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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.
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Ringo was messed up on alcohol in the 1970s, hanging out with Keith Moon.
My Mitchell story: I saw Hendrix 2x, first time at Sun Devil Gym, maybe 2000 people there. He had just started his post-Monkees tour.
Anyway, first Eire Apparent came out. Didn’t remember anything about them.
But the next act before Hendrix was a Scandinavian group called “Soft Machine”: keyboard, bass, drums. The drummer only had ONE cymbal other than the high hat, but had double basses. He was good, but then the power to the whole Sun Devil Gym went out . . . and rather than stop, he just played a drum solo! Pretty soon power came up, lasted a while, then I guess they blew circuits again and he did another solo. Was a great drummer. Mitch came out and just filled up the whole band. I always thought Hendrix was a fool to get rid of him. But Noel Redding had a big head and wanted to do his own stuff, and I guess Mitch was caught in the “crosstown traffic.”
Well, he was a drummer, after all.
I’ve still got my 70 Les Paul and Tele. I sold my tenor sax. Taught financial accounting for 35 years.
Never liked Moon at all. Way too overplayed, but really, it seemed, without purpose. I mean, Todd Sucherman plays a LOT, but every note fits. I thought Moon just played to be as fast as he could, sorta like the Latin guy I mentioned.
Never loved Bonham, though certainly I loved his SOUND (cannons) and his ability to play with Zep. But even he admitted he got all his tricks from Carmine, including his fast bass drum foot.
Those two decades were more to music than anything since the Bach-Beethoven-Chopin era.
Paul played drums on Back In the U.S.S.R., Dear Prudence, Martha My Dear, and The Ballad of John and Yoko.
https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/how-many-beatles-songs-did-paul-mccartney-play-drums-on.html/
That’s how you got Paul playing drums on both “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “Dear Prudence.” Yet these weren’t the only examples of Paul playing Ringo’s instrument on Beatles records. There are at least two other occasions.
Paul also played drums on ‘Martha My Dear’ and ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko.’
All in my bio, “The Rhythm of History” on Amazon. Our singer’s view on making it was to associate with successful people, and he constantly arranged for us to meet everybody. We spent a half hour in an LA suburb talking with BETTY WHITE as she watered her lawn. She was so nice. I knocked over the Byrds’ Jim McGuinn at the Record Plant when he came out of a doorway. Just missed meeting Clapton-—we were told he was recording on Pacific Coast Highway and drove up to the motel they were using as a studio. No cars, but we went inside and there were all the instruments, amps still on, black Les Paul with a pick in it, “EC.” But they had gone out and we had to get back to play, so I missed him. I did get a totally wasted Greg Allman a Coke out of the machine when he was too messed up to even put the quarter in.
Fantastic music. There were bands no one heard of (who disappeared quickly) who nevertheless were awesome in different ways, such as “Moby Grape,” “Bloodrock,” and “The Tubes.”
(there’s another GREAT drummer, Prairie Prince.
Yeah, those were pretty much really late Beatles songs when the group was hardly a group. I like “Dear Prudence,” but it’s interesting, I never cared for those other three songs. Now I know why.
I think if you, as did I, interviewed dozens of 60s/70s good drummers, they ALL cite Ringo as one of the best of all time. You can see some of whom I talked to in my bio of Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge called “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” or my chapter in “Seven Events that Made America.”
Ringo is good. Watching him in the Get Back doucmentary taught me that. He knew what to do on the drums while others were coming up with songs and figuring out the chords on guitar and song lyrics. He watched them. There were no notes or sheet to look at. He knew what to play and didn’t have to be told.
Here's one song that I know for a fact that Paul played the drums on when Ringo was away and it's one of my favorite Beatles songs.
Yes! It was a blast to have that music as the soundtrack to our lives!
Amazing Larry,
I remember the First LP I bought was
‘Who’s Next’ but couldn’t tell the difference between Lead and Bass Guitar. I could set up a Kegger with live Band and Did a Bouncer job on a drunk at the end.
I still get the Occasional FlashBack when I Hear ‘In a godda da Veda’ but never rode a Real Harley!
The Good Lord has been there all along and
Life’s been good,
Thanks for the FlashBack !
Ah soft machine, they opened for the 1968 hendrix concert i saw as well. Early soft machine was nowhere as good as the later bruford and holdsworth version. I joined the chants for hendrix while SM was playing and it ended with the singer down on his knees in some dramatic finale.
Hendrix needed two roadies behind his marshalls to hold them up from hendrix’ frontal assault. Incredible concert. The whole thing was a mitch mitchell drum solo sort of with the whole band playing if that makes any sense.
They dont make concerts like that any more. Thanks for resurrecting the memories.
Close.
I have them on Spotify.
I do love a good lick!
Branigan died way too young :-/
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