Photo: Rob ShanahanRingo Starr was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year as a solo artist, and as a tribute to the Beatles drummer, a video presentation was shown at the ceremony featuring a variety of well-known drummers playing Starr’s Fab Four kit and talking about how he influenced them. Among the famous beat keepers that appear in the three-minute clip are the E Street Band‘s Max Weinberg, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Jim Keltner, Dave Grohl and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith. You can watch the video now at Smith’s Facebook page.
“He actually used his kit in a very unique way, a very creative way,” Copeland points out in the clip, adding that one of Starr’s big contributions “was that he used his tom-toms as part of the composition.”
Keltner, the veteran session drummer who backed The Traveling Wilburys and many other rock greats, says, “You know, he’s a song drummer — guys that sit down and hear the song and then they play appropriately for that song.”
Grohl declares, “Define the best drummer in the world. Is it someone that’s technically proficient, or is it someone that sits in the song with their own feel? Ringo was the king of feel.”
In addition, the video shows the various drummers demonstrating classic Starr drum parts for the Beatles songs “Come Together” and “The End.”
Other drummers who also appear in the clip include Green Day‘s Tre Cool, Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins, The Roots‘ Questlove. and longtime Paul McCartney touring drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.
Besides Ringo, this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees included Bill Withers, Lou Reed, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Green Day and The “5” Royales.
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