In August of 1962, Ringo Starr joined The Beatles, replacing the group’s previous drummer, Pete Best. The group that was soon to revolutionize the music world was yet to make its first recording. This event occurred on September 11 of that same year. Ringo, however, was not allowed to play drums on the first two singles. He described the situation in an interview that appeared in the December 1981/January 1982 issue of this magazine. “I’m not sure about this, but one of the reasons they also asked Pete to leave was George Martin, the producer, didn’t like Pete’s drumming. So then, when I went down to play, he didn’t like me either, so he called a drummer named Andy White, a professional session man, to play the session . . . .There were two versions [of ‘Love Me Do’]. I’m on the album and he’s on the single. You can’t […]

June 1986 Issue