Nashville Starr

He found out that 19th Avenue South is a long way from Abbey Road. “It was fast and it was good,” says Starr, delight in his voice as he recalls those sessions. “We did the whole thing in two days.”

Scotty Moore, who himself helped birth rock ’n’ roll, was co-owner of Music City Recorders and served as engineer on the album. “The main thing I remember is there were too many people in the studio, in the control room and in the front row,” says Moore. “It was so crowded you just couldn’t breathe. But the session went fine.”

Now a soft-spoken resident of Blueberry Hill in rural Davidson County, Moore knew firsthand about being in the world’s most famous rock band. Before The Beatles began their rock ’n’ roll reign, Moore played in Elvis’ Blue Moon Boys with bassist Bill Black and drummer Fontana. Moore’s licks pretty much forged the path all rock guitarists had to follow. (“Everyone else wanted to be Elvis—I wanted to be Scotty,” Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has said of the humble 76-year-old.)

But by 1970, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll had gone Vegas, and Moore had pretty much put aside performing when he came to do business on Nashville’s Music Row. He enjoyed having a Beatle for a client.

“The sessions went until at least 1 a.m,” Moore says of Starr’s nights at Music City Recorders. “But it was 2 or 3 in the morning before we got out of there. It took that long just to say goodnight to everybody.”

Riding shotgun with Elvis of course made Moore immune to being starstruck. “For me it was a job, but I enjoyed meeting him and it was a good camaraderie.”

If there was awe to be found in the room, it came from the visitor from England, who says working with Moore “was an incredible experience.” After all, “Scotty played all those guitar parts with Elvis,” Starr says.

Since Fontana handled the sticks for the Beaucoups sessions, listeners won’t find Starr on drums anywhere on the vinyl LP. He did pick up his sticks for post-session free-form jamming, but it wasn’t until the record was remastered for CD release a quarter-century later that “Nashville Jam” was included in the package.

That instrumental begins with a most familiar drumbeat—heard billions of times on songs by rock’s most memorable combo growing louder. A listener would almost expect, if he or she didn’t know better, to hear John, Paul or George jump in with vocals. Instead, the ensuing “Nashville Jam” offers the delight of dueling guitars, fiddle, pedal steel and keyboard, all punctuated by various kinds of twang and thump.

Drummers Starr and Fontana do a little of “No, he’s better…” in their separate interviews about the sessions, but one thing’s certain in Fontana’s mind: Those who discredit Starr’s drumming are musically ignorant.

“He’s one of the finest drummers,” says Fontana, who spends much of his time working the Elvis festival circuit. “People say ‘He don’t do a lot.’ Well, he don’t have to do a lot. He played that steady tempo. He was the glue for The Beatles. He put it together for them. That’s what they needed. That’s the whole secret of drumming. If you wanna do something fancy, go ahead and do it. If not, just play the beat.”

Fontana’s appreciation for Starr’s work grew during the two long jam sessions that ended the recording. “Ringo did it all,” he says of the studio rollick that became “Nashville Jam.” “I think one of [the jams] was 18 minutes. The other one was something like 20 minutes. What amazed me, he never varied from that tempo. He had the greatest conception of tempo I’ve ever heard in my life. I have never heard anybody play that steady in my life, and that’s a long time.”

While Starr played drums, Fontana contributed to the jam’s glorious racket. “I played tambourine, claves, maracas,” he says. “We were just picking up anything. When I tired of playing one, I’d pick up another. It went on and on as we went around the horn, everyone playing.”

McCoy, who played organ, vibes and harp on the sessions, also cherishes the jams. “At the end of everything, after we had finished up the recording, Ringo went behind the drums and played and everybody jumped in. We just jumped in the groove. He played much better than I had the impression he played from just hearing The Beatles’ records.”