Replacing Ringo? The Story Behind Bernard Purdie and The Beatles

“There are four drummers on the Beatles records. Ringo’s not one of them.” - Bernard Purdie

Taken at face value, this is a bold claim, if not a crazy one.

But consider that it’s the same person who said, “I overdubbed the drumming on twenty-one tracks of the first three Beatle albums.” And then consider that the same man is one of the must influential and famous drummers in recorded music history.

In this video, I’ll detail Purdie’s claims, explain why he said what he did, and separate fact from fiction.

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CREDITS

Footage and Music:
The Beatles - “She Loves You (Live)”
The Beatles - “You Can’t Do That (Live)”
The Beatles - “I Want To Hold Your Hand (Live)”
The McCoys - “Hang On Sloopy”

Images:

Research sources:
Gig Magazine, “Bernard Purdie: The Real Fifth Beatle?,” Steve Weitzman, Feb. 1978 issue
The New Yorker, November 18, 1967 issue

Special thanks to John Lingan, the team at DRUM! magazine, and the friends of the late Diane Gershuny for your help.

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JMJ

[dunnettclassicdrums]

I know Bernard. Thank you for making what I consider to be the definitive answer.

[stevet]

I used to write songs but nobody noticed, so I left them in places that John and Paul would find them. I wrote all the songs on Revolver, for instance.

[Lwize]

Ringo was killed in the same car crash that killed Paul in 1966. Both were replaced. By me.

[beyer]

"You may say I'm a drummer, but I'm not the only one"
-John Lennon

[richro]

Hard to believe because Ringo played the parts live just like on the records, same exact style

[SecretAgentPaul]

Please show some respect to Purdie. After all, he was the first man on the Moon.

[gordonwaite]

Good summary. One thing I would add: take a look at the live videos of Ringo from American tours. He's a monster on the drums, and pretty much plays the songs note for note as they are heard on the records. Whether or not you consider him a good drummer, he's got a definite style of his own. It's pretty infuriating to hear Purdy and others try to take credit his considerable output, not to mention the wide ranging influence he had on an entire generation of drummers (including myself).

[radioking]

I usually don't comment on issues like this but I was playing a gig at Hyde park in London. Paul McCartney was also on that event. I asked Paul if he could answer a question. He was very gracious and said "of course" I said did Bernard Purdie play on any Beatles tracks? He said absolutely not. He went on to say he was at every session the Beatles did and would know if there were another drummer on any of the tracks. I think that sums it up. I am amazed this has went this far.

[JonathonNeville]

Short answer: Bernard overdubbed Pete Best (The Beatles' first drummer), not Ringo, in one session with no hits. Also note: Ringo live = Ringo on record.

[rhythmfield]

I’ve met Bernard and I love him, he’s one of the greatest drummers ever. I’m a pro drummer and I know what’s good. But I’ve listened to some of the bootlegs illegally released from multiple Abbey Road Beatles sessions and this needs to be clear to all the world: Ringo played on all Beatles material during their major period of fame, with some additional drumming by Mr. Paul McCartney. Ringo is a superb drummer, with a very deep pocket and a killer backbeat with a flavor that’s completely unique. Fantastic drummers like Steve Jordan have confirmed this over and over. Bernard is a character with a vibrant imagination and has maybe stretched the story to the point where he believes his own BS. I do definitely believe he may have added drums to the early Moptops Atco reissues. RIP “21 Beatles songs played by Pretty Purdie and not Ringo.” Now it’s time to say goodnight.

[dirtbrainrecordings]

When Lennon went solo he could have picked any drummer in the world to work with. There was no manager telling him what to do or who had the right look. He picked Ringo to play on his great Plastic Ono album and Ringo played really well on it. Why would he have done that if there was anything second rate about Ringo's musicianship? Ringo had a great musical mind and is often underrated because he supported the song rather than trying to take over the song. The Beatles are the greatest band ever, you don't achieve that by carrying 2nd rate musicians.

[RevolverAnthology]

I wrote and sang on all the Beatles songs

[nicholastotoro]

*I* am really the walrus. It’s about time I got credit.

Just saying.

[AlepsCajigal]

“There are four musicians on the Beatles records. Bernard’s not one of them.” - Me

[hksigman]

The actual story is that Ringo overdubbed all of the songs that Purdie played on for other artists.

[hitmanbluesband]

Bernard was the drummer on my first album, "Blooztown". I had the pleasure of playing with him a few times, some of which I was on bass (I play guitar and bass). After one gig, the bandleader said to me "Hey, have you been practicing? You sounded great!" I pointed at Purdie. "It was him", I said. "HE makes any bassist sound better..."

[johnnhoj]

When Purdie first made his claim, recorded evidence from Beatles recording sessions, outside of the officially released tracks, available to the general public was almost zero. Since then however tapes from the original recording sessions, only available for many years on obscure bootlegs, are now all over the internet - not least on this site.
There are hundreds of unused takes and false starts that anyone can hear from the earliest Parlophone recordings - all consistent with leading up to the released finished tracks and all consistent with them being played by the usually credited drummer (almost all Ringo of course).
For anyone to still claim that Purdie overdubbed on 21 Beatles tracks, including some of the most famous, would have to convince us that each and every one of those hundreds of hours of session tapes involving Ringo was laboriously doctored by the early 1970s on analogue equipment solely to keep them consistent with the released tracks (and conceal Ringo's supposedly fatally inadequate drumming throughout 7 years!).
Why? Just in case they were leaked as obscure bootlegs that hardly anyone would hear?
Insanity.

[Sadministrator]

It was also Bernard Purdie, not Ringo Starr, who played the lead in the film 'Caveman'.

[robcostigan]

The only evidence is what Purdie said?? Great investigative skills.

[IFHorus]

Purdie is right. He did play on all of these Beatles songs he claims. But it was decided that Purdie's contributions, great as they were, were not enough, so I WAS CALLED IN TO REPLACE PURDIE. I also played on many tracks attributed to Purdie and never got the credit.
I was flown to England many times to play drums that ended up on Zeppelin albums, that's me on Fool in the Rain, Heartbreaker, and the entire Physical Graffiti album. All studio performances by the Who, yours truly, except for the track ''Relax'', because I was too busy recording the drums for Cream, Pink Floyd, Beatles, and Pretty Things at the time. I also covered for Hal Blaine. I think I did the drums on the Paranoid lp but I honestly don't remember. Sabbath Vol IV and everything after that, I did play on for sure. I played on every Rush album except the first one which is in fact John Rutsey. I was the original ''drum machine'' until they invented an actual machine that could replicate my playing. Mick Fleetwood doesn't really exist. He is actually me on stilts appearing much taller than I really am, I wore a fake beard/wig, and I played every Mac live show and studio session.