The Story Behind Ringo Starr's Drums

Forty years ago, The Beatles' first American appearance on television was huge for an American drum company.

ELKHART, Ind., June 3 /PRNewswire/ - The date was September 5, 1964. The Beatles were scheduled to make their first-ever Chicago appearance and police were scrambling to contain the 25,000 screaming fans that had hopelessly tied up traffic. Bill Ludwig, president of the Ludwig Drum Company, managed to get a few minutes to deliver a personal thank you to Ringo Starr and the "Fab Four". To say that he had a lot to thank them for was an understatement.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo became The Beatles in 1961. Under the guidance of producer George Martin, they released their first hit single in 1962 - "Love Me Do". Successive hits catapulted them to the top of the British charts and gave rise to "Beatlemania."

No one anticipated what would happen next. On February 7th, the group played Carnegie Hall in a sold out performance. Two days later, a record 73 million viewers tuned in to see The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. The next morning, teenagers began crowding music stores demanding guitars and drums.

The story of how Ludwig and Ringo came to be linked was truly a matter of coincidence. In 1962, Ivor Arbiter opened London's first exclusive drum shop, Drum City. It was the first to stock a complete selection of American drums - including Ludwig.

In late 1962, Brian Epstein strolled into Drum City, announced that he had a band that was going to be big, and wanted help in getting a better drum kit. Ringo initially wanted an all-black outfit, but when he saw a sample chip of Ludwig's new Oyster Black Pearl finish lying on Arbiter's desk, he had an immediate change of heart. Fortunately, Arbiter had an Oyster Black Pearl kit in stock.

Epstein wanted the kit for free, but Arbiter balked. Finally, Arbiter agreed to trade Ringo the Ludwig kit for his old kit. He also agreed to throw in a bass drum head painted with the Beatles logo, along with a Ludwig logo.

Ringo made his first appearance with his Ludwig kit in June 1963 for a recording of the radio program, Easy Beat. Until the Beatles disbanded in 1970, Ringo and Ludwig were linked in the minds of drummers worldwide.