RINGO STARR: What a Life!

Many look upon Ringo Starr as that second-rate substitute who replaced the original Beatle's drummer Pete Best.  Did not add much to the team and was never really accepted and respected as a real Beatle.  Said to be the fourth-most important member of a four-person band.  Well, maybe not.

Who is Ringo Starr?

“Ultimately what’s most impressive about Ringo Starr isn’t what he’s been, but rather who he is,” wrote Rolling Stone rock critic David Wild. “The man’s great heart and soul, his wit and wisdom.” Indeed, his music has always emanated from his warmth, humor, and exceptional skill, manifesting in songs we know and love: With A Little Help From My Friends, Don’t Pass Me By, Octopus’ Garden, Photograph, It Don’t Come Easy, Back Off Boogaloo, You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine), Don’t Go Where the Road Don’t Go, The No No Song, and Never Without You, to name a few. Since beginning his career with The Beatles in the 1960s, Ringo has been one of the world’s brightest musical luminaries. He has enjoyed a successful, dynamic solo career as a singer, songwriter, drummer, collaborator, and producer – releasing 18 solo studio albums to date. He is also an acclaimed actor appearing in over 15 films. Drawing inspiration from classic blues, soul, country, honky-tonk and rock ‘n’ roll, he continues to play an important recording, touring, and unofficial mentoring role in modern music.

Or from Quora:

• 
  Born as Richard Starkey in Liverpool, and according to American biographer Bob Stitz, referred to Ringo as a Dickensian chronicle of misfortune.
• At the age of 6 contracted appendicitis, which led to peritonitis, causing him to fall into a coma for several days.  Took 12 months to recover.
• That ailment resulted in an over-protective mother who had him staying at home and avoiding school.  He was mostly illiterate, with some tutoring.

• 
  Parents divorced, he lived with his mother, who had to work at menial jobs and as a barmaid for 12 years.
• His home was miserable, opened onto an outhouse, and was in a soot-filled environment with high crime.
• Was stricken with tuberculosis at the age of 13, and remained in a sanatarium for two years.  Then stayed at home instead of going to school.  
• Was encourage by the medical staff to stimulate motor activity and relieve boredom to join the hospital band.  Used a makeshift mallet and cabinets next to his bed to learn drumming.  Began working on the railway at the age of 15.

• 
  Shortly thereafter, helped form a skiffle band, playing songs such as Rock Island Line.
• Got a second-hand drum kit in 1957, but the skiffle craze faded as American Rock and Roll become popular in the UK.
• Joined the Hurricanes in 1960, and one of their stops was in Hamburg with the Beatles, where the Hurricanes had top billing.  While there, Starr occasionally played drums with the Beatles.

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  In August of 1960 Ringo replaced Pete Best as drummer for the Beatles.  Best fans revolted in Hamburg, leaving George Harrison with a black eye and manager Brian Epstein car tires flattened.  The Beatles hired a bodyguard.

• 
  Recorded Love Me Do with the Beatles in 1962.
• Beatlemania came in 1963, with a 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show to a record 73 million viewers.
• Their first film, A Hard Day's Night, was released in 1964, and Starr was the one who gained praise for his deadpan one-liners.

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  In the 1965 movie Help?, polls indicated he was the leading Beatle.  Film got good 86/86 ratings from Rotten Tomatoes.
• However, as the Beatles began shifting away from traditional rock into new territory, Ringo was left out.
• Beatles released Revolver in 1966, the song Yellow Submarine, with Starr as the lead singer, was the only British #1 song.
• In August of 1966, they gave their final concert, only a 30-minute performance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.  After four years of touring.  They had enough.

• 
  In 1967 came Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, where Starr's lead vocal, was With a Little Help from My Friends.  His feeling of alienation increased as he was being minimized.  How many people and items on the cover?  87, including Shirley Temple, Nelson Mandela, Mae West and many others.
• Brian Epstein died in August of 1967, leaving the group with no management skills.
• The Beatles began falling apart.

• 
  While recording the White Album (listen to the entire album of 1hr33min) in 1968 in India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, relations in the group deteriorated.  Starr became tired of McCartney's overbearing approach, and briefly quit the Beatles.

• 
  Ringo returned for Abbey Road in 1969 the Beatle's fourth film, Let It Be in 1970. 
• However, it was in September on 1969 that John Lennon told the others that he was leaving the band immediately.  The final breakup was not publicly known until McCartney's announcement on 10 April 1970 of his planned departure.

From Wikipedia:

• Ringo Starr was born 2 months before me in 1940, and is now 84 years old.
• Replaced Pete Best with the Beatles in 1962.
• Married Maureen Cox in 1965.  Three children.  Divorced in 1975.  Cox died of leukemia at the age of 48 in 1994.  Was the first Beatle to become a grandfather in 1985...and first great-grandfather in 2016.

• 
  Met actress Barbara Bach in 1980, and they got married the following year.  They are still together.
• Lead singer of one song from most Beatles albums, although he did have a limited baritone vocal range.
• However, after the group disbanded, had two #1 Billboard hits with Photograph (he wrote this with George Harrison) and You're Sixteen, and another in the top ten, It Don't Come Easy.

• 
  Almost died again in 1979 when he again suffered from peritonitis, and had several feet of intestines removed.  Also that year, a fire destroyed his Hollywood home and much of his Beatles memorabilia.  The following year, survived a serious car crash
• In 1988 entered a detox clinic for alcoholism.
• Since 1989 has toured with thirteen variations of Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.
• As a Beatle, won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be.
• Has acted in 15 films.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a Beatle in 1988 and a solo artist in 2015.

• 
  A book about him was released in 2005, Ringo Starr:  A Life.
• Is worth $250 million.  Paul McCartney is a billionaire.
• Is a vegetarian and meditates daily.
• A minor planet is named  4250 Starr.
• Was knighted in 2018 and is officially known as Sir Richard Starkey
• What have we learned from Ringo?  PEACE and LOVE.

• The Beatles charted 64 songs between 1964 and 1970, with 20 hitting #1.

• 

  The Rolling Stones have had 38 top ten albums, 9 reaching #1.

• 

  The Beatles lasted 8 years.
• The Stones were founded in 1962, and 62 years later, they are still touring.  
• Final Hackney Diamonds Tour date will be on 17July2024 in Santa Clara, California.  Their current drummer is Steve Jordon of the USA.  
• Wouldn't it be something if Ringo shows up on that day for a final set?

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