Beatles Legend Ringo Starr Wrote His First Song for the Iconic Band and It Flopped
It has been nearly 60 years since The Beatles’ The White Album was released, and it is widely considered to be one of their finest works to date. Containing huge hits such as the George Harrison-penned “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” the Paul McCartney solo “Blackbird”, and the Beach Boys and Chuck Berry’s controversial parody “Back In The U.S.S.R.”, the album is packed with quality songwriting and compositions. One of their most underrated songs from the album is “Don’t Pass Me By,” a song that not even the dynamic songwriting duo McCartney-Lennon can take credit for.
Around 1963-1964, Ringo Starr wrote “Don’t Pass Me By”, which is his first and one of his few solo compositions he had written for the band. However, it was released as part of The White Album, meaning that the band took between four to five years to record and release the song. The reasons why this is the case vary, but it soon came into fruition after the Fab Four’s iconic trip to India.
Ringo-Starr-Hard-Rock-Live Image via Robert Bell/INSTARimages
Even drummers with little songwriting experience, like Starr, have their stroke of songwriting genius. For Starr, it happened only a few years into The Beatles’ prime, as Starr stated that he wrote the song while sitting “round at home.” “I only play three chords on the guitar and three on the piano,” he remembered. “I was fiddling with the piano – I just bang away – and then if a melody comes and some words, I just have to keep going. That’s how it happened.
Source: Teguan Harris/collider.com
