There are not a whole lot of people who would talk s*** to The Beatles. Certainly not to their faces. But Quincy Jones wasn’t just a regular “people,” which is why he once had a SAVAGE response to Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
Back in 2018, Jones sat down with New York Magazine for an interview in support of the Netflix documentary Quincy. During the conversation, he took some wild verbal jabs at the Beatles, even calling them “the worst musicians in the world.”
“They were the worst musicians in the world,” he very candidly told interviewer David Marchese. “They were no-playing motherf***ers. Paul [McCartney] was the worst bass player I ever heard.” He then added, “And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.”
Quincy Jones worked on Ringo Starr’s 1970 debut album, ‘Sentimental Journey’
Why did Jones have such a strong, negative impression of Ringo as a musician? It all goes back to when the iconic producer worked with Starr on his debut solo album, Sentimental Journey (1970). Jones worked on the arrangement of the song “Love Is a Many Splendoured Thing”.
Reflecting on being in the studio with Ringo, Jones recalled, “Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said: ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’”
While Starr was out, Jones brought in English jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell to do the drum parts that Starr was struggling with. “Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up,” Jones recalled.
Ringo Starr couldn’t Believe He Sounded So Good, and Jones had a vicious retort
What happened when Starr came back? Well, Jones did not sugarcoat the situation for him, if that’s what you were thinking. “Ringo comes back and says: ‘George [Martin], can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ I said: ‘Yeah, motherf***er, because it ain’t you.’”
Jones then concluded his story, “Great guy, though.”
The post ‘Because It Ain’t You’: Quincy Jones’ Savage Response to The Beatles’ Ringo Starr in the Studio appeared first on VICE.
