Overshadowed by bandmates

Steve Hackett with Genesis.
Jim Capaldi with Traffic.
Also of course Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac!

Elliot Easton in the Cars also.

How about Ricky Wilson, the original guitarist in The B52s? The guy who did all the great riffs on their first album?

Jimmie Vaughn?

Yeah, drummers seldom get the headlines I suppose.

Not the place to be if you are looking to become a breakout star.

Look at Phil Collins. It was only after Peter Gabriel left and he was chosen to take over lead vocal duties with Genesis that he got noticed.

I never realized how talented Jim Capaldi was until I first heard one of his solo albums.

Frankly, I'm sure the Beatles would have achieved the level of popularity they did without Ringo. What other drummer would have performed better?

Nor was he totally overshadowed though. He drew a lot of attention with the Beatles however more so as a personality than as a drummer.

Because he actually does have an amiable personality, I think the ultra hip and somewhat snotty rock music media of the day tended to give him the short shift as a drummer. I think he has garnered greater respect as a drummer over the years as peoples hindsight becomes more like 20/20.

The Beatles could not have achieved the success they have without a drummer that helped catalyze things and that's exactly what he did. He was a key ingredient in the soup and not overshadowed nearly as much as most good drummers out there probably.

I've been admiring George Harrison's bass playing on "old brown
shoe" of late. 🎸. In an interview he once said that was him
going nuts on bass basically playing it like his guitar. Very cool.