Eh, listen to drummers. Unless they are trying to be cool they’ll say things like Ringo Starr and Phil Collins were great drummers.

Yep, the Beatles are probably the best documented band in the world. If Ringo didn’t track a take we’d already know about it.

As soon as I read the comment about Paul’s bass playing I knew Quincy was full of shit. Also, I’ve read a lot of books about The Beatles, including The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn, and I don’t recall any sessions where Q was in the room, let alone this Ronnie Verrell cat. Complete and utter…

and then the others would take days fiddling about while he was bored

And that really it. There no objectively “best” drummer based on ability, it all about style and who best fit for band. Me maintain that Meg White might be lousy drummer by any standard of proficiency, but she best possible drummer for White Stripes, because what that band need is drummer who can play simple beats and…

This is so wrong. You have no knowledge of music history. The idea of a boy band is a group of pretties put together by some pervy lech. The Beatles came together on their own. That girls found different reasons to latch on to each one: ie Pauls the cute one, John’s the bloody tough, etc was not a decision the band…

An old joke:

Q: What’s the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist?

A: One plays three chords for a thousand fans, and the other plays a thousand chords for three fans.

The Beatles are my heroes, but I also listen to piles and piles of classic jazz. If Jones is talking in terms of sheer musicianship (and I’m sure he is) he’s right- there are tons of jazz drummers and bassists who could eat alive virtually all the best that rock has had to offer. You have to have a VAST knowledge of…

Another good example of that principle is the Nirvana boxed set. Halfway through one of the discs the original drummer changes to Dave Grohl and it’s like someone suddenly switched on the lights in a pitch black room.

Meh. To Quincy Jones, musicians are just part players, like trained monkeys with instruments. A good musician to him is one who does what you tell it to.

He probably still harbors resentment because the Beatles totally washed out Quincy’s early career by making competent-yet-by-the-numbers music like Jones was churning…

Quincy Jones, as a bandleader and producer... I can kind of see where he’s coming from. If he was looking for a band member or a session player, and any of the Beatles auditioned, I doubt any of them would get (or deserve) the job. If you need someone to play the same thing the same way night after night, or play…

Your opinion is wrong. Go listen to isolated vocal tracks on “Because,” or “If Me Needed Someone” or Paul’s vocals on “I’m Down,” and remember it was all recorded before any studio manipulation had been invented.

That quote is complete bullshit.

I was listening to Anthology 1 yesterday and there are a string of Pete Best tracks and man, they really make you appreciate Ringo a lot more (though I’ve always thought he was a great drummer). They didn’t sound like the Beatles until Ringo came along.

I’m a Ringo apologist, and you’re spot on. I can’t remember where, but I read someone saying that the remarkable thing about Ringo’s drumming is how often you can identify a Beatles song by the drum part alone (not in the sense of “oh, that’s The Beatles” but as in “oh, that’s Strawberry Fields” or “oh, that’s…

Yeah man, I mean, Quincy may have hung out in the studio for a session or two but he’s never “produced” a Beatles song. Ever. George Martin and, to a lesser extent, Geoff Emerick were the only producers to have ever produced the Beatles. George Martin’s role was HUGE. The Beatles don’t exist without George Martin,…

I encourage you to challenge your own view by listening to any of Paul’s isolated bass tracks (available on YouTube; Hey, Bulldog and Something are two straight masterpieces I’d recommend to start). If you’re interested in their singing ability, you can also hear their isolated harmonies (the b-side of Abbey Road has…

A lot of people also confuse being “good” with being technically proficient. Somebody like Steve Vai could play circles around Keith Richards, but Richards is a better guitarist to me because he writes good riffs and plays them in a way that makes me feel stuff. Aimless meedley meedlies may be harder to play, but…

Joey Strummer (rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of The Clash ) once said that “you’re only as good as your drummer”.

What about “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”? Oh, yeah, that was Eric Clapton. Continue dissing on the Beatles!