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4.40am
8 July 2014
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The quote has been attributed to John, but I have yet to find the an actual audio or video (supposedly he said it in one of those big interviews the band was subjected to). Some have said that it is an false attribution with an author stating John said it, but no actual evidence supporting.
Does anyone have the quote (video/audio) or a link?
7.10am
17 January 2013
Offline S**t I know I have sent the interview but I can’t find which one it’s from right now… An interviewer asked John “Is Ringo the best drummer in the world?” to which John replied “Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles”.
Like a lot of things John said it was just his cheeky sense of humour. He definitely did say it though, I have seen the interview a few times. If I do find it I will post it here!
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
10.37am
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1 May 2011
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@LongHairedLady, that comment attributed to John about Ringo not even being the best drummer in the Beatles was researched by Mark Lewisohn and was discovered to have actually been a joke by Jasper Carrott.
I posted this here a while back.
A quote from Mark Lewisohn:
“The London Times newspaper quoted John Lennon ‘famously saying that Ringo wasn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles.’ John Lennon never said that, famously or otherwise, and that is the London Times quoting him,” Lewisohn said, making a point about his motivation for trying to separate fact from Fab Four mythology.
“For me, it’s [a case of tracking down] when did he say this? I’ve heard every John Lennon interview, I’ve read every John Lennon interview, I never saw that quote. So when did he say it, let alone when did he famously say it?” he said. “I determined to get to the bottom of it. And it’s actually a TV comedian’s joke from three years after John was killed, in 1983. So John Lennon never said it — and wouldn’t have said it.”
2. The line often attributed to John Lennon – “Ringo isn’t the best drummer in the world. He isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles” – was actually uttered by British comedian Jasper Carrott in 1983.
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11.48am
15 June 2014
Offline @LongHairedLady said
S**t I know I have sent the interview but I can’t find which one it’s from right now… An interviewer asked John “Is Ringo the best drummer in the world?” to which John replied “Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles”.Like a lot of things John said it was just his cheeky sense of humour. He definitely did say it though, I have seen the interview a few times. If I do find it I will post it here!
Even I thought I saw it sometime in June and when this quote came up in some thread I said I have seen the video and went on frantic video search on youtube to post the link. But alas, even after continued searching for a few days I couldn’t find the interview. Can it be that the video has been removed? I vaguely remember it being a press conference, and in fact a woman asking the question, and Ringo/George sitting left to John. The video was black and white.
Anyway, I then found this picture below, and having seen this particular press conference (the one in the picture) and the quote, I must have mixed the two unconsciously. When I joined BB, a thread introduced me to awkward Beatles’ photos and I may have come across this particular picture then and forgot about it.
It was then when Ron Nasty replied saying what mmm has said.
And yes, whether it was the interview where I heard him or this picture where he has been (mis)quoted, I took the remark as being just another cheeky bit from him which was not uncommon to all of them during the touring days.
12.16pm
15 June 2014
Offline StrawberryFieldsForever said
@LongHairedLady said
S**t I know I have sent the interview but I can’t find which one it’s from right now… An interviewer asked John “Is Ringo the best drummer in the world?” to which John replied “Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles”.Like a lot of things John said it was just his cheeky sense of humour. He definitely did say it though, I have seen the interview a few times. If I do find it I will post it here!
Even I thought I saw it sometime in June and when this quote came up in some thread I said I have seen the video and went on frantic video search on youtube to post the link. But alas, even after continued searching for a few days I couldn’t find the interview. Can it be that the video has been removed? I vaguely remember it being a press conference, and in fact a woman asking the question, and Ringo/George sitting left to John. The video was black and white.
Anyway, I then found this picture below, and having seen this particular press conference (the one in the picture) and the quote, I must have mixed the two unconsciously. When I joined BB, a thread introduced me to awkward Beatles’ photos and I may have come across this particular picture then and forgot about it.
It was then when Ron Nasty replied saying what mmm has said.
And yes, whether it was the interview where I heard him or this picture where he has been (mis)quoted, I took the remark as being just another cheeky bit from him which was not uncommon to all of them during the touring days.
Or maybe that woman asked this from Ringo “Why do you wear rings?” or something to that effect in that interview. Too much uncertainty. 
2.08am
17 January 2013
Offline Okay my mission tonight is to find this interview. I really have nothing better to do so why not! Home alone on my “friday”. 
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
3.57am
17 January 2013
Offline Dang, not having any luck here. I know I have seen it, more than once.
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
8.58pm
15 June 2014
Offline Its weird for it to disappear, isn’t it?
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LongHairedLady3.44am
17 January 2013
Offline It is possible that I’m mixing two things up. Hmmm..
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
7.28am
8 April 2014
Offline I have never seen the interview before but I’m just wondering why it would be so hard to find. I mean, it’s quite a famous quote of John’s (if it’s true), you’d expect there to be dozens of videos on that…
9.26am
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1 May 2011
Offline @Beatleva, there is no video, there is no audio, as John didn’t say it. It’s one of those quotes widely and incorrectly reported as coming from John.
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9.46am
8 April 2014
Offline Alright, thanks @meanmistermustard. I was just wondering because SFF and LHL seemed pretty certain that they had seen it.
I just never knew whether to to believe it or not.
10.17am
15 June 2014
Offline @Beatleva said
Alright, thanks @meanmistermustard. I was just wondering because SFF and LHL seemed pretty certain that they had seen it.I just never knew whether to to believe it or not.
Take mmm’s word for it. I’m just a few months old fan and I was youtubing many interviews and surfing pictures so I must have mixed them together as I mentioned earlier.
I wouldn’t have posted that at all had LHL, or anyone for that matter, had not expressed their wonder at having seen the video.
Especially since Ron Nasty had already replied in the negative. Cheers.
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Beatleva1.49pm
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29 November 2012
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meanmistermustard said
@Beatleva, there is no video, there is no audio, as John didn’t say it. It’s one of those quotes widely and incorrectly reported as coming from John.
Exactly. Same with the quote about school teacher’s and happiness that is always attributed to John which he also NEVER SAID.
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5.27pm
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1 May 2011
Offline I wonder if all of the regular posters here came up with a supposed quotation from John and posted it all over the net how long until it became a ‘true’ statement attributed to him. Not saying we should but with all the guff John and The Beatles (collectively and singularly) are reported to have said and done over the years it must be possible.
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5.39pm
8 November 2012
Offline We should make up completely anachronistic quotes too – references to things that didn’t even exist during John’s time.
parlance
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StrawberryFieldsForever, Starr Shine?, DrBeatle, C.R.A.6.34pm
17 January 2013
Offline I was sure at first but now I feel I must be mixing up the quote from a different interview. Or I have seen that image of him saying it so I think I have seen it but I haven’t. I have watched so many interviews over the years, so who knows! Thanks MMM. I trust your knowledge and memory over mine. 
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
7.22pm
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29 November 2012
Offline LongHairedLady said
I was sure at first but now I feel I must be mixing up the quote from a different interview. Or I have seen that image of him saying it so I think I have seen it but I haven’t. I have watched so many interviews over the years, so who knows! Thanks MMM. I trust your knowledge and memory over mine.
There’s a meme of them at a press conference where someone put the quote in to make it look like subtitles from an interview, but the fact is that he NEVER said it!
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9.01pm
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20 August 2013
Offline John Lennon knocked Ringo Starr out of the list of top posters on the Beatles Bible.
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9.27pm
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17 December 2012
Offline I don’t know whether my opinion is needed here. @meanmistermustard has done a magnificent job stating the facts, and others have posted my previously stated agreement with mmm’s view. In the end it is quite simple, I can find an initial source for every famous John quote. I can google a quote and find it’s source. For such a famous “supposed” quote, there is no source, there is no named interview. The line was from Jasper Carrot, kudos for getting such a great line accepted into Beatles’ mythology!
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