Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey on July 7th 1940 in Dingle, Liverpool. His parents Richard and Elise resided at 9 Madryn Street in a poor and rough working class area in Liverpool.

When he was three, his dad left and soon after that he moved around the corner to 10 Admiral Grove. He went to school at St. Silas Infants School and at the age of six he developed appendicitis and went into a ten-week coma.

Despite his doctors insistence that that he wouldn’t live, he slowly got better even if he did add an additional six months stay in hospital by falling out of his bed. His education suffered as a result, which would influence him to leave school at an early age.

His mother remarried in 1953 and Ringo got his first job, as a messenger with the British Railroad. He later worked as a barman on a boat but was fired when he turned up drunk one morning.

In 1957 while working for an engineering firm as an apprentice joiner, he formed the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group with some fellow work mates. For Christmas that year he was given his first real set of drums by his step-dad Harry Graves.

Then he joined the Darktown Skiffle Group before eventually joining Al Caldwell’s Texans who would change their name to Rory Storm and The Hurricanes. By 1960 they were the top band in Liverpool.

This was the year that Ringo made the decision that would change his life. The Hurricanes were offered a thirteen-week run at Butlins in Wales and Ringo knew that if he were to go to Wales he’d have to give up his job as an apprentice joiner.

His girlfriend and family were unable to stop him and so he set off for Wales with the other four members, Rory Storm, Charlie O’Brien, Wally Egmond and John Byrnes.

Things began to look good for Ringo now. His bad health was behind him and after a successful stint in Butlins, they were given the chance to go to Germany. They soon began topping the bill at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg and it was here that Ringo would meet The Beatles for the first time. They began to get on well with each other and after Hamburg the Hurricanes went to France to play at some U.S air force bases before returning to Liverpool.

At the age of 22 he returned to Hamburg, this time to drum for Tony Sheridan at the Top Ten Club, but later he returned to the Hurricanes for their third season at Butlins. In August he was asked to replace Pete Best in the Beatles and he played with them for the first time as their official drummer on August 18th 1962.

He joined The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios on September 4th for their recording session with E.M.I. They recorded ‘Love Me Do’ and returned a week later, but this time E.M.I. had organised a session drummer Andy White to take over on drums. Ringo got to play tambourine on ‘Love Me Do’ and maracas on ‘P.S. I Love You’. Initially, Ringo’s version was released, (this is easily identified by the rare red label) however in April 1963, Andy White’s version was released and the single reached No.17 in the charts, just the beginning.

One year later Beatlemania was sweeping Britain and Ireland, when The Beatles arrived in Dublin to play at the Adelphi Theatre on Abbey Street on the 7th November 1963. In 1964 Ringo was back in Ireland to play the Kings Hall in Belfast.

On February 11th 1965 he married Maureen Cox and seven months later, he became a dad when Zak Starkey was born on September 13th.

The Beatles toured the world until 1966. Ringo then began to enjoy life with Maureen and a second son Jason was born on August 19th 1967. Over the next two years Ringo began concentrating on a solo career as the end of The Beatles was inevitable. In January 1969 they played on top of the Apple Building roof, but that was their last live public performance.

They returned to the studio to record one final album ‘Abbey Road’ which included the Ringo composition ‘Octopus’s Garden’, and the band officially disbanded in 1970.

In April 1970, he released his debut album ‘Sentimental Journey’ which featured people like Maurice Gibb, Elmer Bernstein and Quincy Jones. Six months later his Nashville recorded album ‘Beaucoups Of Blues’ and title track and single are released. In November 1970 he became a dad for the third time when daughter Lee Parkin Starkey was born. The following year was a very busy one for him.

In April he released the single ‘It Don’t Come Easy’ and joined George Harrison in Madison Square Garden for the Concert for Bangladesh. He starred in two more films, ‘Blindman’, and Frank Zappa’s ‘200 Motels’ and also co-formed a design company. The following year the film work continued. He directed a film about T. Rex called ‘Born To Boogie’, produced and starred in ‘Son Of Dracula’ and worked on ‘That’ll Be The Day’.

His interest in music continued with the release of the Harrison-produced ‘Back Off Boogaloo’. He also showed up on George’s ‘Living In The Material World’ album and he bought Tittenhurst Park from John. His next single ‘Photograph’ gave him his first U.S. No.1. This was followed quickly by another No.1 ‘You’re Sixteen’ which featured Paul McCartney on kazoo vocal. This was followed closely with the release of his self-titled album ‘Ringo’ which was the first post-Beatle album to feature all four Beatles.

1974 brought another Top 5 single ‘Oh My My’ and the album ‘Goodnight Vienna’ which again featured John, Paul and George. His marriage was now on the rocks as Ringo hit the bottle. He started a production company called ‘Reckangrade Ltd’, appeared in the film ‘Harry and Ringo’s Night Out’ with Harry Nilsson and he played on George’s ‘Dark Horse’ album.

Two more singles ‘Only You’ (a cover of the Platters hit) and ‘No No Song’ and a best of compilation ‘Blast From The Past’ were released during 1975, and on July 17th Ringo and wife Maureen divorced. He also appeared as the Pope in Ken Russell’s film ‘Lisztomania’.

At the age of 36 Ringo’s career began to take a nose-dive. He signed with Polydor in England and released the album ‘Ringo’s Rotogravure’ but the album and subsequent singles failed to do anything in the charts. His next album ‘Bad Boy’ didn’t do much better, so it was back to the film career. He played a director in the Mae West film ‘Sextette’, appeared briefly in The Who’s ‘The Kids Are All Right’ and he was involved in The Band’s Concert Film ‘The Last Waltz’. He released the album ‘Ringo The 4th’ and provided the voice of ‘Scouse the Mouse’ in the animated special and album of the same name.

In April 1979 while in Monte Carlo, he collapsed with intestinal problem and was rushed to hospital where doctors removed several feet of intestine. As ever Ringo recovered and a month later he joined Paul and George to perform at Eric Clapton’s wedding to Pattie Boyd (George’s ex-wife).

To complete a bad year, fire destroyed his Los Angeles home and most of his huge collection of Beatle memorabilia was lost. While filming ‘Caveman’ in Mexico in early 1980 he met former James Bond girl Barbara Bach. Later that year they were involved in a car crash, less than half a mile from where Marc Bolan was killed, but they escape unhurt.

Paul begins working with Ringo on a new album and John gives him four new songs for the album but John won’t live to see its release. The day after John’s death, Ringo and Barbara fly to New York to comfort Yoko. Ringo flies to Montserrat in early ’81 to play drums on Paul’s new album ‘Tug Of War’ and in April Paul and George are guests at the wedding of Ringo and Barbara. Later that year he releases ‘Stop And Smell The Roses’ which features Paul and George. The album also includes a new version of ‘Back Off Boogaloo’, featuring a medley of The Beatles and Starr songs.

Along with wife Barbara, Paul and Linda, he appears in the eleven-minute movie ‘The Cooler’. The film actually gets shown at the Cannes Film Festival. He later turns up on Paul’s ‘Take It Away’ video. ‘Old Wave’, his ninth solo album is released in the summer of ’83 but it wont be released in the U.S or the U.K until 1994. He appears on Paul’s new album ‘Pipes Of Peace’ and makes a cameo appearance in the television adaptation of ‘Princess Daisy’.

Independence Day 1984 sees Ringo play two gigs with the Beach Boys in one day, in Washington and Miami. With his wife Barbara they appear in Paul’s film ‘Give My Regards To Broad Street’ and he narrates the children’s series ‘Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends’, which will become a long running world-wide success.

The mid-eighties saw Ringo appear with George and Eric Clapton in ‘Water’. He plays a mock turtle in a television adaptation of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and stars in Bill Wymans ‘Willie And The Poor Boys’ video.

On September 7th he becomes the first Beatle to be a grandfather when Zak and Sarah have a daughter Tatia Jayne. Later that year, along with son Zak they turn up on the Artists United Against Apartheid album.

The following summer he performs at the Prince’s Trust Concert at Wembley singing ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ with George, Jeff Lynne and Elton John. He also finds time to open a restaurant called ‘The Brasserie’ in London, films several commercials and appeared briefly in ‘The Return Of Bruno’ starring Bruce Willis.

The latter part of the eighties sees Ringo appear in George Harrison’s ‘When We Was Fab’ video and on the album ‘Cloud Nine’. He also records ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ for the Disney Album ‘Stay Awake’, ‘Spirit Of The Forest’, an ecology benefit single and records ‘Act Naturally’ with Buck Owens.

On July 23rd 1989 Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band begin a 30-date tour of the U.S. He also blocks the release of the Chips Maman-produced album, an album he had recorded with alcoholic beverages in the studio. He appears in the Tom Petty video ‘I Wont Back Down’ and the album ‘Starr Struck’, a compilation of his hits between ’76 and ’83 is released, and he finally sells Tittenhurst Park.

The beginning of a new decade sees the release of the ‘Ringo and the All Starr Live’ album. In April he adds his voice to the T.V show ‘The Simpson’s’ and appears via video at the John Lennon Scholarship Concert in Liverpool singing ‘I Call Your Name’. He donates a live-version of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ to the Romanian Appeal project ‘Nobody’s Child’.

He starts work on a new album in 1991 and records ‘You Never Know’ for the movie ‘Curly Sue’. The following summer he’s back on the road again with the All Starr Band, this time with son Zak on board. The tour covers Europe this time. He also contributes new interview material for the television special marking the 25th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper. He joins Paul McCartney on stage at the Hollywood Bowl for the finale of ‘Hey Jude’ at the Earth Day Concert.

In January 1994, Ringo joins George and Paul in the studio to record John Lennon’s ‘Free As A Bird’, the first new Beatles song in 25 years. This year would also see Ringo lose three of his closest friends. Harry Nilsson died of a heart attack in January, his stepfather, Harry Graves, died of pneumonia in August and Ringo and his three children were at Maureen’s beside when his ex-wife died of complications from a bone marrow transplant in December.

The three remaining Beatles we back together in 1995 to record ‘Real Love’ and tape more interviews for the planned Anthology video. He also records ‘Lay Down Your Arms’ with Stevie Nicks for a Harry Nilsson tribute album. He goes back on the road with the All Starr Band taking in Japan and the U.S.

He cancels the last six dates and returns to London where his daughter Lee has been hospitalised. She will later recover after successful surgery for a brain tumour.

He tapes a commercial for Pizza Hut with the re-formed Monkees. It is rumoured that he is paid half-a-million dollars for the ad. In December the single ‘Free As A Bird’ hits No.2 in Britain but the album Anthology I tops the U.S charts. Despite been named ‘Least Welcome Comeback’ in Rolling Stones Magazine, Anthology II tops the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and the third in the series will also go to No.1 stateside.

April 1997 sees Ringo and his All Starr Band on the road again. This time the band consists of Pete Frampton, Jack Bruce (Cream), Gary Brookes (Procal Harum) and Simon Kirke (Free) and Mark Rivera. He records with Paul McCartney on the ‘Flaming Pie’ album and begins work on his new solo album. The Anthology CDs are confirmed as having sold over 20 million copies and over 148 million viewers have seen the T.V series world-wide.

July 1998 sees the release of his tenth solo album ‘Vertical Man’. The album includes a who’s who of rock music, including Paul, George, Brian Wilson, Alanis Morrisette, Steven Tyler and Tom Petty to name but a few.

August 20th sees Ringo return to play a concert in Dublin for the first time in 35 years. He also meets Beatles Ireland and becomes an Executive Honorary Member of our club.

Copyright: Bill Harry, from 'The Beatles Encyclopedia', published by Virgin Publications.

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