Ringo Starr Refuses to Play With a Click Track, and It Makes Him a Better Drummer
A click track helps musicians stay in sync, but Ringo Starr has never felt he needed to use it. The Beatles’ drummer has worked with a number of musicians over the years, and many have noted his impeccable timekeeping. He said that part of this talent comes from his belief that no musician is perfect. This knowledge allows him to better keep time with the other musicians in a band.
Guitarist Steve Lukather has worked with Starr in his All-Starr Band and finds himself endlessly impressed with the former Beatles’ skill.
“Ringo’s brilliant, man, very soulful, and a bad-a** drummer,” Lukather said, per The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Ringo is the chicken that laid the first egg for all the rest of the drummers in the world. There would not be any of these other rock drummers, if not for him … The grooves he plays are such an important thing. And he’s never played to a click track. He said: ‘I am the click track’!”
Starr explained that he saw the click track as a detriment to his playing.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
