Every couple of months, this place turns into the Pearl Drum Forum. It's really disconcerting at times. I have to check the URL to convince myself the browser wasn't hijacked and rerouted.

Abbey Road and Let It Be were my bibles as a young drummer starting out. I went on to study music on many levels and my reference points changed to drummers like Gadd and Colaiuta. In recent years I have found just as much joy in listening to all of Ringo's work as I have any drummer. His idiosyncratic but always musical interpretation of any track he graced stands up well, all these years later. Ringo made the Beatles a great band. I admire his easygoing nature and always calm demeanour and often attempt to channel some of it in my dealings with other band members. "What would Ringo do?" Encourage; support; keep great time - have a laugh. A great musician. Peace & Love indeed.

Abbey Road and Let It Be were my bibles as a young drummer starting out. I went on to study music on many levels and my reference points changed to drummers like Gadd and Colaiuta. In recent years I have found just as much joy in listening to all of Ringo's work as I have any drummer. His idiosyncratic but always musical interpretation of any track he graced stands up well, all these years later. Ringo made the Beatles a great band. I admire his easygoing nature and always calm demeanour and often attempt to channel some of it in my dealings with other band members. "What would Ringo do?" Encourage; support; keep great time - have a laugh. A great musician. Peace & Love indeed.

I have no idea why Kook still wants to trash arguably the most influential drummer In history? Just start asking random people who "Ringo" is and you will get more correct answers across generations than any other single named drummer. "Animal" would probably be second as a matter of fact. It never has mattered who was better. Who cares? It's all subjective anyway. To flatly dismiss Ringo is, however, ridiculous. By the way, "Dennis" would possibly get a response including the term "menace" and "Hal" would get you a movie reference.By the way, Drummer 808, I think that kit looks great and I like the color for what it is.

...and by the way, I know nothing of this Shallow Hal of which you speak. Sorry, I was indeed speaking of the HAL that was the menacing computer in 2001 a Space Oddysey.

Raise your hand if one of your major inspirations for playing the drums was Hal Blaine.....Raise your hand if one of your major inspirations for playing the drums was Ringo Starr.....

Barry, you are correct in all your assertions. Kook, you are by far my favorite misanthrope. Your posts make my day and I am not saying that sarcastically. I apologize if you though I was attempting to poke fun at either Dennis Wilson or Hal Blaine. I think this may be the third time I have said this in some form or fashion on this forum, but to simply demonstrate why Ringo is so important to the drumming community in particular and popular culture in general I suggest the following response from the forum:Raise your hand if one of your major inspirations for playing the drums was Hal Blaine.....Raise your hand if one of your major inspirations for playing the drums was Dennis Wilson.....Raise your hand if one of your major inspirations for playing the drums was Ringo Starr.....I recall reading article after article in Modern Drummer back in the 70's and 80's where guys said they started playing after seeing the Beatles and Ringo on Ed Sullivan or some version thereof. At that point in time I, like you, said "what was the big deal with Ringo?" Allowing a little time to pass and looking at a much bigger picture I now see exactly what the deal was/is with Ringo and the Beatles. Talent, songwriting ability, hard work, good looks, a bit of machismo, personal chemistry, humor, great marketing before there was such a thing, a generation still somewhat reeling from a catastrophic world war and looking for a voice that was their own and not that of their parents, a genius pairing with a great producer, the advent of TV, etc. created a perfect storm and the Beatles were the absolute eye of it. Their lasting impact on culture is undeniable and unarguable whether you like them, hate them or could care less. I think the folks at Ludwig are quite happy to have been involved with him as a matter of fact. I am sure they sold a lot more kits due to their involvement with Ringo than they did with Buddy Rich. I don't think anyone is saying that Ringo is better than Buddy by the way.... It doesn't matter how musically gifted he is, what matters, in the context of this conversation, is the impact he and the Beatles had on our culture. No one cares how fast he can play a double paradiddle, how well he has developed his independence, how fluent he is while playing in odd time signatures or anything else along those lines. Were the Beatles the most influential band in history? Arguable yes. Will they ever be equalled? Almost definitely not as the market place has changed too drastically to ever allow that level of superstardom. That is why Ringo is important.