It’s quite a feat to narrow down the best drummers and pick favorites, but Anthrax and now-Pantera drummer Charlie Benante was ready to share his list featuring his 11 picks with Revolver. It might come as a surprise, but his first pick was none other than the Beatle Ringo Starr. Let’s see what he had to say about Starr that might shift your perspective from seeing him as a rock drummer to an influence for metalheads.
“The first one I’m going to talk about is going to be Ringo Starr,” revealed Benante. “When I was two or three years old, the Beatles were all over my house, so of course, I always describe it as me being a sponge and just absorbing everything my sisters would play. His playing back then to me was so rock and roll, and what he brought to those Beatles songs, I don’t know, man, I don’t think anyone else could have done it the way he did it.”
He continued to praise Starr, especially during a particular era that had him hooked. Benante recalled, “He just had this great backbeat, and there are some songs where he plays better than others. But I felt Ringo’s playing from ’63 to ’66 were some of his best playing songs like ‘Boys,’ ‘Rain,’ like ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ that’s Ringo at his best.”
“He’s not a hard rock metal drummer, but other hard rock metal drummers took something from Ringo, whether they realize it or not,” said Charlie Benante about his impact on the metal drummers, including himself. “I stole Ringo’s crash ride stuff; when he plays, he doesn’t play like, play a ride [slowly]… On the bell, he crashes crash rides, and almost every Anthrax song has that kind of a wash on the cymbal sound.”
Nobody would have been aware of Ringo’s impact on Benante if he hadn’t shared that he had implemented quite a few of his techniques into Anthrax that wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for Starr. Even though Ringo is considered a rock drummer, he has elements in his playing that, just like Benante says, are suitable components for metal tracks. So have another listen to ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ and you may hear what Charlie is talking about.
