Andy White

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Andy White was a Scottish session drummer. In the London studios of the early 1960s he was a professional who came to play on call: tight, reliable and used to delivering a recording quickly. That is how, in September 1962, he ended up in the EMI studio on Abbey Road, with a still unknown band from Liverpool.

Music and breakthrough

The Beatles recorded their first single there, Love Me Do. The producer George Martin did not yet know what to make of the new drummer Ringo Starr and hired White to be on the safe side. As a result there are two versions of the song. On one Ringo drums, on the other White, while Ringo plays the tambourine on it. At the same session White also drummed on P.S. I Love You. The version with White later ended up on the debut album Please Please Me.

Influence

White played with The Beatles for only one afternoon, but that afternoon made him a well-known footnote in pop history. His story shows how the record industry worked at the time: the producer had the final say, and session musicians often played invisibly on records that later became world famous.

Listening

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 3: The Beatles^NL Reader