Ringo with Double Bass set up!

[Speedy Keen]

A friend sent me this. It came from a Beatle forum. I had not seen it previously.

 

[equipmentdork]

Never seen it before either. Since he has his Hollywood kit here, if its not a photoshop, it would make sense to have one of the BOP drums lying around for such an experiment.



Dan

 

[BrianOwens]

Ringo probably wanted a more full BD sound during a session. Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour LPs have lots of percussion/drum over dubbed tracks. Easy to hear when you listen to; "A Day In The Life" and "Strawberry Fields".

 

[K.O.]

Interesting.
The question would be whether he actually used such a setup to record anything or maybe it was a ten minute studio experiment during which this photo was snapped.

There are some isolated Beatle drum tracks that some think have double bass on them but to my ear sound like bass drum and floor tom. There are also in studio photos of Ringo playing the set with Paul doubling up on the floor tom alongside him that seem to coincide with the tracks in question..

If Ringo did give double bass a try, and possibly even recorded some, it seems obvious that he didn't embrace it in any serious way going forward.

 

[Osahead2]

Ask Ringo he's still alive.

 

[lcondo123]

That stache and hair length look like 1969 to me. This must've been recording for Abbey Road, as I've seen pics on Ringo during the Abbey Road sessions looking very similar to that.

 

[JDA]

what drummer has not..at sometime..put up a second bass drum..
No one.. I can imagine.
(is immune totally to experimentation)

 

[shilohjim]

I've seen a picture taken at Abbey Road during the recording of the Plastic Ono Band album where there are two bass drums set up. Not that I can hear it anywhere on that album. Possibly at the very tail end of "I Found Out", but that's about it.

 

[shilohjim]

BTW-the picture in the initial post is in the updated version of Andy Babiuk's Beatle Gear book. Lots of other cool pictures that were omitted from the original version. One of my favorites is John playing a black strat with a black headstock during the Revolver sessions.

 

[Olderschool]

Ask Ringo he's still alive.

Yeah....I have echoed that sentiment exactly when all of these Ringo questions and discoveries come up. I have been told that he probably doesn't remember and we care more about this stuff then he ever did.

 

[JDA]

....upside down what make cymbal.
Those are Paul's drum's right..
or what are they-look at the lug - I can't see)

 

[Ludzil]

Looks like a BB muffler handle on the rack tom. The hat's look like Ringo's. The drums look like they would be an all black finish, but hard to tell as well as the type of lug on the snare. Could be Ringo's OBP drums as Paul used them when recording his first solo album (mixture of his first and second downbeat kits)

 

[yetanotherdrummer]

I remember reading an interview in a music magazine with Ringo a long time ago (like late 60's or early 70's) and he discussed trying different set-ups in the studio, with everything from multiple tom sets to double bass. He even described a custom order set with a 16" snare drum and a 26" or 28" bass drum that when he received it he discovered it was too big to realistically play, so he just used it for overdubs, etc.

I think the interview was in a Hit Parader magazine, but I am not sure about that. He also talked about his tunings and the tea towels, etc.

 

[vintagedrummersweden]

I remember reading an interview in a music magazine with Ringo a long time ago (like late 60's or early 70's) and he discussed trying different set-ups in the studio, with everything from multiple tom sets to double bass. He even described a custom order set with a 16" snare drum and a 26" or 28" bass drum that when he received it he discovered it was too big to realistically play, so he just used it for overdubs, etc.

I think the interview was in a Hit Parader magazine, but I am not sure about that. He also talked about his tunings and the tea towels, etc.

I think that's the big silver sparkle kit from Magical Mystery Tour, as described in The Beatles Gear.

 

[K.O.]

I remember reading an interview in a music magazine with Ringo a long time ago (like late 60's or early 70's) and he discussed trying different set-ups in the studio, with everything from multiple tom sets to double bass. He even described a custom order set with a 16" snare drum and a 26" or 28" bass drum that when he received it he discovered it was too big to realistically play, so he just used it for overdubs, etc.

I think the interview was in a Hit Parader magazine, but I am not sure about that. He also talked about his tunings and the tea towels, etc.

I think that's the big silver sparkle kit from Magical Mystery Tour, as described in The Beatles Gear.

It is, that set was sold a couple of years ago in the same auction as Ringo's #1 OBP set. I think the point of that set was they wanted a really large set and a really small set to use in the video, intercutting between the two (probably Paul's idea) so they were really created more as a "film prop" than as an attempt at a new type of drum sound. But Ringo has stated that he tried them out in the studio and they didn't really work for him. Still he did retain them for all these years.

 

[Troyh]

To the best of my knowledge, that's later '68'. There's an interview floating around where he mentions this very session. IIRC, he didn't like it very much or had trouble and quickly abandoned the idea.
Great photo!
It might have been for the 'Sour Milk Sea' session, w/George, Paul, Klaus, Clapton, and Lomax.

 

[BrianOwens]

Ask Ringo he's still alive.

Ringo no longer answers fan mail which is the only way most people could ever contact him.

 

[CSR]

I would contact Ringo expert Gary Astridge through Rebeats, who run the Chicago Drum Show. Gary has done a number of presentations on Ringo's gear and has been his equipment conservator for some time now.

 

[Troyh]

Gary's a member here....calling Gary!

 

[David Hunter]

I sent Gary an email when I discovered the photo a couple of years ago. He was already aware of it. I think he mentioned it came from The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn (though I could be wrong about the book - I can no longer find the email exchange).