<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Near the one year anniversary of getting to see Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band in Eugene, Oregon for the first show of their 2023 summer tour, it occurred to me that some of you probably don\u2019t have enough Ringo memorabilia in your lives.\u00a0 Disclaimer:\u00a0 I am not promoting or suggesting you patronize the concern that is marketing this product.\u00a0 The limited edition run was announced in November of 2023 so they may not be available at the $80 per volume price anyway.\u00a0 There were also exclusive limited editions signed by Ringo ($500) and specially designed slip case covered versions featuring a video of Ringo (also signed) ($750).\u00a0 Of course, if the \u2018limited\u2019 edition part has run its course, then some of them will be appearing on the nearest internet selling app for highly inflated prices.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What on earth am I talking about?\u00a0 The book <\/span>Beats and Threads – <\/span><\/i>a 312 page book originally available for purchase from the company that produced them.\u00a0 According to the announcement, \u201cAll proceeds of the book sales will benefit The Lotus Foundation whose mission funds supports, participates in, and promotes charitable projects aimed at advancing social welfare in diverse areas including, but not limited to, substance abuse, cerebral palsy, brain tumors, cancer, battered women and their children, homelessness, and animals in need.\u201d\u00a0 Even for an organization that touts itself as, \u201cthe industry\u2019s leading rock \u2018n\u2019 roll memorabilia auction house,\u201d that seems to be a lofty set of goals.\u00a0 The goals seem less surprising, however, when we note The Lotus Foundation was started by Ringo and his wife Barbara Bach after they overcame their own alcohol addiction problems.\u00a0 There is more to Ringo than just his annual \u2018Peace and Love\u2019 birthday celebration.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you have a yen (and the \u2018yen\u2019) to purchase one of these sets, more power to you.\u00a0 The book\u00a0 is a waltz through Ringo\u2019s 70 year career featuring, \u201cHis legendary sonic and sartorial style [with] 300 shimmering images capturing iconic and many never-before-seen intimate moments of Ringo\u2019s illustrious life and career, along with the drum icon\u2019s warm memories told in his own words.\u201d\u00a0 Long story short, it is a volume dedicated to Ringo Starr\u2019s drum kits and fashion history during his time as a Beatle.\u00a0 I am sure it would be an interesting coffee table book to flip through, but what caught my eye six months after the release announcement was a posting I found from <\/span>The Charlotte Observer <\/span><\/i>written by Adam Bell.\u00a0 Bell sat down with drummer \/ historian Gary Astridge to find out more about the whole project (sans Ringo who was obviously busy elsewhere).\u00a0 Astridge has done his homework and knows a lot of stuff about Ringo.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Like a lot of wannabe rock stars, Gary Astridge first heard the Beatles on the famous <\/span>Ed Sullivan Show<\/span><\/i> broadcast on February 9, 1964.\u00a0 The audience of 73 million nationwide watching this historic CBS broadcast included the ten year old me (in Marquette, MI) and seven year old Astridge (who lived in Buffalo, NY at the time).\u00a0 I was already a half year into my training to become a drummer in the school band and seeing Ringo (and those other guys) broadened my focus to include perhaps playing drums in a combo someday.\u00a0 I was already a little, shall we say, \u2018drum crazy\u2019 at the time, and The Beatles appearing on TV threw a little more fuel on the fire.\u00a0 Astridge recalled, \u201cIt changed me.\u00a0 He was my guy.\u00a0 That moment in time made me a Beatles fan and I wanted to be a drummer.\u201d I may have been drum crazy, but for Gary Astridge, drums (and Ringo\u2019s drums) became even more of an obsession.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I believe Aldridge and I heard the screaming that accompanied The Beatles performance, but perched on a four foot high circular platform slightly larger than his drum kit\u2019s footprint, Ringo was hard to miss.\u00a0 Three things stood out to me:\u00a0 1) Ringo was seated on a drum throne that elevated him above his kit which made him kind of lean into it for some of his fills, 2) The oyster pearl finish was very distinctive, even in black and white, and 3) the Ludwig logo was clearly visible on the bass drum – just above what is now known as the \u2018drop \u2018T\u2019 version of The Beatles logo.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t a \u2018Ludwig drummer\u2019 yet and this was my first contact with the company.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the time, Ludwig drums were manufactured in Chicago, Illinois by the William F. Ludwig company.\u00a0 There is an anecdotal story that says Ringo wanted to show everyone he was doing well enough that he could afford \u2018American\u2019 drums.\u00a0 Many upcoming rock drummers in England played the Premier brand.\u00a0 As the story goes, Ringo put the Ludwig logo on his bass drum to make the point more obvious.\u00a0 After appearing on national TV, William F. supposedly avoided meeting The Beatle in person for fear that he would want something in return for the free advertising.\u00a0 I am not so sure of this old story after hearing Adridge\u2019s take on Ringo and his 70 year love affair with Ludwig drums.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The national exposure certainly did spark wider interest in Ludwig drums.\u00a0 Before February 1964, their factory ran a typical five day \/ eight hour per day production schedule.\u00a0 Following the <\/span>Ed Sullivan <\/span><\/i>broadcast, demand surged enough to make them expand to a six-day \/ 24 hour per day schedule.\u00a0 Only eight months after their appearance on <\/span>Sullivan,<\/span><\/i> Ludwig\u2019s leaders met The Beatles before a September 5, 1964 gig in Chicago.\u00a0 In appreciation for what he had done for them, they presented Ringo with a gold-plated Super Sensitive snare drum.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t sound like Ludwig was trying to duck meeting Ringo in person.\u00a0 Even though I have reported the \u2018Ludwig avoids Ringo\u2019 story myself in the past, I am now inclined to believe it is another one of those rock \u2018n\u2019 roll urban legends.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When asked about this topic during an interview with the Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Museum in 2015, Ringo said it all started when they walked by a music store in London:\u00a0 \u201cI was playing Cameo drums at the time, and in the window I saw this kit.\u00a0 I loved anything American, and they had the black oyster finish and I said, \u2018It’s American, I love that.\u00a0 I want to buy those\u2019 which Brian (Epstein) arranged. \u00a0 The clerk at the store went to peel the Ludwig logo off the bass drum and I said \u2018No, you gotta leave that on – it’s American,\u2019 and that is how it became famous (ed. note – drum companies continue to display their names on bass drum heads).\u00a0 And that is how it started – it was American, they sounded great, and I play them to this day.\u00a0 I am the best advertisement Ludwig ever had and a lot of people bought the drums because I played them\u2026and the rest is history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ludwig has always used high profile drummers to help sell their drums.\u00a0 Vanilla Fudge stickman Carmine Appice was an early endorser.\u00a0 Appice was playing a beautiful maple finish double bass Ludwig kit when I saw the Fudge play at Northern Michigan University in the late 1960s.\u00a0 Led Zeppelin opened for Vanilla Fudge when the Brits first came to North America. \u00a0 Carmine has taken credit for introducing drummer John Bonham to the Ludwig brand, which LZ\u2019s monster skin pounder used throughout his career.\u00a0 Bonham was certainly a big selling point for the many, many Ludwig Vistalite (drums with a see through acrylic shell) kits sold.\u00a0 For a time, they would sell out as fast as they could be produced.\u00a0 Today, the Vistalite Bonham kit sells for more than $4,000 (and this is the cost for just the drums, not the stands, hardware or cymbals).\u00a0 By the time I had seen Appice perform with Vanilla Fudge, I was already the proud owner of a silver sparkle Ludwig Super Classic drum set, commonly called \u2018the Ringo set\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0According to Astridge, Ringo played five of these Ludwig kits as The Fab Four ascended to rock stardom.\u00a0 Ringo\u2019s first and possibly the most iconic drum kit was the aforementioned Super Classic set with the Black Oyster Pearl finish.\u00a0 The 1963 set was auctioned off in 2015 and the owner of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise, Jim Irsay, shelled out a princely $2.2 million for it.\u00a0 This leaves Ringo in possession of four other sets from those days.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0By the time they got to the rooftop concert filmed for the original <\/span>Let It Be <\/span><\/i>movie, Starr had graduated to a maple finish double mounted tom tom Ludwig Hollywood set.\u00a0 This was the configuration he used for both the <\/span>Let It Be <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Abbey Road <\/span><\/i>albums.\u00a0 Astridge told Bell that there had been some storage issues with these maple finished drums:\u00a0 \u201cIt was an unfortunate situation and the maple kit (used from 1968-1970) suffered a lot of damage from the weather,\u00a0 If the timing wasn\u2019t what it was to retrieve and restore it, the kit would have been beyond repair,\u00a0 We\u2019re talking about historical artifacts that were poorly kept.\u00a0 But everything\u2019s in the States now, in a highly secure location and well protected.\u201d \u00a0 Astridge should know as he has spent years researching Ringo\u2019s drums.\u00a0 He had mulled a book project about their history as he gathered information and posted it on the RingosBeatleKits.com site which he started in 2006.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Astridge did become a drummer himself and currently plays a replica of the Oyster Shell Pearl Ludwig Super Classic kit in a Beatles tribute band known as the BBC Band.\u00a0 Before seeing the All-Starr Band in Niagara Falls, Ontario in 2008, Gary made a T-Shirt featuring all of Ringo\u2019s Beatles era drum kits and the caption, \u2018Old Tools of Mine\u2019.\u00a0 After the show, he gave the shirt to a band member and asked them to give it to Starr.\u00a0 Starr\u2019s drum technician, Jeff Chonis, came out and, according to Astridge, \u201cWe had a great talk.\u00a0 Jeff gave me a set of Ringo\u2019s drumsticks, signed by Ringo, and I started crying.\u00a0 I thought, \u2018This is as good as it gets!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Chonis became a fan of Gary\u2019s website and they began to communicate by email and phone.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Asked by the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles to help with the 2012 exhibit \u201cRingo:\u00a0 Peace & Love\u201d, Gary offered to refit missing parts for two drum kits that were going on display:\u00a0 \u201cI told them I could bring the kits back to life for history by providing what was needed from my private collection.\u00a0 They agreed, and it was very much appreciated.\u201d\u00a0 It would take until 2015 until Gary finally got to meet the Ringed One face to face.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Astridge found himself backstage after another All-Starr concert, this time in Toronto.\u00a0 Out of the blue, Starr approached him and said, \u201cGary, thank you, thank you, thank you.\u00a0 Because of your research, I learned thing that I didn\u2019t know, and you brought back fond memories of things I\u2019d forgotten.\u201d\u00a0 A friendship developed and Astridge has traveled to L.A. several times to attend Ringo\u2019s annual \u2018Peace and Love\u2019 birthday celebrations.\u00a0 He has helped with other projects and served as the curator of his Beatle days drum kits and has also assisted with fundraising for The Lotus Foundation.\u00a0 Astridge has literally traveled the world to speak at various events covering Beatles history, Starr\u2019s drumming, and his kits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No doubt a drum geek from Tonawanda, NY never dreamed of getting to know Ringo Starr personally, let alone become a friend.\u00a0 Though he had thought about a book project before, he did not want to press the bonds of friendship by inserting himself in the equation.\u00a0 It was Ringo\u2019s personal assistant, Scott Ritchie, who approached Astridge to see if he would be interested in working with Starr on the book and video.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t about to say \u2018no\u2019.\u00a0 When they were filming the video included in the super deluxe <\/span>Beats & Threads<\/span><\/i> set, Gary found himself thinking, \u201cI might be one of the last people to ever hear Ringo play on these kits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I laughed when I read this phrase.\u00a0 Bun E. Carlos from the Rockford, Illinois based band Cheap Trick is also an avid collector of Ludwig Drums.\u00a0 He has, in fact, a small warehouse with shelves stacked floor to ceiling with just about every model Wm. F. rolled off the production line.\u00a0 Carlos tells a story about being in a studio where they found one of Ringo\u2019s kits that had been stored there.\u00a0 They hatched a plan to set them up and use them during their recording session.\u00a0 After several attempts, they gave up because he recalled, \u201cThey sounded like crap.\u201d\u00a0 In the end he came to the conclusion that perhaps the missing ingredient was Ringo himself.\u00a0 Carlos also credits seeing The Beatles in concert with his brother in Chicago when he was first learning to play the drums.\u00a0 Watching Ringo get a \u2018wash\u2019 of sound by keeping his hi-hat cymbals slightly apart unlocked a technique for him that most drummers use today.\u00a0 Ringo himself has a more modest drum collection including a 1940 kit he obtained – he wanted one from the year of his birth.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the photos I saw from the book included Ringo behind his 1963 era kit wearing the pink silk military style uniform (and flat hat) from the <\/span>Hello Goodbye<\/span><\/i> music film.\u00a0 Gary said they all had a great time doing the \u2018threads\u2019 photo shoot for the book.\u00a0 Starr was amazed when he found the long lost outfit in the same storage compartment as Bach\u2019s wedding dress.\u00a0 Ringo was even more amazed that it still fit him like a glove.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t mean to short the \u2018thread\u2019 part of the book by focusing on the drum content.\u00a0 I should acknowledge the book was a coin with two sides (or should we say a suit with two tails?) that would resonate with a wider audience and not just us \u2018drum nuts\u2019.\u00a0 The promotional materials announcing the release said, perhaps a little cheekily, \u201cAs for his threads?\u00a0 Well, they\u2019ve been going in and out of style, but their guaranteed to raise a smile.\u00a0 And while his clothes wore many different labels, the only name on Starr\u2019s drums – then and now – is Ludwig.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The William F. Ludwig Co was formed in Chicago in 1909.\u00a0 Forty years ago (1984) the whole operation relocated to Monroe, North Carolina, just east of Charlotte.\u00a0 The 75th anniversary of the business\u2019 being founded was marked by the move south.\u00a0 William F. Ludwig II retired in 1981 and he had sold the company to The Selmer Company at that time.\u00a0 Change being the only constant, the company merged with Steinway Pianos after 90 years in the game and went public on the NYSE.\u00a0 Even in today\u2019s competitive market, the Ludwig brand still attracts a great deal of attention.\u00a0 Questlove (the band leader of the Roots, Jimmy Fallon\u2019s house band on the <\/span>Tonight Show<\/span><\/i>) is just one of their high profile artists.\u00a0 Both of Questlove\u2019s signature kits (the 2013 BackBeats Kit and 2016 Pocket Kit) were produced as a way to induce drummers of any skill level and age to pick up sticks.\u00a0 In fact, the Pocket Kit is a downsized version aimed at the 4-10 year-old children\u2019s market and comes with video lessons by Questlove and his friends.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If one takes a few moments to look up Ringo\u2019s drum kits online, one will note his touring and home studio drums all carry the Ludwig logo.\u00a0 Each All-Starr band tour seems to feature a new Ludwig drum set with Ringo\u2019s \u2018star\u2019 on the bass drum head and\/or on the drum shells.\u00a0 The current second drummer on recent tours, Greg Bissonette, is a Michigan native who plays Dixon Drums.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I got my own Super Classic Ludwig drum kit in April of 1966, it had a silver sparkle finish and not Ringo\u2019s Oyster Pearl.\u00a0 The salesman had even made a comment about me being disappointed that it wasn\u2019t the same finish as Ringo\u2019s, but it didn\u2019t matter to me.\u00a0 The important thing was these were mine (and still are, I might add) and after two and a half years of dreaming about owning a drum set, I was beside myself.\u00a0 What I didn\u2019t know was the joyful journey I was beginning and how it would affect me for the next 48 years.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thank you to Greg Astridge and Ringo Starr for sharing another side of The Beatles\u2019 history.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 No, this is NOT one of Ringo’s regular sets – but the suit still fits him today!\u00a0 If you are a sharp eyed viewer, at 1:17 of the video, you will a silver sparkle tom tom magically appear . . . not sure how this happened, but that is the size and finish of my Ludwig set.\u00a0 Go figure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Near the one year anniversary of getting to see Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band in Eugene, Oregon for the first show of their 2023 summer tour, it occurred to me that some of you probably don\u2019t have enough Ringo memorabilia in your lives.\u00a0 Disclaimer:\u00a0 I am not promoting or suggesting you patronize the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3189"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3193,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3189\/revisions\/3193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}