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Richard Starkey,
MBE (born July 7, 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is a
popular English musician, singer, and actor, best known as the drummer
for The Beatles. Starr is known for his reliable, innovative drumming
and unique fills. He was the oldest member of the band, and the last one
to join the now familiar "Fab Four" line-up.
Starr married Maureen Cox
in 1965, and they had three children, Zak, Jason, and Lee. The couple divorced
in 1975. In 1980, on the set of the film Caveman he met actress Barbara Bach.
They were married in 1981, just a few weeks after the film's release. Barbara
Bach is most famous for her role as Major Anya Amasova (female lead and main
'Bond Girl') in The Spy Who Loved Me.
****
Birth name Richard
Starkey
Born July 7, 1940
Origin Liverpool, England
Genre(s) Rock and Roll
Pop
Occupation(s) Drummer
Singer
Songwriter
Guitarist
Pianist
Instrument(s) Drums
Vocals
Guitar
Piano
Years active 1957 -
present
Label(s) Parlophone
Capitol
Apple
Vee Jay
Polydor Records
Atlantic Records
RCA Records
Private Records
Mercury Records
Koch Records
CNR Records
Associated
acts The Beatles
Ringo Starr and his All
Starr Band
Website
www.ringostarr.com
****
Early
years
Born in Liverpool,
England, Starr's parents split up when he was young; his mother, a person of
Jewish descent, remarried Harry Graves. He was raised in the working class
Dingle area of Liverpool. He went through two serious illnesses as a child and
spent a total of three years in hospital, thereby falling considerably behind in
school; after his last visit to the hospital, at the age of 15, he could barely
read or write.
Like the other Beatles,
John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, young Ritchie (as he was known
in those days) also eventually became caught up in Liverpool's Skiffle craze. In
1957, he started his own group with Eddie Miles called The Eddie Clayton Skiffle
Group. He then joined The Raving Texans in 1959, a quartet that played while
Rory Storm sang. During this time, he got the nickname Ringo, because of the
rings he wore, and because it sounded 'cowboyish' (probably a reference to John
Wayne's character in Stagecoach, who is named "The Ringo Kid"), and the last
name Starr so that his solo spot, when he sang lead for two or three tunes,
could be billed as 'Starr Time'. [1]
Starr first met The
Beatles in Hamburg, in October 1960, while he was performing with Rory Storm and
The Hurricanes. He also sat in for Pete Best on several occasions. When The
Beatles removed Best as their drummer on August 16, 1962, Starr was their choice
to replace him.
Although Storm was
magnanimous about losing Starr, [2] Best fans were upset, holding vigils outside
Best's house and fighting at the Cavern Club, shouting "Ringo never! Pete Best
forever!"
Role in
The Beatles
While sometimes the least
visible member of the band, Starr's drumming style played a pivotal role in the
music played and recorded by The Beatles. He filled the role he was hired for in
1962, then went on to establish a new approach to rhythm in popular music that
some claim continues to grow in its significance and influence with every decade
since The Beatles recorded their music.[1]
Starr is left-handed yet
plays a right-handed kit; his tendency to lead with his left hand contributes to
his distinctive drumming style. Lennon described Starr as being the "heart" of
the Beatles.[2]
"Before Ringo, drum stars
were measured by their soloing ability and virtuosity," says drummer Steve
Smith. "Ringo's popularity brought forth a new paradigm in how the public saw
drummers. We started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the
compositional aspect. One of Ringo's great qualities was that he composed
unique, stylistic drum parts for The Beatles songs. His parts are so signature
to the songs that you can listen to a Ringo drum part without the rest of the
music, and still identify the song."[3]
Many drummers list Starr
as an influence including Max Weinberg of The E Street Band, Liberty DeVitto of
Billy Joel's band, Phil Collins, and others.[4] According to Collins, "Starr is
vastly underrated. The drum fills on the song "A Day in the Life" are very
complex things. You could take a great drummer today and say, "I want it like
that." They wouldn't know what to do."
In his extensive survey
of The Beatles' recording sessions, Mark Lewisohn confirmed that Starr was both
proficient and remarkably reliable and consistent. According to Lewisohn, there
were less than a dozen occasions in The Beatles' eight-year recording career
where session 'breakdowns' were caused by Starr making a mistake, while the vast
majority of takes were stopped due to mistakes by the other three members.[4]
Starr is also considered
to have advanced various modern drumming techniques (for playing and recording)
such as the matched grip, placing the drums on high risers for visibility as
part of the band, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal
rings, along with his general contributions to The Beatles as a whole.[3]
Specific drum parts executed by Starr in notably signature fashion include the
fill that brings the drums and bass guitar into "Hey Jude", the steady rock and
roll beats in "Some Other Guy" and other early Beatles recordings, the drum kit
pattern through the bridge of "Hello Goodbye", and the driving bass drum notes
found in "Lady Madonna", underlying the more intricate, double-tracked snare
drum.
Lennon, McCartney and
Harrison have all said that Starr was the best rock and roll drummer in the
world; although, when once asked in an interview "Is Ringo Starr the best
drummer in the world?", Lennon quipped "He's not even the best drummer in The
Beatles!" This was in reference to "Back In The USSR" and "Dear Prudence", the
first two tracks on White Album (1968) in which McCartney handled the drumming;
Starr had walked out earlier, and did not return for two weeks until the other
three Beatles urged him to come back. Lennon sent telegrams to Starr, and
Harrison set up flowers all over the studio for Starr's return saying 'welcome
home'.[5]
McCartney sent Starr a
postcard on January 31, 1969 (the day after the band's performance on the roof
of Apple Studios) stating: "You are the greatest drummer in the world. Really."
This postcard is included in Starr's book 'Postcards From The Boys'.[6]
McCartney also played the
drums on "The Ballad of John and Yoko" in early 1969 since only Lennon and
McCartney were immediately available to record the song. Starr commented that he
was lucky in being 'surrounded by three frustrated drummers' who could only drum
in one style. [7] Starr also did not play drums on some of the recordings of the
Beatles' first-ever single, "Love Me Do", as well as the B-side, "P.S. I Love
You", as session drummer Andy White was brought in by The Beatles' producer
George Martin at short notice; Starr played tamborine on the version of "Love Me
Do" featuring Andy White and maracas on "P.S. I Love You".
Starr generally sang at
least one song on each studio album, as part of establishing the vocal
personality of all four members. In some cases, Lennon or McCartney would write
the lyrics and melody especially for him, as Lennon did with "Good Night" from
the White Album, and as McCartney did for "Yellow Submarine" from Revolver
(1966). Often these melodies would be deliberately limited to take Starr's vocal
range into account—most of "With a Little Help from My Friends" (from Sgt.
Pepper) is sung within the space of five notes. However, he sang extremely few
backing vocals.
Lennon and McCartney were
the most prolific songwriters in The Beatles, Harrison wrote several songs, and
Starr is credited with two songs, "Don't Pass Me By" (from The White Album) and
"Octopus's Garden" (from Abbey Road), as sole songwriter. Starr's name also
appears as a co-writer: on Rubber Soul, the track "What Goes On" was co-written
by Lennon, McCartney and Starr; while the songs "Flying" (from Magical Mystery
Tour) and "Dig It" (from Let It Be) are listed as being written by Lennon,
McCartney, Harrison, and Starr; and "Maggie Mae" (from Let It Be) is credited as
"Traditional, arranged by Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey". As Starr commented
in The Beatles Anthology project, when he would present a song as a contender
for an album cut, the song would (to the other three Beatles) often sound like a
knockoff of another popular song, but Starr did not recognize the similarities
until they pointed it out. The White Album continued to show Starr's taste for
country music that he had brought into the band earlier, such as on the track
"Don't Pass Me By". On post break-up releases, Starr had more songwriting
credits: he wrote "Taking a Trip to Carolina" (on the second CD of Let It Be...
Naked), and received joint writing credits with the other three Beatles for
"12-Bar Original", "Los Paranoias", "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", and The
Beatles' version of "Free as a Bird".
After
The Beatles
After the breakup of The
Beatles on April 10, 1970, Starr released two albums before the end of that
year. Sentimental Journey featured Starr's renditions of many pre-rock standards
and included the production talents of Quincy Jones, George Martin and Paul
McCartney, among others. His next album, Beaucoups of Blues, put Starr in a
country context, and included legendary Nashville session musician Pete Drake.
He scored hit singles with "It Don't Come Easy" (1971) and "Back Off Boogaloo"
(1972), the latter of which was his biggest UK hit, peaking at #2. Starr
achieved two #1 hits in the US, with "Photograph" (co-written with Harrison) and
"You're Sixteen", both in 1973.
He also participated in
The Concert For Bangladesh organised by Harrison in 1971, as well as drumming on
Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Lennon's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and Yoko
Ono's early solo work. Indeed, his song "Early 1970" (the B-side of "It Don't
Come Easy") voiced a hope that he could remain friendly and play music with all
three of his former Beatle bandmates. Starr then made his debut as a film
director with the T. Rex documentary Born to Boogie. Starr became firm friends
with T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan and during the period of filming the
documentary, Starr released the single "Back Off Boogaloo".
Starr remains the only
Beatle to have failed to top the UK singles charts as a solo artist. He is also
the only Beatle to have failed to top the UK album listings, his highest
position being #7, achieved in the UK with both Sentimental Journey and Ringo;
the latter reached no lower than #2 in the USA, giving Starr his highest album
position there.
In 1971, he started a
furniture company with Robin Cruikshank and sold $4,000 coffee tables and a
donut-shaped fireplace designed by Starr. short article and picture
The 1973 album Ringo
remains his biggest-selling collection. Produced by Richard Perry with
participation by all three former bandmates on different tracks, Starr became
the most commercially successful ex-Beatle at that time. The album Goodnight
Vienna followed the next year and was also successful. Hits and notable tracks
from these two albums included "Photograph", the #1 chart topper "You're
Sixteen" (written by the Sherman Brothers) and "I'm The Greatest" (written by
Lennon) from Ringo, and "Only You (And You Alone)" and "No No Song" from
Goodnight Vienna. In late 1975 these singles and others were collected for
Ringo's first greatest hits compilation, Blast from Your Past, which was also
the last album to be released on Apple Records.
Starr's recording career
subsequently diminished in commercial impact, although he continued to record
and remained a familiar celebrity presence. Starr signed with Atlantic Records
in the mid '70s, and in 1976 the album Ringo's Rotogravure was released. While
it did feature a minor hit single, the album sold only fairly well. This caused
the label to revamp Starr's formula; the results were a curious blend of disco
and '70s pop. The album Ringo the 4th (1977) was a commercial disaster, and
Starr soon signed with Portrait Records. His stint with Portrait began on a
promising note: 1978 saw the release of Bad Boy, as well as a network TV
special. Sadly, neither were very popular, and Starr did not release another
album with Portrait.
In 1975, Starr founded
his own record label called Ring O'Records but only four albums were released on
it between 1975 and 1978 (Startling Music by David Hentschel, "Graham Bonnet" by
Graham Bonnet, "Restless" by Rab Noakes and a rerelease of an Apple Records
album by John Tavener, "The Whale"), as well as 16 singles by different artists
such as Bobby Keys, Carl Grossman, Colonel Doug Bogie, David Hentschel, Graham
Bonnet, Suzanne, Johnny Warman, Stormer, Rab Noakes and Dirk & Stig (the last
being names of characters from The Beatles pastiche band "The Rutles", created
by Eric Idle and Neil Innes.)
In 1980, George Harrison
wrote "All Those Years Ago" for Starr to sing on his album Stop and Smell the
Roses, but then took it back and sang a re-written version himself, including it
on his 1981 album Somewhere in England following John Lennon's murder. Starr,
along with Paul and Linda McCartney, also played on Harrison's track. Starr was
interviewed by Rolling Stone and Musician around this time. Stop and Smell the
Roses was a well regarded album, but again did not sell particularly well. The
Harrison-penned "Wrack My Brain" became Starr's last Top 40 single to date.
When John Lennon was
gunned down in 1980, Starr and his girlfriend Barbara immediately flew to New
York, to comfort Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. They were noted for having done so, as
Harrison and McCartney did not.
Old Wave, produced by Joe
Walsh, was released in 1983, but Starr's fortunes as a recording artist were put
in serious decline when the album was only released in Germany, Canada,
Scandinavia, Australia and Brazil (the album finally saw belated US release on
CD in 1994).
Thomas
the Tank Engine and Friends
In 1984, Starr narrated
the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. He was
unsure about taking the role at first, having never previously read the books by
Reverend Awdry, and at the time he felt that children would be more interested
in "dinosaurs with lasers." Nevertheless, he had a change of heart and took the
role, narrating the first two series. Starr also portrayed the character Mr.
Conductor in the program's American spin-off Shining Time Station, which debuted
in 1989. In an interview with Q Magazine in 1998, he admitted he was "really
pleased he did it".
In 1985, Starr played the
Mock Turtle in the film version of Alice in Wonderland.
Beginning in 1989,
following a stint in detox for alcoholism,[citation needed] Starr became a
visible presence on the summer touring scene, organizing a series of concert
tours under the name Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, teaming with well-known
musicians from various rock eras. The format of the concerts had Starr singing a
couple of his Beatles or solo songs, then each of the other musicians taking a
turn to sing one of their songs with Starr behind the drums, then Starr singing
a couple more, then another go around, and so on. In this way, Starr is relieved
from having to carry the full burden of the show, and the audience gets to hear
a variety of music. The eighth such All-Starr Band tour took place in 2003. A
2006 edition is currently set for a US tour.
The success of the
initial All-Starr tour led to Starr releasing his first album in nine years,
1992's Time Takes Time. It received substantial exposure and the track "Weight
Of The World" got considerable airplay. Critics were on balance positive about
Starr's return to the studio, but it would be another six years before the
artist would release a studio follow-up.
Other than the films
Starr did with The Beatles (A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965), Magical
Mystery Tour (1967), Let It Be (1970)) he has acted in several films such as
Candy (1968), The Magic Christian (1969) (alongside Peter Sellers), Blindman
(1971), Son of Dracula (1974) and Caveman (1981). For the 1979 documentary film
on The Who, The Kids Are Alright, Starr appeared in interview segments with
fellow drummer Keith Moon. He starred as Larry the Dwarf in Frank Zappa's 200
Motels (1971). His voice is also featured in Harry Nilsson's animated film The
Point! (1971). He co-starred in the British film That'll Be the Day (1973) as a
Teddy boy. He also played 'The Pope' in Ken Russell's Lisztomania (1975).
Recent
years
In 1991, Starr appeared
as himself in an episode of the animated comedy programme The Simpsons, titled
"Brush With Greatness". He was the first Beatle to ever appear on the show. Both
Harrison and McCartney have since lent their voices to the series. Tributes to
Lennon have appeared on the Simpsons over the years.
In the same year Starr
recorded the song You'll Never Know, which was played over the end credits in
the James Belushi motion picture Curly Sue.
In 1996, Starr appeared
in a Japanese advertisement for apple juice; 'ringo' is Japanese for 'apple'.
In the mid-1990s, Starr
appeared in an advertisement for Pizza Hut, pronouncing that the time is ripe
for 'the lads' to get back together. At the commercial's pay-off, he is joined
by three members of The Monkees and quips to the camera, "Wrong lads."
In 2000, he appeared in
the first of the "Smart Investor" TV commercials for Charles Schwab Brokerage.
In the commercial, Starr is trying to help a group of young songwriters come up
with a rhyme for "elation". Starr suggests such financial investment terms as
"dividend reinvestment participation", "market capitalization", "European market
fluctuation" and "asset allocation", as an instrumental version of the song
Money, recorded by The Beatles, plays in the background. At the commercial's
pay-off, he looks at the confused songwriters and says, "What? Too many
syllables?"
In 2001, Starr and
Harrison were both guest musicians on the Electric Light Orchestra's album Zoom,
playing on two tracks each.
In 2002 Starr was
inducted into the Percussive Hall of Fame joining the elite group of percussive
inductees, which includes Buddy Rich and William F. Ludwig, Sr. and his son.
On November 29, 2002,
Starr performed "Photograph" and a cover of Carl Perkins, "Honey Don't" at the
Concert For George held in the Royal Albert Hall, London, on the first
anniversary of Harrison's death. According to the official website, "Ringo Starr
caught everyone with a tear in their eye with a rendition of "Photograph", a
composition he wrote with George, which seemed to sum up how everyone felt." The
song includes the lines, "But all I've got is a photograph / and I realize
you're not coming back anymore".
When drummer Carl Palmer
was asked by fans in Mexico City about his drumset he used in a tour with
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (reportedly valued at $25,000), his answer was that he
sold it to Ringo.
In 2003, Starr began
recording for the independent label Koch Records, releasing Ringo Rama that year
and Choose Love in 2005; the former includes his stylish tribute to Harrison,
"Never Without You", and the latter features appearances by Billy Preston and
Chrissie Hynde.
In January 2005, it was
announced that comic book creator Stan Lee would be working with Starr to
produce a new animated musical superhero based on Starr.
In September 2005,
Liverpool City Council decided they would bulldoze Starr's birthplace as it had
'no historical significance' [3] , despite a previous reprieve back in July.
[4]. The LCC later announced that the building would be taken apart brick by
brick and preserved after all. [5]
Starr toured again in the
summer of 2006, with an All-Starr Band featuring Sheila E. on percussion,
bassist Hamish Stuart (formerly of The Average White Band and Paul McCartney's
touring band), and Edgar Winter. The tour was underway on Ringo's 66th birthday,
July 7, 2006, when the All-Starr Band performed in Clearwater, Florida.
Starr appeared on the
Tonight Show with Jay Leno on June 20, 2006. He sang two songs; "What Goes On"
from Rubber Soul and "With a Little Help from My Friends" from Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Most recently, Ringo
featured on the Jerry Lee Lewis 2006 duet album, Last Man Standing; he performed
a cover, with Lewis, of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen".
Other
information
All four of The Beatles
were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when the group was inducted in
1988. Since then, John Lennon (1994), Paul McCartney (1999), and George Harrison
(2004) have been inducted for their solo careers as well. Ringo has yet to be
elevated as a solo artist.
Ringo's Website is
updated by Ringo himself, most notably with video clips that remain archived, on
a somewhat regular basis (as of August 2006).
Ringo Starr's mantra is
'Peace and Love, Peace and Love, Peace and Love'.
Starr has a number of
food allergies, to the point that when he traveled to India with the other
Beatles, he had to take his own food with him.[citation needed]
All-Starr Band editions
1989 Ringo Starr,
Clarence Clemons, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Dr. John, Jim Keltner, Nils Lofgren,
Billy Preston, Joe Walsh
1992 Ringo Starr, Timmy
Cappello, Burton Cummings, Dave Edmunds, Nils Lofgren, Todd Rundgren, Timothy B.
Schmit, Zak Starkey, Joe Walsh
1995 Ringo Starr, Randy
Bachman, Felix Cavaliere, John Entwistle, Mark Farner, Billy Preston, Mark
Rivera, Zak Starkey
1997-98 Ringo Starr, Gary
Brooker, Jack Bruce, Peter Frampton, Simon Kirke, Mark Rivera (dropped in
rehearsals – Dave Mason)
1999 Ringo Starr, Gary
Brooker, Jack Bruce, Timmy Cappello, Simon Kirke, Todd Rundgren (dropped off
before start – Joe Walsh)
2000 Ringo Starr, Jack
Bruce, Eric Carmen, Dave Edmunds, Simon Kirke, Mark Rivera
2001 Ringo Starr, Sheila
E., Greg Lake, Ian Hunter, Howard Jones, Roger Hodgson, Mark Rivera
2003 Ringo Starr, Paul
Carrack, Sheila E., Colin Hay, John Waite, Mark Rivera
2006 Ringo Starr, Rod
Argent, Hamish Stuart, Richard Marx, Billy Squier, Sheila E., Edgar Winter
****
References
^ "Meat the beat of the
Beatles", Washington Times, 26 November 2004.
^ "Ringo's Importance as
a Person", quoting from: Green, John; Dakota Days, 1983, St. Martin's Press
^ a b PAS Hall of Fame,
Ringo Starr
^ a b "Ringo's Drumming"
^ The Beatles Ultimate
Experience Database: Ringo Starr 1976 Interview
^ "Postcards From The
Boys"
^ "Ringo's Importance to
the Beatles as Their Drummer"
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