because it's not as easily to, you know, these all these films aren't all in one place where you can just go and pop them on. So yeah, it is. I got to say too that I had mixed feelings watching it of like, it's so cool to see it. I loved they were being like silly and that they were, you know, you got to see the real people. You got to see John being John and the all that kind of funny stuff. But also, man, it really made you kind of feel I felt kind of sad at points and weird, I guess, a little bit that to see how it was happening with John. And I know everyone has different feelings about Yoko, but it was just a bizarre relationship going on with the band and then George leaves. And it really was kind of at some points, it was I mean, it was a good, it was a roller coaster, but it was kind of a bummer at points to see some of the things that happened. Yeah, I had a very good friend that couldn't even get through the first segment. He was just so depressing. And he goes and Ringo just constantly looks so bored. It's like, yeah, I go put, you know, I go at certain points, I go, you can still look at what's going on in the background. You can see gear and it's like, what is that doing there? I never knew that they're, you know, they brought that into the, you know, to twicking him and things. But right. And George kind of just, you know, if you didn't, if you didn't knew, if you didn't know it was coming. I mean, he was just like blindsided everybody with like, yeah, I'm leaving. You know, it's like, whoa. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, I see the difficulty of like, how hard it is for like, let's call him what it is. I mean, a creative genius. George is obviously like all of them are creative geniuses. How hard it is to bring his songs to the table to get heard by Lenin and McCartney. I mean, he was about at his breaking point, obviously. And then that when they go off into the the cafeteria and there's like a hidden microphone in a flower pot or whatever. And Paul and John are talking about you, you know, I think Paul was like, you're the leader of the band. We all know you're the leader of the band. But really, you get the feeling that Paul was leading this and he was the only one who I don't want to say cared anymore, but was pushing it forward to get this done. It just again, I you feel weird seeing that that intimate, but but it also made them to me feel very like a real band, not like this mythical thing. It was it was very much like, these guys are just a four piece band who have the same troubles we all do with our friends in I'm in Cincinnati, you're in Buffalo. We did we hit the same stuff with a bar band that we might be playing in where, you know, your buddy heads and stuff. It's it's just interesting. Yeah, and it's funny when you when you think about, you know, I mean, they have a lot of history. And you see that they're just you're just normal people, you know, you really see the different personalities and and I don't know about you. But you know, I grew up with a lot of guys my age, you know, from from being small, going through school together. And even though we're all dear friends, you know, when I look back on it, there are some of them that I just kind of tolerated, you know, they just didn't like their personalities. There were some there was like, man, I, you know, I just love being with them. You know, we the same sense of humor. You know, so in the Beatles, I think there was that, you know, and you can tell, you know, that they were all extremely gifted in their own ways. And Paul, I mean, was off the charts, you know, you can't deny that. And, you know, he was on, you know, 24 hours a day, just music. And I guess, means Brian Epstein passed away in 67, August 67. You know, he just seemingly picked up the ball instead of the band looking at that time for a manager, you know, they just kind of just roamed on their own. And Paul just took over that leadership. And I think, you know, it's obvious, you know, George just resented it. You know, this guy's always telling me what to do. And, you know, but and John, I guess it's a hard one to figure out with him, because they say he was on heroin at the time. You know, so I didn't know that. Yeah. And, you know, so I'm thinking like, so what's his real personality? You know, is he high now? Or is he normal? You know, so yeah, I don't know. You hear these stories about John and he does have a rough edge to them. I was just watching the Harry Nielsen documentary on Amazon, which was really good. But there were stories about Harry Nielsen and John. with a lot of cocaine and just going hard and and him being I mean, he has a he's got a bit of a rough part to his personality that will will push back and will fight. That's interesting too. Because I mean, and then like you said with with Paul, it I feel for Paul of everyone, of course, everyone watches it and goes God, this guy's like controlling the band and what a bossy guy. And but then you think no one else was really taking that role of leading it. And, you know, he was sitting there kind of went, we're got to get this going. We need to get this done. Let's move on to the next one. There was so much history and just I don't know so much background to them that that you kind of like it's like a marriage where you know, you can't always move past the problems. And it's almost like that. Well, you're loading the dishwasher wrong and you're making me mad by doing that or you're squeezing the toothpaste wrong, as people say, and it's bugging me and now I'm gonna I can't stand it anymore. Like it's it's the little things which I get it. Everyone in life has those those feelings, but it's it's definitely interesting to see it as a fly on the wall. And what else is interesting when you when you think about it, they had such a unique situation, you know, where when they were, you know, and when they really broke, you know, into the US and their fame was just undescribable, you know, and just and they constantly would say because we're just we'll be together all the time, you know, we'd be in the same, you know, that even with traveling, you know, it'd be like two hotel rooms, they, you know, each would double up with one of the others. So, you know, you have to reach a point where it's like, I need some fresh air. I, you know, I can't take it, you know, it's just human nature. Yeah. And then as fans, we all we nobody wanted to hear or see that. Now, especially what you're saying with with George, because I think Ringo, and we'll talk about Ringo here in a second, because obviously this is a drum podcast, and we all love Ringo. But George, very much, you could tell it was like, I want to go off on my own. And he would be, you know, pitching some songs. And it would just be like, okay, let's move on to another one that a Lenin McCartney song. And then of course, he would use that later on his own solo stuff. But so Ringo, I think everyone, I mean, he is just we all know this, but he's hysterical. And the he in the best way possible is the comic, you know, the comedic relief in a lot of senses, where he kind of breaks, breaks up that tension. Very neutralizing. Yeah. Yeah. But he is just sitting there a lot, which which, you know, not not in again, in a way of like Ringo's, I mean, what else was he going to be doing? But he had a good, good attitude. He didn't seem to get bored. I don't know what what is I'm sure you've probably spoken to him. What is Ringo's reaction to all this, you know, the release of it? I'm sure he's happy. He's a happy guy. But yeah, yeah, no, he's a happy guy. From what I he didn't tell me this, but what I was told, I was still when he sat through the rough cut, you know, you know, hours and hours, and one of his comments was, who's going to want to watch this? Oh, yeah. You know, there's a lot of a lot of people. Yeah. When you piece together a lot of things that he has said over time, you know, one was that he always felt that his job was to be ready. You know, so even though he looked borders sitting there, you know, he's he's watching things being created. And it's it's, it's obvious, you know, that there's times where Paul would give Ringo instructions to say, this is what I'm hearing in my head. And then Ringo would take that thought and make it his own. Yeah. And it's interesting, if you go way back, you can find a recording in the at EMI when they were doing I want to hold your hand. And and then one of the at the beginning of one of the tracks, they start and they stop. And then Paul yells out he goes Ringo, you know, and he goes attack, he goes the first bit, you know, so so he's he's he's doing it then, you know, and he's and you know, so that was that but but there was the other thing to where Ringo had mentioned that, you know, so there was a point where you hang around with John a lot. And then they'd be together and the phone would ring and they would they would say, it's Paul, he's gonna want us to go to work. You know, and they were just happy doing nothing. So yeah, but yeah, I mean, that's that that thing you're we're saying, though, of like you you of course, you you look at Paul as like the task master, but that since Brian Epstein passed away, and they lost that father figure, as they kind of said in it where where either you know, daddy's not here anymore or whatever he said, you need to have that. And I feel like Ringo understood that from what I could tell of like, you know, he had no I don't think he had any ill will towards anyone in the band where you could definitely see that John and Paul Paul and the other Beatles were butting heads, obviously. But so why don't we talk some drum stuff here? I mean, it was I mean, Ringo seemed to pick he's he's we all know it. We've all we've all, you know, Ringo fans have always known it that he is a phenomenal drummer. He has unbelievable sounds, but God, the tone, the his plane, his ability to pick things up quickly. It's just great. Why don't you just what are your thoughts after seeing that? I mean, obviously, you've seen Ringo play a bunch in person and things like that. But but from seeing that in that period of time, what how did you walk away feeling about Ringo and his style and his plane? Well, hey, it put a smile on my face, you know, because there's a drummer, you know, many of us. I always just always say that you can't you can't you can't nail Ringo. I mean, you can emulate him. But his style is like so unique and the feel is so so unique to him, you know, you can kind of come close, but you can never nail it. And then I never and I've heard some very, very good drummers, you know, and I've never really heard someone that captures that essence. But it's just interesting just to see how he, you know, plays, you know, how it's just rudimentary. You know, some people were questioning because of the because of Ringo's choice where he had the tea towel on the snare drum and with some songs like For You Blue that had brushes, you know, that some people's takes was, oh, look at that Ringo plays with brushes and he uses a towel just to keep his the sound of the drums down so he's not dominating the process. That's not how I'm looking at it. You know, I just thought he was using whatever is appropriate and then he just liked that muffled sound. But it was interesting, you know, even with his drum setup that's always a big question is like why would he have the two toms on a tom mount stand, you know, it's just so far away. But Ringo doesn't remember the reason and from what I could see is when he first got that kid in September of 68, there's pictures out now that you can see where it shows Ringo and Paul sitting behind a combination of Ringo, one of Ringo's Oyster Black Pearl kits and the Maple kit and they were trying to get him to do double toms and or double, you know, kick drums and Ringo tried it, didn't like it. And that was on glass onion where that it just so happened they were working on that song and he was September 11th, 68 when his when this drum kit was delivered. So he tried it and there was no tracks were kept, you know, so that just got tossed. But Ringo just kept using the stand and ironically enough the way Ringo sat behind his kit, you know, he's small and stature and he sat high behind the kit and he sat close. He was really, really close. So when you actually set up his drum kit, you know, or a drum kit like that, the way he used it on Let It Be, it works. It's not, you know, like the 13 by 9 Tom, it's not that far away. I mean, everything everything works. So, but you just have to, you know, I guess just think it through. But yeah, no, that's interesting because that, you know, he's got that unique style, but it makes sense that he's very close up on it because I noticed that and that was actually when we'll get to some questions later, people were asking about his Tom choice and, you know, and that stand and all that and his cymbals. It's different than his usual classic, you know, the what everyone thinks of with his original Ludwig kit. But why don't you maybe describe sizes, color, because again, if everyone hasn't, you know, seen it, maybe they can listen to this and then go watch eight hours or whatever it is of get back. But so describe his drums even down to the sticker on the toms. I mean, like, give us kind of the rundown of what he was using. Yeah, okay. So the drum kit was, it was like a Hollywood kit or Hollywood model drum kit. So when he got it, he came with a five by 14 supersonic snare drum. And the toms were, you know, eight by 12, nine by 13 and 16 by 16 floor tom, 22 by 14 base. You know, he had the regular speed King pedal, you know, the and then he kept using like the was it model 1123 high hat stand, you know, and the 1400 model cymbal stands. And then his, the drum kit came with calfskin heads. Oh, wow. Now, obviously, when you watch the video, these, he's got this, like the Ludwig weathermaster. Yeah. So he's thought that since they knew they were going to be performing at working ham studios and with the temperature changes and things that they swapped it out and put on some obviously used heads or new heads that were getting dirty rather quickly. But yeah, sure. But you know, but that's what he did. And as far as cymbals, there's always been a big question, you know, so well, we're able to determine and it would be great to hear what other people have to say. But, but, you know, we saw that Ringo had a pasty 20 inch medium ride that he was using, you know, on his left. Yep. And and then he had another 20 and he had his an 18 that that we believe were Zildjans and his high hats. Big question there. And that's certain about the top think it was Zildjian, but the bottom was a pasty sound edge. And just like, wow. And and and Ringo, you know, he's got an original pair of high hats that he used during the during the his career with the Beatles. And and he says, you know, he goes, these are the ones that I used on all the records, but it doesn't seem to to be the case, you know. Yes. Well, you've said before on your previous episode of the podcast, which was awesome, that Ringo's not an absolute gear nut, like knowing every single piece of everything in the serial number is obviously like you are and like many of the listeners are. So it makes sense that he's like, yeah, I think they were, you know, I think it was Zildjian. It was actually something different. But I mean, that's why there's guys like you in the world, you know, to just to put the history straight. But but that's still it's I'm still working on that. And I plan to, you know, someday get the information out, but the with with the symbols that it's like the more evidence I find or the more clear photographs and you can get a timeline, you know, with them. It's just like, there's another one where this one comes from. You know, so there was there was way more than, you know, when when people were originally saying, Ringo, just use all Zildjians of 2018 and 14 and 10, it's maybe 15, you know, so yeah, yeah. Well, he likes to experiment. I mean, then and I'm sure people like you don't think like when you're in the moment, like, oh, I need to keep it easy and and straight for history's sake and sure someone was like, hey, throw this one on. He goes, oh, I like that. And then he tries it and he plays it. Oh, let's just leave it on. Sure. And I'm on your website. I'm kind of looking down here at my phone because I'm on the description and everything, but you've got a really cool page about that. And even just down to his like his his throne, I mean, like having the backrest and things like that. And I believe you said it's he said he used a few few different stools. But but you don't really think of seats having backrests that early. I mean, I don't. But that's interesting. But actually, there was with the research that I did and so so ring but Ringo had when he had someone make a you know, I guess a handmade backrest and yet in the when you watch the movie, you'll see that one. And then there is another one he's using that has like like a like a silvery blue cushion and on the seat and backrest. Yeah. And that's you can't find him. It was manufactured by a company called Beverly drums in the UK. Sure. And but really looking for one, it's going to be extremely hard now because everybody's going to do it if they're watching this. And thrones get a lot of use and they like they like, I mean deteriorate deteriorate pretty much. I mean, if you sit on it and it's had a butt sitting on it for 50 or 60 years almost, it's like you know, they don't. That's one thing that will go. So I mentioned the stickers before on his toms. I'm sure a lot of people watching it were going, you know, like, oh, what was that? And they try and figure out what it was. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's for Drum City, right? What's the story with that? It was just it was just a label that they would put on gear and when they when they delivered that one to Ringo, it seems like they were a little bowl, you know, just putting it on there and you know, he just he just left them. But but it did say, you know, it's just Drum City with their little logo, which was I think like four circles. And then they were dressed at the bottom. Wow. Yeah. And then that's that's what that was. Ringo took them off. So somebody took them off at some point or not on his drum kit now. Wow. But not until it was filmed for however many 60 hours of footage or whatever. You're right. That is kind of bold to be like, you know, let's just put a sticker on here on Ringo on the biggest drummer in the world's drum set for a little extra publicity. Andy Dwyer in Liverpool, ADC drums. He told me that he was sending me some stuff and he was like, a little bit of info there. So where are those drums today? I know I mean, they're they have to still be in existence, right? Oh yeah, Ringo has them. We documented them, you know, archived them. We had to do a lot of repair work to them. But he has them. We had road cases made. So all of his kits that he still has they're in a climate controlled very secure vault. And that's where they are. But they're coming out of they're coming out of the vault and here's some news, breaking news. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is going to be doing a complimentary exhibit called Get Back, Let It Be. I don't know all of what's going to be on display, but Ringo is loaning his maple kit to the museum and also his red rain jacket that he wore on the rooftop and his pants. So cool. Yeah, so that's going to be happening and so I'll be obviously going there to set the kit up. Wow. Well, I just had Mandy Smith who's the education director at the Rock Hall on a couple weeks ago and we were just talking about trying to link up with something. So maybe I can do something where once it's all up and live because I'm four hours away from there to go and check it out and maybe shoot some video of it for the podcast or something like that because that sounds unbelievable and it's the perfect place to put it. These are literally almost just priceless pieces of you know, they're almost art at this point to look at his drum set and see what was happening with it. That's awesome. You heard it here first folks. Yeah, and in fact, I just got I knew this was going to happen but yesterday I got the call saying that giving timelines and things. So that's great. Yeah, that'll be great. And the good thing too about it being at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is you know, the people that I've gotten to know there. I mean, they all love their job. They're really into it. You know, they have that knowledge and as far as the facility you know, the it's extremely secure you know, even down to the lighting you know, it comes down to like being UV protected you know, so you wouldn't be damaging the say like, you know, deteriorating the color of the drum heads or skins or the shells, you know by being in direct sunlight or fluorescent light. Yeah, everyone's got that drum set that's in the corner that's like by a window and the floor half the floor Tom has been in the sun for 10 years a different color No, it's the perfect place. And I remember Mandy Smith was saying that they have every day 365 days of the year their security there protecting everything Christmas day someone is there walking around keeping everything safe. So that's awesome. Now a couple other things and then we'll get to questions because I want to leave time for that because we have a whole lot of questions from listeners and folks on social media but there's also there's other things that came out with the documentary such as kind of the there's like a new release of the Get Back album which I've listened to and it's awesome it's multiple takes of things and then there's also a film the rooftop film is released on IMAX is that correct which is I sold out I looked immediately and it was just every day it was sold out here in Cincinnati. I haven't seen it but everybody that I know has has been rubbing me the wrong way by saying hey I saw it you know but everybody says it's mind blowing yeah oh that's so cool it's it's so neat that all this is coming out now and I think it's you know it's it's all on Disney Plus or Disney you know for people who want to watch it and those are obviously in theaters and you can find it on Spotify but it makes sense that I'm sure this is a pretty big financial I'm sure Disney coughed up some big dough to be able to get this and release it which makes perfect sense yeah yeah alright Gary why don't I read some questions to you is there any other things that you before we do that that you think is important to mention about this I remember one thing I watched it twice the whole thing through twice which was after that I was like okay I got to take a break and watch something else but that's like whatever 15 hours but so I just saw some neat things again even in the studio so just watching how like even now it's it's interesting to see how just doing these tracks live is almost a foreign concept now for the most part where we live in the multi-track world of do drums do this some of these songs which are the most classic songs rock and roll songs in the world were all recorded at obviously they did some overdubs but the goal was to not do overdubs and they got such a great sound I mean it's just unbelievable yeah it's unbelievable and it's funny that you know I don't know how it is for most people but for me it's since I was a kid you know it whenever I hear songs the drums always seem to be more prominent because maybe that's what I'm really trying to listen to unknowingly at the time but I'm cognizant of it now but it's just amazing when you listen to Ringo and you know all this stuff is live the way it's going down and it's like you could focus just on the hi-hat and it's like flawless and the same thing when he's doing some fills and things it's just like just mind blowing and the same with the guitars the vocals I mean they had it all it was just absolutely amazing yeah and exactly what you're saying but like the hi-hat has to be perfect but the piano also has to be perfect at the same time and the bass has to it's like if one guy's off I mean obviously you can maybe punch in some bass or something but again trying not to everyone had to be on and this wasn't a thing where they had been rehearsing it like if it's a band's first album you can write those songs for 10 years and then come in and record them and you know we've been practicing forever we really got to see how everything how the sausage was made as they say and and they picked it up fast I love two of us that's kind of a I just like seeing those songs where it started with kind of a different you'd hear the different where it's almost like it kind of messes with your brain to hear them play in a different way that you've never heard it's a song that you love it's just you kind of think what could have been if they went this way and they did it with a 2-4 beat instead of the you know the 4 on the floor kick it's just it's really neat to see that does Ringo have any feelings about maybe he hasn't talked to you about it but wanting to do wanting to pick takes on a different track that like oh I liked the drums better this way but we actually went with this way or was he just pretty easy going about it all yeah he did yeah to him he's just kind of just quiet about it from how his relationship is with me he never pushed your force you know like hey you're going to tell me this whether you like it or not yeah but yeah but it's just amazing and it's funny too because you know how they just said that they had that chemistry you know Ringo would say like you know if they were doing something Ringo said we would just know because I would know where John's going and it just happened you know so that's all part of the magic you know and everything you know once again when you think about them from the humble beginnings and all of the things that shouldn't have went their way that did I mean it was always you know one little piece of the puzzle like if that didn't happen something else wouldn't have happened but there was like it really seemed to be a guiding hand you know to make them what they became and it's just amazing you know to have decades go by and you know I guess if you really kind of watched you know like there's been some peaks and valleys but but it just keeps carrying on to the next generation and it says so much I want to say a couple so a couple studio things that I noticed too I think it was when they moved back into the Apple you know in the basement there at their office which was neat to see them building that studio up I mean that alone was cool and I love the like the green carpet and stuff it's so yeah exactly but um and I might be getting my my studios mixed up which when they were back in the more of the TV studio but they had the microphones for you know John and George and Paul where those long like the stands would be coming out of the ground and they'd have to like tighten them I mean what an interesting I've never seen those those type of mics with the stands I'm sure they're super nice annoying men or something like that but um do you know anything about those mics and stands I don't know anything about those I did but no pretty interesting technology but per usual even today where things kind of loosen themselves you can see the Beatles wrestling with their let me just get this over here and I also liked how they had it looked like at one point reversible panels on the walls that could be reflective or padded like soft and that was neat yeah yeah it was different never saw that before no no which you know these kinds of things you take for granted that like there's there's so many details I love too that I mean your the your ring goes like historian your Beatles not just like all of us and you're you're seeing stuff for the first time it's it adds to the mystery yeah it's amazing and you know it's also amazing too and even you saw them at Apple and they're recording that you know their amps are out I mean they're in a relatively small room you know and yet you know the isolation sounds good you know with what you hear now is you know in the final product and it's just it's just amazing yeah yeah it kind of makes I mean I'm I work I've worked as an audio engineer at studios for years now and it makes you think like alright you know take it back a little bit and look at it like they could do it obviously there the Beatles but they could do it guys like that could record with however many tracks 8 or 16 tracks and and there's not that many post production there's not many plugins put on it's really getting it a good sound at the front end at the source get the get it set up right and they're using tape too which it's just which which Alan Parsons was a tape operator is that correct I believe so right yeah man unbelievable you know what else you made me think of is you know when when you when they were doing get back and you see Lenin you know when they're when they're doing the intro instead of strumming he's just like he's just hitting the absolutely wow but just so creative you know I don't know if that's something that guitars do but I've never really seen that before so I loved how it would say this is the track that appeared on on the final like it started I think in part 3 you started to kind of see like like this is the one that appeared on the final or when they went on the rooftop there were certain tracks where it was like this is the one that appears on the album and it just kind of was like that gave me like a sense of like oh this is where it's all going because it's certain points it really like emotionally in the middle of it kind of made you feel lost a little bit like like is this ever gonna get done and last last question and then we'll move to some of these some of these listener questions but how did you feel really getting to see and obviously you said with with John there might have been some drug stuff going on but I mean the Yoko Ono which I mean she's a nice person everything's fine I have everyone has their own opinions about that but that definitely was an interesting uh part of it to see Yoko and John be so close and then how that affected the other three guys what did what are your thoughts on that how did that make you feel watching that was funny growing up with you know hearing it from from the get go you know I mean Yoko was so hated and and and you just you know at that time because of limited media you know it was just either what you saw in the paper or magazine and and and you know seeing the movie itself and and you're just reading articles right you know so so that just starts what everybody you know starts taking his truth and talking about but I think now you know you just looking at it in the rear view mirror and seeing the video or the movie and it's like okay I mean it was different because it was just the four of them now there's five of them but you know I think individually you know even though they may not have liked it they got it you know and I was like oh he really loves her you know so and and only they would know John you know as well as they do to know you know how they felt about the relationship being happy for him but yeah Yoko was a big influence and I think that just added to the tension of things are really changing now you know it's not just because of bright enough time being gone and all the things that we talked about that you probably have in a band but I think there was just so many so many pieces to that puzzle that was obviously one of them but I don't think it was as big as it was made out to be and with those situations I mean everyone's had a buddy growing up who gets a girlfriend and then there goes my buddy he's going to now hang out with his friend lost a guy completely it's like whoa you know so but that's but no one's holding a gun to these people to our friends or to John Lennon's head he loved her very very much and he made the decision that this is the way I'm going to go and I'd rather I've been with you guys for you know with most of his life if you go back to like you know Liverpool and it he made a choice obviously for us Beatles fans we wish it would have gone the other way and they would have stayed together forever and what would have happened but it is what it is and it was just interesting and again really sort of uncomfortable to watch it at some points where you think like gosh John you don't realize that you're making everyone else feel a little weird with this but it's he's a grown man and he made the choice so it is what it is but okay so I'm going to read off a couple questions there's there's a ton of them so I hope I get to everyone and I will it might be a little clunky I'll clean it up I am going to just read some of these and let's see what we we have so I'm kind of I'm going to try and consolidate I've looked through them but there's a lot of them alright so here is one from Glenn Kochi we'll start with a big one here so from Wilco he said what exactly was the small crash slash large splash off to his far right in a few scenes yeah it was just a small ten inch crash eight or ten I forget now I'm sorry the mystery continues but Ringo did use that you'll hear it at the one minute mark in the song here comes the sun so that's that's that's that's that okay and then he asked and I'm kind of looking back because I want to actually look at the photos as well he said what was the rectangular high hat jingle attachment okay yeah that was I think I have it on my website now but it was just like a tambourine bar and then the interesting thing is in the little advert that you see for this item you could put it on your high hat you could mount it on your the post for your kick drum pedal and you had a little stick that you or a metal bar you could put through it so you could just shake it with your hand so it was like three uses and that's that's what that was the kick drum beater I can't believe that that seems like it would I don't know get in the way a little bit it's yeah but but you see all these little sketches of it and it's just yeah it was interesting that's funny and then Glenn's last kind of thing about um so he said I'm assuming those were Ludwig telescoping brushes but what sticks and mallets was he using during this time that I don't know he doesn't he doesn't know so um interesting some sticks yeah so but he did have some that I found um going through some unexpected cases you know in places it's like where'd this come from you know and it's like oh my god you know this this is like this is 60 stuff so it must be but but he had premier uh and Ludwig as far as brushes and as far as sticks I don't know but size wise too the ones that he was using there looked to be a little thicker than uh what he uses now now it's like five a's but it looks like they could have been two B's or something so I don't know interesting wow that's big um okay thank you to Glenn Cochie for that and then uh just a couple comments too there's a ton of questions but uh pocket so uh I gore SMPO I hope you're pronounced right said pocket timing and great taste that is Ringo there's a nice comment um Kiri May uh said he is the most professional musician in the band I think that's a fair point but he also just he stayed out of the drama that's just Ringo you know what I mean I mean he just he just stayed out of it um okay so then um let's see here Adam Stachelek uh said um he never hears him flub apart he is the rock how did he always know what to play which you kind of touched on before but that's a fair question though I guess that's just his natural ability and his experience yeah just to get from God yeah um I know his anecdote about never play a fill while they are singing uh that's an interesting one um and uh I just so you just touched on I guess it's just gift from God that's that's a great put it thank you Adam um uh Ron Danette said Ringo defines calm he wasn't just the drummer he was balanced where he was needed and a catalyst to get new ideas going hmm good point yeah excellent point okay um Glyn Johns and his recording techniques any information about that I mean he was a monster engineer with with a ton of great credits to his name yeah well all I know is he you know he got a great sound out of out of Ringo's drums I mean he just sounded so unique you know and um yeah which was amazing about Ringo I think we touched on this before was just that you know whenever whenever you have some naysayers you know it's like well pick a song with percussion in it that the Beatles had done and what sucked what what would you do different to make that song better and and there's there's um there's crickets yeah well yeah he he what everything he played perfectly and it fit the fit it fit it very well um so Mike Curran asked who set up the drums now was that what was his last name was it Mal Evans yeah who who was in it who very very nice and interesting fella who had a very untimely end to his life which was very sad which I don't want to go into the grim details people can detail can google but um so that you know so he was there rowdy I mean I guess he just got used to setting up Ringo's gear knew the way he liked it and then Ringo like like classic like everyone just tweaked it yeah that that that seems to be the um logical answer and you know just from photos that you see I mean you always seem to be the guy you know that that did it and I'm sure there was tweaking in the studio obviously with Mike's and you know moving things around but yeah yeah but Mal overall was the guy there is a lot of questions that you've already directed but I want to just kind of so people know that I see their questions that about how much did Paul direct Ringo what to play did it bug Ringo um all those things which you've already addressed that as no he I feel like he was okay with it and uh he was the right drummer for the for the gig right yeah yeah yeah he just accepted the you know um uh advice or the ideas and um and ran with him yeah uh Cinco 99 said how did he tune his drums dampening we all see but his tuning thoughts uh would be great which is a good question what what's did did did Ringo tune them or did Mal tune them or how did that work yeah well Ringo had a big part in it obviously sitting behind the kid you know you're listening to the guy in the control room so but but the Beatles are always looking for different sounds and that's why you know Ringo always had is go to drum you know of four-piece set you know starting with that one so you can hear early on you know that that that some of the the drums were tuned higher you know and then as time went on they they started getting deeper and German dead so yeah yeah but yeah the um the the details um kind of have that that ability to like uh I don't know like like wash away any any like tuning sins if you know what I mean where it kind of it kind of blends it all together but you still need to have it in the right neighborhood and but you know it's interesting too is is with that you can you can really go down the rabbit hole because um uh the T towel you know it depends on uh the the the thickness of the material you know you could you could take it you know sometimes Ringo would not just fold it or just lie it over sometimes he would fold it and just have it off to the side sure so you get different sounds and once again depending on how you have the drums tuned you know and at that time they were taking bottom heads off you know you had bottom head off his floor time and from what I understand too with with some of the songs um even though there's no photographic proof it is of this point um the the bottom heads on the the toms were sometimes taken off and just in mic from the bottom so yeah all kinds of ways to get um unique sounds you know they didn't show much of that experimentation phase which you kind of might do at home or you know I guess that might be boring I mean this is a it's a major film release so to show let's take the bottom head off you know to go all the way around I guess they wouldn't show that stuff but there had to be the experimenting of of of doing that and tweaking the sounds and and all that stuff um which is kind of a cool thing to think about them doing let's try it with no bottom heads let's try it with bottom heads uh that that takes time yeah and you know you know what it's interesting to touch on that um when you think of um uh that drum fill in in uh uh with a little help from my friends you know that boom boom boom boom boom yeah okay um there's the Ringo actually had his uh the floor time that's what he starts with and and and the way it's miked from the top and you hear that hollow sound of the floor time and when he goes to the rack time the 9 by 13 it's tuned real low so you get that boom yeah and but yet when you listen to it is a right-handed drummer you would think okay he's got to be going from the time to the floor time but for him because he was easy for him to naturally go floor time up they somebody came up with the idea of like well then why don't we tune them that way so that it's higher lower but the but the floor time he has such a unique sound and and another time you really hear that sound is at the very end of his drum solo on the end when it's like boom boom boom boom you know you hear that hollow uh punch and um uh to me it was just so creative and and that was one of the that's one of the things that um people don't know that are trying to replicate his sound so there's yeah yeah and god I mean I think of recording in studios and like you know three hours have gone by and I've just got the drum mic set up and I've you know experimented a little bit and they're doing so much in such a short amount of time and then they turn it around and then they release it and it's and it's they're under the next one and then they're they're writing these it's it's it's like they just are masters of using time to its fullest um but when you watch the documentary there was definitely plenty of downtime and sitting around and but what I would love to and we'll get back to the question a few more of the questions because I want to be you know make sure you get out of here on time but um like I'd love to see this exact same style documentary on one of the earlier albums where they don't have all this history you know again I'm not saying anything negative about anyone but maybe Yoko's not there with John John's not doing maybe what he's doing with uh drug stuff but it would be so cool to see him in their prime with this level of camera work and stuff yeah you know what else is amazing when you think about it um you can really see how George Martin had to play a masterful part not only with his his talents that that he has but but through the whole process now you're seeing the Beatles you know at at the end of their career but now they're masters in the recording studio and as we alluded to it's like not talking about music structure but just like slang of like move that bit and do this and do that and but George had to had the mind of an education uh of what music uh is and and how to explain it to professionals but he has to take their rudimentary thoughts digest them and then say okay i i i know what you're looking for i mean yeah mind blowing yeah really i mean you but but the the quick hand of like or the short hand of let's do this this this this it keeps it moving and then you need the guy to kind of filter it out like you're saying um which i thought you know George Martin didn't have as much he wasn't as heavily uh maybe it's because this is overdubbed and there weren't or it's it's less overdubs in this and there weren't as many you know crazy string parts and things um but you didn't see him around as much as maybe i originally thought he would be in this like he was obviously there and included but i thought originally maybe it was kind of the early days of the early albums that he would be literally holding their hands through things and kind of working with them a lot but they really were like you're saying i think this point in their career were masters and could do it on their own and and really controlled everything yeah so you know that there's so many parts for just so so interesting but yeah George Martin he was i think he was very frustrated with the way let it be was handled i yeah because it was a little loosey-goosey um and i gotta mention i should have done this before but billy pressed him oh my god when he came in there was just this like release there was like a lift an emotional like like the weight of watching that and this struggle of like you know our favorite band and then he came in it was just smiling and just nailing everything it was such a relief to see him in there and he was he was an integral part he was he was needed for that you know he was he was needed to make that that that work you know especially with with the plan that they had of you know wanting to keep things minimal and yeah he was just an amazing talent yeah pick it up right away you could tell he's got a background in a studio and all this stuff but all right a few more questions because i let's see john l morganov morganov said unrelated to get back but it's an interesting question ask gary if there's any ongoing searching for ringo's premier root beer kit with that one things have been quiet on the radar front but but occasionally i'll get notified and then every time i do i'll vigorously go after you know trying to get information photos and things but yeah it really appears that that it's just gone to history yeah i'm going into a lot of stories and details but yeah but but i if it's out there man i there would be such a great find yeah yeah um all right a few more leave on leave on zevon said mickey techniques exclamation point well with that one you can get a you can get a lot of the uh dead on information by going to the recording the Beatles book you know um uh it's just it has photos you know showing the uh how the drums were set up but sure and and might but um without going into a much granular detail you know at the beginning it was just like an overhead and then one for the kick drum you know in the kick drum i need to be buried you know in the mix but then after that um uh you know they start getting more involved in in the details and so uh the the times uh the time would be mic'd underneath the floor time would be mic'd from the uh the side kick drum you know in front or inside and snare from the bottom uh hi-hats would be mic'd and then um an overhead so it was pretty much a setup which is getting more into the modern world where you typically will do like uh you'll have that uh snare top snare bottom a hi-hat a kick in a kick out which is very very modern and you hear it in this uh you hear that that very clear um I don't know you get more clarity that way um so you know it's interesting to mention Bart is that you know um uh that when the Beatles first went into EMI everything was so um it was like a lab right and he had the the workers wearing like the white louts and they had they had their book of um okay if you're using this mic you know uh in this situation it must be eight inches from you know uh the instrument and and and the Beatles started breaking all those rules and it's just like hey what if we just stuck the you know the uh uh the microphone inside the drum you know it's like whoa you know it's like you can't do that I hope nobody's looking you know but yeah but they did it and so even on that level they're breaking all kinds of ground yeah I mean that's you you think we'll just do it you know but but really there's other people are paying I feel like there's like um that's even more of the like they're the little kids running around being sneaky uh but you know move the mic here in in really though these these these engineers had bosses who are recording other you know more classical kind of things and it was unheard of to do that so it's that's a great point um okay let me see here one let's pick one more good one um we've covered a lot of them someone here said I believe Jamie Stroh Stroh higher Stroh hero sorry Jamie if I mispronounce your name um this is interesting because he we know him for his tea towels and everything did those drums have any internal muffling um this bass drum you know later on it was a pillow or um uh blanket inside but but he would use those you know once again with the bass drum the the felt strip you know that that um we'd go from top to bottom side to side but that was basically that was basically nothing else on the other drums gotcha tape sometime tape that makes sense we've all done gaffe tape you flagged the tape a little bit um alright now last question and then we'll wrap up here but uh Jeremy plays drums said uh this is this is kind of what we talked about before which is very I guess you could say granular uh granular there was a scene where someone kept switching out his throne which is very cool to see um was not happy with the throne he was originally given or was there a product rep having him try out a new throne and we kind of already talked about this but I just think it's cool that someone else is noticing this he said either way I was glad they kept that part in because man his first throne looked like a real cheek buster if you know what I mean oh yeah I don't know if you ever said I'm one of those premier uh thrones but they're they're so uncomfortable I mean it's just hard plastic and there's no cushion and um uh so yeah so when he went to something even with a little bit of fall out it had to be a relief yeah that's interesting because you do see that and I'm sure I don't I didn't get the vibe that it was a rep from a brand saying hey let Ringo try this out now it seemed like it was more of like a you know you know this doesn't feel good let's switch it out to something else um because he had a lot of tools there he had like a there was a premier stool with a foamy red cushion you know and a white ring around it you know he had that but no back rest and then and then the the makeshift one that he had it was it was like his old traditional premier stool model what 245 and somebody as I said you know made up made up of back rest and then and then there was this Beverly uh uh uh stool that we just alluded to earlier yeah okay um all right I know I said it before but now very very last question I'm just kind of discovering some this is a good one and then I'll let you go here Gary but the Jenkins Martin uh guys said what did Ringo end up doing with his podcast and find me on social media at drop did they show up on any recording of you yeah you know you would like to learn about the told me this story because he sold them at auction 2015 and um you know he's you know I talked to uh uh a number of people that were in uh some that were involved with with George purchasing those for Ringo and um you know Ringo said that when he got him you know he says he he had him set up he tried them and then he just said um I get rid of him you know it was it was too much but but there are photos now and one in particular were it it uh it's it stated for when they were working on I me mine and then to the Ringo's left you know that there is like you see three three times you want to enter kind of you know angled and um I'm going like they can't be those blamier times so I went through photos that I have that I took of of them and and and I'm matching it up and so it's my strong belief that that uh when you hear I me mine when he's doing those little like drum fills in there you know uh but everyone's leaving it no one you know he's using those wow um and I could be wrong but I but I would say that I'm 98% right in that one and then I've and I've seen another photo of Ringo uh post Beatles where he's he's got some of the larger blamier times on his right side so um he might have forgotten but but he definitely definitely used them man fascinating those are a great answer thank you to everyone for asking these questions if uh if I didn't read your particular question it's kind of because either Gary already alluded to it in the in the episode or someone else kind of asked it but uh thank you to everyone who submitted those that's a lot of fun to do and um you're a popular guy Gary everyone really likes you and appreciates everything you do for the Ringo community I mean you are very very very well respected and um um I want to give a quick shout out I believe I said him before but I think I'm trying to remember people always suggest episodes kind of as I'm thinking about it and I go oh all right well I need to write this down but I uh Andy Dwyer suggested this episode with you and then also my buddy uh Jason Berthold Berthold Jason or sorry if I'm mispronouncing your last name um but I want to thank those guys for kind of saying while I was watching they go you need to get Gary well I have a little um if you wouldn't mind but yeah um Andy I'll be seeing you um uh in Liverpool the uh UK drum show is April 2nd and 3rd in in Liverpool so I was invited by Ludwig to do some talks uh there both on Saturday and Sunday and um and then uh once that's over the following Monday I'll be doing a talk at the Liverpool Beatles Museum which is owned by uh Rogue Best Pete Best's brother so that should be interesting yeah and I think I have a one or two other talks lined up while I'm in town and I'll be in Liverpool for a week so I'm looking forward to seeing some friends old and new yeah awesome well thank you to everyone for uh you know for doing those guys and Andy's a great guy and always sends me really cool stuff so uh everyone can check out um uh Gary's website which I'm looking back here just to make sure I get it right Ringo's BeatleKits.com I'll link to that in the description um and uh this has just been awesome Gary be sure to keep us updated as the rock and roll Hall of Fame exhibit is going to be happening because I will absolutely go and check it out make a you know pretty short drive up there and I'll update everyone else so we can go watch and check it out and uh and I'll take some pictures but yeah Gary thank you again this is a I've been bugging you about scheduling this for the last month um so I appreciate it