I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren't about to let little things like this keep them from conquering the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.

The might have had a "what's working,

This morning, I was taking my son, Patrick, to school. We were listening to the Beatles- Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Patrick's in the process of making demos in his bedroom recording studio, which provides me with steady "proud daddy" moments.

Anyway, we were talking about the Beatles.

They had an interesting problem- their drummer, compared to other drummers at their level, was... not to put too fine a point on it, but compared to,say Ginger Baker (Cream) or Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), "weak."

Ginger and Charlie had strong jazz backgrounds and playing rock was really "playing down" for them.

Not the case with Ringo.

They also had another problem, that would have destroyed a lesser group. Their best lead guitar player was singing and playing bass. Their next best guitar player was also singing lead and providing the strong rhythm guitar that drove the band.

That left George- who, in time, became a wonderful guitar player. However, when he joined the band, he was the same age as my son- 17- and compared to the lead guitar players in other bands of the time- Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, just to name a few, he was pretty weak, too.

I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren't about to let little things like this keep them from conquering the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.

The might have had a "what's working,

Anyway, we were talking about the Beatles.

They had an interesting problem- their drummer, compared to other drummers at their level, was... not to put too fine a point on it, but compared to,say Ginger Baker (Cream) or Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), "weak."

Ginger and Charlie had strong jazz backgrounds and playing rock was really "playing down" for them.

Not the case with Ringo.

They also had another problem, that would have destroyed a lesser group. Their best lead guitar player was singing and playing bass. Their next best guitar player was also singing lead and providing the strong rhythm guitar that drove the band.

That left George- who, in time, became a wonderful guitar player. However, when he joined the band, he was the same age as my son- 17- and compared to the lead guitar players in other bands of the time- Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, just to name a few, he was pretty weak, too.

I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren't about to let little things like this keep them from conquering the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.

The might have had a "what's working,

Not the case with Ringo.

They also had another problem, that would have destroyed a lesser group. Their best lead guitar player was singing and playing bass. Their next best guitar player was also singing lead and providing the strong rhythm guitar that drove the band.

That left George- who, in time, became a wonderful guitar player. However, when he joined the band, he was the same age as my son- 17- and compared to the lead guitar players in other bands of the time- Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, just to name a few, he was pretty weak, too.

I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren't about to let little things like this keep them from conquering the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.

The might have had a "what's working,

That left George- who, in time, became a wonderful guitar player. However, when he joined the band, he was the same age as my son- 17- and compared to the lead guitar players in other bands of the time- Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, just to name a few, he was pretty weak, too.

I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren't about to let little things like this keep them from conquering the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.

The might have had a "what's working,

I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren't about to let little things like this keep them from conquering the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.

The might have had a "what's working, what's not working meeting." They knew they had great songs, great harmonies and melodies, a great producer, and an unlimited budget, which gave them access to symphony orchestras.

By recognizing the weakness of their drummer, they came up with some of the most creative rhythm tracks in history.

There are tracks where Paul played drums. There are hand-claps, tambourines, anvils, animal sounds, backward cymbals, car horns, all used as drums. Much more interesting than just a "good" drummer, but if they'd had a good drummer, they would never have looked for the alternatives.

There are places on Abbey Road, for example, where there are two complete drum kits playing at the same time, while a third snare is accenting the downbeat. By using technology and creativity, they were able to overcome what could have been a devastating problem.

They were equally creative with the guitar problem.

On the early albums, they solved the problem by ignoring it, and the lead guitar parts were so simple that pre-teens in bedrooms all over America were able to learn them. Some of them bought the albums because the guitar parts were simple- I know, I'm one of them. With just a few notes, I could be a "Beatle." Brilliant.

Later, they would outsource-