Ringo Explains Why He Was The Shy One

The following article appeared in New Musical Express on September 18, 1964, page 4

He used to be the Beatle in the background. Was never asked questions, never seemed to have anything to say.
But now he's a very special Beatle. Outside the hotels the fans have chanted "We want Ringo", "We love Ringo", and waved "Ringo for President" banners. So oe night after a show in Indianapolis I sat up to talk to him about it - writes Chris Hutchins.
"No, I was never really shy," he told me, "but you've got to remember that I joined the group only a month before 'Love Me Do' was made. John, George and Paul were very close-they'd been together a long time, pioneered the whole thing. And then 'bingo'-suddenly there's Ringo. In no time at all we made the record, the disc started to move and we were being interviewed.
"How could I answer a lot of probing questions about a group that I'd only just joined? So I kept my mouth shut.
"John got married just after I replaced Pete Best but nobody told me. I found out when we went to see an accountant about our tax and John started claiming for a dependent. The other two knew. He wanted it kept secret at that time and I still wasn't on the inner circle."
Ringo suffered his greatest moment of despair about three weeks after "Love Me Do" was recorded. That first session had been nerve-racking enough-"Don't crack up now," the other Beatles had had to keep telling him. He was nervous and even the drum sticks felt unfamiliar in his hands.
They were summoned back to London by recording manager George Martin, who said he wanted to make the record again before issuing it.
"I walked into the studio and saw a drum set that wasn't mine and sitting behind it a drummer that definitely wasn't this baby," Ringo told me.
"George Martin said he wanted me to play tambourine. You can imagine how I felt. He obviously thought the first record wasn't good enough because of my drumming."
Fortunately for Ringo, EMI decided to issue a single the version on which he drummed, although the track with the session drummer was used on the first album, but if he was still in any doubt about being a full Beatle, then America must have put that right. As Brian Epstein once said: "America discovered Ringo!"

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