That's a quote I heard from Bernard Purdie himself at one of his drum clinics a few years back. Of course, it's a lie, George Martin has disputed it, and what about the film LET IT BE?. You can still hear people arguing over this in discussion groups all over the Internet. I think Bernard Purdie is one of the greatest drummers around (especially the live King Curtis and Aretha albums), but so is Ringo! This whole matter finally got to my unconscious sometime in 2000, because I had a humorous little dream about replacing Bernard Purdie on one of his most famous tracks: Steely Dan's Babylon Sisters!:

I'm in a recording studio with Steely Dan and I'm playing drums to Babylon Sisters. We do a take and then talk about percussion. Donald Fagen is telling me to use a cowbell and I show him the ones I had. Next, were taking a break, or something, and I'm outside. Who should drive up in a low rider car is Bernard Purdie. He's mouthing off about the whole session and me replacing his classic performance and I'm just staying nice. He says what I should do is wait for count 4 and play as many snare drum notes as possible. In other words, mess up the take. All I'm thinking is that I can't believe I'm recording with Steely Dan...