Overshadowed by bandmates

My comments about less than stellar rhythm sections was in response to Shadrone's earlier post.

Drummers and bass players are most often overlooked - to me they form the foundation for much of modern music. IMHO, a good drummer and bass player can carry the whole band with a solid foundation of great grooves even if the antics of lead guitar and vocalist typically get all the spotlight attention.

I agree that Charlie Watts or Ringo Starr may not have been the most talented members of their respective bands. Or to put it another way, we would have heard of Lennon/McCartney Jagger/Richards even if there were no Watts or Starr. That said, the internal dynamics of bands are both mysterious and volatile. It's an unprovable point, but there is no guarantee that a Watt-less Rolling Stones would have achieved greatness. We just don't know. I believe it was McCartney who said that Ringo wasn't a better drummer than Pete Best, but he was a far better Beatle. Being a bandmate can trump the musicianship/talent thing.

>>but there is no guarantee that a Watt-less Rolling Stones would have achieved greatness.<<

No guarantee, I agree.

Nonetheless, a very safe bet.

I don't recall many songs, music and/or lyrics, attributed to Charlie Watts.

Do you?

Sometimes the dominant bandmates are the catalyst that inspires the overshadowed one to grow. Maybe that's one reason that band's split up. One I didn't see mentioned was Dave Grohl. As far as song writing, he was definitely overshadowed by Kurt Cobain. After Cobain died and Nirvana was history, he came into his own with the Foo Fighters. He started writing really good songs and playing guitar as well as the drums.

Ringo is not a technical drummer, but he has an impeccable sense of serving the song. The beatles might have been very different without his sense of style. Therefore, afeil, not only is you statement not undisputable, it is actually disputed.

I know I mentioned this in another post and here I go again. When the Beatles stole Ringo from Rory Storme and the Hurricanes, he was regarded as the best drummer in England. It was only after some very talented virtuoso drummers appeared, probably around 1967, that people thought it cool to bash Ringo or Charlie. They were the right drummers foe their bands.