Posted on 03/22/2026 10:02:44 AM PDT by LS
https://larrys.substack.com/p/a-short-musical-bio
Sometime in the late 1970s I abruptly became a history professor. Prior to that, I was a rocker who was "almost famous." Here is a little of my drumming bio, experiences, and influences.
Thanks!
L
I was doing some pretty big shows up until I was about 22 as a rock bassist, had to give it up to raise my boy as a single parent. After he was grown I got back into it and have played semi-pro club scene for years now, all paid gigs but still kept my day jobs as a tool and die/prototype machinist.
I was on track to become a pro before I had to quit and some of my bandmates made it to MTV videos in the 80s. I won’t state the band’s name because I still want to remain anonymous. I can only dream now about what might have been, however, My son made it to being a great and very successful man so I have no regrets. He’s made me very proud. Well worth giving up the rock n roll life that might have been.
Next thing I know, their saxophone player starts rapping at me in German. For the next hour or so, Rick Keller regaled me with stories of him working/performing in West & East Germany during the same time I was stationed there. He's collaborated several times with Bill Bruford, which was of interest to me as I was a big Yes fan.
I never went to East Germany, but I had a couple of "war stories" that seemed to interest him. Good memories.
bttt
….if it IS Ringo…..
“There are 4 drummers on the Beatles’ music. Ringo’s not one of them.”
In 2004, legendary drummer Bernard Purdie made a claim that shocked the music industry:
That's a remarkable song. Hook just burrows in. Vocals/harmonies are on point, tasteful guitar, period-style Moog (or Arp?) swoop at the end of the chorus works (reminds me of what Andy Scott used to do for The Sweet). Your drums are money; Ringo is the GOAT.
And it has an actual ending, the most elusive and necessary conclusion in pop music. There is a top-40 circa-1971 Badfinger pop song not too deeply buried in there.
"Having no permanent drummer, Paul McCartney looked for someone to fill the Hamburg position. Best had been seen playing in the Casbah with his own group, the Black Jacks, and it was observed that he played the bass drum on all four beats in the bar, which pushed the rhythm"
What a wonderful bio to read. So good of you to post this.
Good read. Thanks for posting.
Poor Ringo...he will likely be the last Beatle left alive, and like Buzz Aldrin who contends with people who say the moon landings were faked, Ringo will have to deal with these things.
He always seemed about the most normal and well adjusted of all of them. Well-I guess we all have our crosses to bear in some way.
Thanks. Pretty much what Cashbox, Record World, and Billboard said.
We did something unique at the time: we put that on the A side, and a 5 minute “Part Time Lover,” not as much a favorite of mine, on the B side to (at the time) get both AM and FM play.
When we drove into LA to play a gig, our song came over K-100 Radio! It was a rush, and one of the most memorable moments of my life. Too bad we never found a label, but then our guitarist who really helped make that sound quit. So wasn’t meant to be.
We replaced him with a fellow who was an all-around musical savant-—could play guitar, keyboards, sax, bass. He was on the short-lived “Howard Cosell Show” playing bass for the Cajun fiddler Doug (”Louisiana Man”) Kershaw. But as good as he was, he just didn’t have that same musical energy our original guitarist did.
Silly. We have videos of him in the recording sessions with George Martin. Not one of the Beatles, nor George Martin, nor their sound engineer who wrote a book, ever said anything like that.
One time, Ringo was refusing to play and Paul played on one song.
No. Shakey tape.
My favorite Ringoism, was when they asked him if he was a Mod or a Rocker, and he answered, “I’m a Mocker”
You had to appreciate Ringo. He was the least of them, but he was generally himself...not what someone wanted him to be.
I think all that other stuff that the other three had ate their brains in some way, to varying degrees.
Thank you! Two of our other recordings were available, but I did not put them on the “Rockin’ the Wall Soundtrack,” so no one can hear them. But my most awesome drum sound was a song called “Saturday Night in Jamaica,” a kind of Led Zep meets reggae tune. Unfortunately, they are now in my Ipod with my apple music, which I cannot share. The only other format I have is reel to reel or cassette (my only copy).
I also have a very good recording of a copy band playing “Lucky in the Morning” by Bloodrock and “Celebrate” by Rare Earth where, at the end, we overlaid Three Dog Night’s “celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music” vocals. Man, if you thought playing Rare Earth’s lick was easy, try singing that Three Dog Night line while playing it!
It did get me in touch with Rare Earth’s Peter Rivera, whom I asked to do a song on the “Rockin’ the Wall” soundtrack too. He did! Free! I wouldn’t call it a great song, but it was perfect for the subject. Also, I paid Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge to put togther a band to do four songs for the album, two originals from his group “Boomerang” that he wrote new lyrics and a slightly new melody to, and covers of “Ball of Confusion” by the Temptations (really good!) and “People Got to be Free” by the Rascals. Oh, yeah, I got to interview Felix Cavaliere, too!
Excellent. Have you ever been fired by your own band for being too loud? :)
So, this will make you sick, I know, but I LOVE the strat sound on “Self Control” by Laura Branigan. Talk about a perfect lick.
I almost never even used weed, didn’t like it. Didn’t drink at all. One time I was, yes, actually coerced into doing a line because our singer/manager said that if I turned it down the A&R guy wouldn’t give us a contract. He didn’t anyway, and I never did it again.
BTW, the A&R guy was with Olivia Newton-John’s label, and she was really big then. He had a pillow with her face on it and the line, “Have You Ever Been Mellow.” That struck me as so different-—”have you ever been pillow?”
Amazingly, Todd Sucherman can play a LOT, but it fits. Every single cymbal crash, every fill is perfect, but he’s not a “hole” guy.
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