Ringo Starr ( b23 )

In an often-repeated story, Lennon, asked if Starr was the best drummer in the world, quipped that he "wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles". According to historian Mark Lewisohn, the line actually originates from a comedian three years after Lennon's death. In September 1980, Lennon told Rolling Stone:

Ringo was a star in his own right in Liverpool before we even met. Ringo was a professional drummer who sang and performed and was in one of the top groups in Britain, but especially in Liverpool. So Ringo's talent would have come out one way or the other ... whatever that spark is in Ringo, we all know it but can't put our finger on it. Whether it's acting, drumming, or singing, I don't know. There's something in him that is projectable and he would have surfaced as an individual ... Ringo is a damn good drummer.

In his book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Lewisohn confirmed that Starr was both proficient and remarkably reliable and consistent. According to Lewisohn, there were fewer than a dozen occasions in the Beatles' eight-year recording career where session breakdowns were caused by Starr making a mistake, while the vast majority of takes were stopped owing to mistakes by the other three Beatles. Starr is considered to have influenced various modern drumming techniques, such as the matched grip, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal rings, as well as placing the drums on high risers for visibility as part of the band. According to Ken Micallef and Donnie Marshall, co-authors of Classic Rock Drummers: "Ringo's fat tom sounds and delicate cymbal work were imitated by thousands of drummers."

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