Ringo Starr says working with John Lennon on 'Plastic Ono Band' was 'best experience' of career

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Ringo Starr says working with John Lennon on 'Plastic Ono Band' was 'best experience' of career 
The record was recorded following The Beatles' break-up in 1970
By Luke Morgan Britton 
May 29, 2015


Photo: Press

Ringo Starr has talked about working with John Lennon on the album 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'.

'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band' was recorded following The Beatles' break-up in 1970 and released later that year. Starr played drums on the album, one of the three core musicians who formed the Plastic Ono Band collective alongside Lennon and Klaus Voormann, the German artist who played bass.



"It was incredible," Starr told Uncut of the recording sessions. "John, Klaus and I. One of the finest trios I ever heard. We did it like a jam. We knew John had the songs and we’d kick it in and felt where it should go." Starr states that their familiarity as a group worked to their advantage: "We knew Klaus anyway. John and I really knew each other, so we were psychic where the atmosphere was going to go."



Despite having released 12 albums with the Beatles prior to this, Starr claims that 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band' was one of his best studio experiences. "It’s one of the best experiences of being on a record I have ever had," he added in this week's Uncut, which is on sale now. "Just being in the room with John, being honest, the way he was, screaming, shouting and singing. It was an incredible moment."



Yoko Ono recently paid tribute to Ringo Starr by dubbing the drummer "the most influential Beatle" as Starr was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April. "No one is probably going to believe it but he was the most influential Beatle," said Ono.

Starr was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by Paul McCartney, who described the band's first show with Starr: "We had this guy we'd never played with before, and I remember the moment when he started to play – I think it was Ray Charles, 'What'd I Say' – and most of the drummers couldn't nail the drum part. It was a little difficult to do, but Ringo nailed it." 

McCartney continued: "And I remember the moment, standing there and looking at John and then looking at George, and the look on our faces was like, fuck you. What is this? And that was the moment, that was the beginning, really, of the Beatles."

Meanwhile, Ringo Starr recently complained that people are "only interested in the eight years I was in The Beatles".













www.uncut.co.uk
Ringo Starr: “John Lennon, Klaus Voormann and I were one of the finest trios ever”
Tom Pinnock
May 28, 2015

The drummer discusses The Beatles, Lennon and Zappa in the new Uncut



Ringo Starr answers your questions in the new issue of Uncut, out now.

The drummer discusses The Beatles, Frank Zappa, his playing style and the recording of 1970’s seminal John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album in the piece.

“It was incredible,” Starr says of the sessions. “John, Klaus [Voormann] and I. One of the finest trios I ever heard. We did it like a jam. We knew John had the songs and we’d kick it in and felt where it should go.

“We knew Klaus anyway. John and I really knew each other, so we were psychic where the atmosphere was going to go.

“It’s one of the best experiences of being on a record I have ever had. Just being in the room with John, being honest, the way he was, screaming, shouting and singing. It was an incredible moment.”

The new issue of Uncut is out now.

Photo: Rob Shanahan





Ringo Starr answers your questions, happily discussing his experiences at Butlins, his friend Peter Sellers and eight years in The Beatles: “I said, ‘Fuck it, it’s too crazy, I’m leaving!’”