As published in the November/December, 2001, issue of Beatlology Magazine and also the January, 2003, issue of Vintage Drummer Magazine.
To the casual Beatle fan the 60’s mental image of the Beatles playing live includes Ringo Starr sitting behind his oyster black pearl drums with the famous ‘drop-T’ Beatle logo blazoned across the bass drumhead. In most people’s minds, the drum set that appears in this image doesn’t change from photo-to-photo or year-to-year, only Ringo’s clothing or length of hair seem to. But to us drum hardware/ artifact junkies, the changes are obviously much more substantial.
Ringo owned four different oyster black pearl Ludwig drum kits during his Beatle days. Photographic evidence strongly suggests that Ringo used only four specific drum sets from May 12, 1963, through to mid-1968. How can you tell? The swirl design of the oyster black pearl creates an abstract, non-repeating pattern around the wooden shell of the drums. This unique pattern, in relation to the hardware mounted on the drums, makes each manufactured drum completely identifiable to the exclusion of all others. This obviously does not apply to Ringo’s peripheral hardware – cymbals, drum and hi-hat stands, etc. It is known that from time-to-time, Starr interchanged this hardware from his inventory. The purpose of this article, though, is not to delve into the hardware changes and histories of these four sets. That would be a separate story unto itself for another time. Rather, I’ll explore the ‘drop-T’ logo drum heads themselves, as it is a topic that has rarely, if ever, been written about.
I have been a collector of Beatles auction artifacts for well over twenty years. My obsession with the Beatles’ logo drum heads started back in September of 1994 when I made a pivotal life decision to invest in a piece of memorabilia that would do severe damage to my lifesavings at the time. I got involved in the bidding at a Sotheby’s auction for what was being described as ‘possibly’ the logo drum head used by the Beatles for their first Ed Sullivan broadcast in February, 1964. My pre-auction research seemed to indicate that five or six different logo skins had been used over the years and, indeed, preliminary measurements of numerous Sullivan photos looked to me like what I thought could be an exact match with the head about to be sold. After ‘maxing out’ on what financially would have to be my last bid, I held my breath. What seemed like an eternity passed without anyone upping the ante. Finally, the wonderful sound of the hammer confirmed my new acquisition. ‘Oh my God, is it really mine?’ For many hours later it seemed hard to believe. It still does.
Upon taking physical possession of the piece, my mind was set on two things. Number one, proving to myself that the drum skin really was what it appeared to be and number two, proving to the collecting world in general that this was, in fact, the Sullivan Show logo drum head. This started an eight-year obsession concerning not only my new acquisition, but also how many other logo drum heads did Ringo use? Why were they changed and what were the histories of each?
A few months after the skin was in my hands, my apprehension turned to jubilation when I came across a Washington Coliseum concert photo that was the tightest and sharpest photo of the head I had seen up to that point. Sure enough, every tiny scrape, scratch in the lettering, and brushstroke was clearly evident in the picture, as well as what I was holding in my hands. In addition, Sotheby’s top specialist, Stephen Maycock, assured me that the chain of possession was impeccable because the skin had been sold by them initially ten years prior, in 1984, and it was now in the possession of just it’s third owner.
There are people who feel that historical artifacts of this stature should not be in the hands of a private individual, but rather, in a museum or the archives of a prestigious institution. This is not a thought that I find completely disagreeable. In a perfect world, I’d love to see all the icons of my generation safely guarded or otherwise under special care. Of course, the world doesn’t always work that way. If not me, it would simply be someone else. My personal desire then would be that they would take the responsibility for the safety, protection, and preservation of this artifact as seriously as I do.
Armed primarily with reference books, photos, a telephone, and numerous industry contacts, I began an eight-year trek to document each of the drumheads, time of use, and current whereabouts. The balance of this article documents what has been uncovered so far.
The origin of the Beatles’ logo itself is held within the history of this, the first logo drumhead. In April 1963, Ringo Starr, along with Brian Epstein, visited Drum City in London. Drum City was London’s largest drum dealer at the time and it was here that Ringo purchased his first Ludwig kit. It was a small 20” set in oyster black pearl. The deal for the new drum set was basically promotional in that Drum City was making little or no money on the transaction and trade in- Ringo’s old Premier kit. In exchange, Ivor Arbiter, Drum City’s owner, wanted the Ludwig name on the front drum skin since he had recently started distributing the brand. This was long before drum companies routinely splashed their name across the front like they do today. In response, Epstein wanted the band’s name on the front, as well. Obviously, the Beatles’ name would have to be larger than the Ludwig sticker that Ivor wanted to use. Arbiter claims that, on the spot, with his only instruction from Epstein being to emphasize the word ‘beat’, he pulled out a piece of paper from his desk and designed a couple of crude Beatle logos. On one of them, Arbiter isolated ‘beat’ by elongating the “B” and lowering the tail of the “T”, leaving the rest of the letters symmetrically the same height. The soon-to-be world famous ‘drop-T’ design was chosen and approved by both Epstein and Starr.
This is where a gentleman named Eddie Stokes comes into the picture. Stokes was a London sign painter who worked around the corner from Drum City. On his lunch hour and in his spare time, Stokes was employed by Arbiter to paint band names on bass drum fronts. Stokes, using Arbiter’s scratched out design, hand-painted the new Beatle logo on the 20” Ludwig Weather Master drumhead below the Ludwig sticker. Credit for the official ‘drop-T’ logo goes to both Ivor Arbiter and Eddie Stokes. Ringo took possession of his new Ludwig drum kit and logo on May 12, 1963, for the taping of Thank Your Lucky Stars, a U.K. TV. talent show.
By November of that year, the Ludwig sticker started flaking and chipping away from all the pounding and transporting of the drum. So much so that by the time The Beatles finished their autumn tour on December 13th, only the letters ‘Lu’ were left. By this time John Lennon had taken to making ‘loo’ (English slang for toilet) jokes on stage whenever he introduced Ringo. This was obviously not good for Arbiter’s Ludwig promotion idea. The drum head was brought back in to Drum City to have the remaining part of the sticker chipped off and Stokes was asked to permanently hand paint the Ludwig logo back on, only this time larger.
The last time we see this logo drum head is for the Olympia Theater shows in Paris ending on February 4, 1964. This drum skin has never shown up for public auction at any of the major auction houses.
Ringo during taping of the British TV show Ready Steady Go in October 1963. This was five months after receiving this very first "drop-T" drumhead and as you can see, the "g" in Ludwig has already started to flake off. By December 13th, just the "Lu" remained (photo by David Redfern).
In January 1964, preparations were being made for the Beatles first American visit. Ivor Arbiter was contacted and asked to prepare a second logo drumhead for the all-important trip. Eddie Stokes was again brought in to work his skills. This time Stokes used a 20” Remo Weather King drum skin. The Remo heads are identified by the small crown logo located at the very top of the head near the rim. Drum City was also an authorized Remo dealer and Arbiter thought he could kill two birds with one stone by promoting both Ludwig and Remo on the same drumhead. “At the time, the Beatles were huge in England and I was counting on fairly wide exposure,” says Arbiter. This time Stokes painted the Beatle logo much larger, stretching completely from edge to edge. He also used a much fatter typeface than on the previous drumhead. His faint pencil guide marks can still be seen on the front of the drumhead today.
It was decided that the Beatles would travel to America as light as possible. The decision was made that Ringo would travel without his drum kit. Only his snare drum and cymbals would make the trip along with the new front drum skin. A new set of drums would be purchased when they arrived in the States. The reason for this was that a second kit was going to be needed in any case. Once the Beatles returned from America, filming was going to commence on their film, A Hard Days Night. One drum kit would be needed on the film set and, since the soundtrack was going to be recorded at the same time during breaks in the schedule, a second kit would be needed at Abbey Road. The powers that be concluded it was easier to pick up the new set in America, rather than carry the old one over.
Manny’s Music Store in Manhattan, delivered the new Ludwig set to the Ed Sullivan studio in time for the 1:30pm Saturday, February 8th rehearsals. One problem- Manny’s mistakenly sent over a white marine pearl kit instead of Ringo’s familiar oyster black. By the Sunday morning dress rehearsal, Manny’s had switched for the correct color kit. Just before that afternoon’s taping of what would become the Beatles ”third” Sullivan Show appearance, the new logo drumhead was fitted on the front of the bass drum. This logo drum skin was used for the duration of the Beatles first American visit that included three Sullivan Show appearances, two Carnegie Hall concerts, and their American debut concert at the Washington Coliseum.
Ringo in rehearsal, on Saturday, February 8, 1964, sitting behind the white marine pearl Ludwig kit delivered to the CBS Studios for The Ed Sullivan Show. The wrong color was mistakenly sent that afternoon, but corrected the next morning in time for the broadcast.
As evidenced from photos, the Sullivan logo drumhead endured a few scuffs and scratches during its travels up and down America’s east coast. Most notably is a half moon scrape running across the “B-E” and into the “A” in Beatles. This was probably caused by laying or packing the 14” hi-hat cymbal on top of the flat lying head. The curve matches perfectly.
This logo drum head, with the entire new set of drums, went back to London’s Abbey Road Studios when the band left America and the skin was not publicly seen again until being auctioned by Sotheby’s London in 1984. It is considered to be the most famous of the seven Beatle drum heads and is the only one to ever appear on a Beatles Album cover- it appears on four.
This drumhead originally left the Beatles’ inner circle in 1984 when Sotheby’s sold it to an Australian restaurateur named George Wilkins. Wilkins owned it for ten years and then consigned the head back to Sotheby’s in 1994 where it was purchased by ‘yours truly’.
Ringo during The Beatles first concert on American soil at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 1964. This is "drop-T" head number 2. (photo courtesy Sean O'Mahony)
The Sullivan head during setup for the Washington Coliseum show on February 11, 1964.
After returning from America, the Beatles immediately began recording the soundtrack for A Hard Days Night. Filming for the movie would start a week and a half after returning home. The decision was then made that a brand new pristine logo drum skin would be needed for their film debut. The drumhead chosen this time would be a Ludwig Weather Master and again, the drum brand logo was hand painted. One of Stokes’ identifying characteristics for this skin is the elongated tail on the “L” in Ludwig. This time it extends well below the “d” and the ‘drop-T’ design is also much narrower and a little smaller than the Sullivan head. The 20” disc was mounted on Ringo’s new Sullivan drum set and head No. 2 was discarded. The kit remained in this configuration throughout the filming of the movie, the NME Poll Winners concert at Wembley, and the TV special Around the Beatles on April 28, 1964. This drumhead was then only publicly seen one more time and that was almost a full year later. It shows up in the Help movie scene where the Beatles are in the mock recording studio miming to You’re Going To Lose That Girl. This drumhead has never been offered up for auction by any of the major auction houses.
Ringo during the performance segment of the film, A Hard Days Night, utilizing "drop-T" head number 3 made especially for the film.
The Saga of Seven Skins (Part 2)
Mini Bio – Russ Lease, of Columbia, Md., has been collecting one-of-a-kind Beatle memorabilia for well over twenty years and has built an extensive collection. Russ also does consulting work for some of the major auction houses. Russ can be contacted by email at russlease@comcast.net or via his website at www.beatlesuits.com