The Beatles A-Side Track Ringo Starr “Never Got Over,” Has Not-So-Secretly Hated Ever Since
The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has always seemed one of the more affable members of the Fab Four, swinging his head back and forth with a lopsided grin as he kept a steady rhythm for his bandmates. But not even the amiable Starr could hide his disdain for some of his least favorite songs the band ever recorded, and that dislike wasn’t lost on his bandmates, either.
Paul McCartney later said he believed Starr never “got over” the sting of hearing the Beatles track he always not-so-secretly hated. And while there seemed to be no grave animosity between bandmates (regarding this track, in particular, anyway), there certainly seems to be truth to McCartney’s claim.
Before the Beatles made their Ed Sullivan Show debut and sparked a tidal wave of Beatlemania across the globe, the future Fab Four were still cutting their teeth at EMI Studios under the strong influence of producer George Martin. The band was preparing to release their first singles, which would be an arduous task in and of itself. But considering the band had just recently lost drummer Pete Best, they were in an even greater flux. Martin, ever the businessman, hired a session drummer to fill in for Best.
There was only one problem: the Beatles had already found another drummer, Ringo Starr. Starr got on well with the rest of the band and provided a steady beat for the three guitarists up front, but Martin wasn’t sold. While recording what would become the Beatles’ debut single, “Love Me Do,” Martin told the band he wanted to cut the record without Starr. As Starr recalled in Anthology, “George Martin used Andy White, the ‘professional,’ when we went…to record “Love Me Do.” The guy was previously booked anyway because of Pete Best.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Melanie Davis
