Starr, Ringo (originally, Starkey, Richard)

Starr, Ringo (originally, Starkey, Richard), drummer, singer, songwriter; b. Dingle, Liverpool, England, July 7, 1940. With his straightforward dmmming, undistinguished voice, and infrequent songwriting, Ringo Starr was not expected to do much after the breakup of the Beatles, yet he managed a string of smash singles from 1971 to 1975 with cover songs, Hoyt Axton’s “No No Song,” and three originals—“It Don’t Come Easy,” “Back Off Boogaloo,” and “Photograph.” Enjoying his greatest album success with 1973’s Ringo, Starr faded from public view in the 1980s, only to return as leader of an all-star rock-and-roll revue, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, for tours in 1989, 1992, and 1995.

Ringo Starr took up drums after high school, eventually joining Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In 1961 he met Brian Epstein and subsequently joined the Beatles as Pete Best’s replacement in August 1962. During the career of the Beatles, Starr was constantly overshadowed by the group’s more talented members, developing the image of a cheerful, self-effacing buffoon in concerts and movies. He sang occasional lead vocals on songs such as “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “Matchbox,” “Honey Don’t,” “Boys,” and the minor hits “Act Naturally” and “What Goes On,” and contributed two songs to the group’s catalog, “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Octopus’s Garden.” His biggest success as a lead singer came with 1966’s “Yellow Submarine” and the classic “With a Little Help from My Friends,” perhaps the crowning achievement of his career with the Beatles.

After appearing in a cameo role in the 1969 film Candy, Ringo Starr costarred with Peter Sellers in 1970’s The Magic Christian. His debut solo album, Sentimental Journey, was comprised of Tin Pan Alley standards, and his next, Beaucoups of Blues, featured country material. In 1971 he scored a smash hit with “It Don’t Come Easy,” performed at George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh in August, and appeared in the role of Frank Zappa in Zappa’s outlandish movie 200 Motels. He had a near-smash hit with his own “Back Off Boogaloo” in 1972, and later appeared in the films Son of Dracula (with Harry Nilsson), the highly acclaimed That’ll Be the Day, and the western Blindman. He also directed the film documentary of Marc Bolan, Born to Boogie.

Recorded under producer Richard Perry, Ringo Starr’s first album in three years, Ringo, yielded the top hits “Photograph” (cowritten by Starr and George Harrison) and the rock classic “You’re Sixteen” (a nearsmash hit for Johnny Burnette in 1960) plus the smash “Oh, My, My”; it also contained one song written by each of the former Beatles, including John Lennon’s ironic “I’m the Greatest.” Perry also produced Goodnight Vienna, which included two smash hits, “Only You” (originally popularized by the Platters) and Hoyt Axton’s humorous antidrug “No No Song” (backed as a single by Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Snookero”). The album also produced a moderate hit with John Lennon’s “It’s All Down to Goodnight Vienna.” The compilation set Blast from Your Past included “Early 1970,” Starr’s song about the breakup of the Beatles.

Ringo Starr switched to Atlantic Records for Ringo’s Rotogravure, which yielded his last major hit, “A Dose of Rock ’n’ Roll.” After Ringo the Fourth he moved to Portrait Records for Bad Boy and Boardwalk Records for Stop and Smell the Roses, which produced his last moderate hit with George Harrison’s “Wrack My Brain.” In 1981 Starr costarred in the inane movie Caveman opposite Barbara Bach, whom he subsequently married. Joe Walsh produced Starr’s 1983 album Old Wave, but it was never released in the United States. Starr appeared in Paul McCartney’s disastrous 1984 movie Give My Regards to Broad Street, and legally prevented the release of recordings made in 1987 under Memphis producer Chips Moman.

Ringo Starr and his wife conquered their alcohol problem in 1988, and Ringo played the diminutive Mr. Conductor in the children’s public television show Shining Time Station from 1989 to 1991. In 1989 Starr assembled a stellar cast for his first tour in 23 years. The All-Starr Band included guitarists Nils Löfgren and Joe Walsh, keyboardists Billy Preston and Dr. John, saxophonist Clarence demons, bassist Rick Danko, and drummers Jim Keltner and Levon Helm. The tour produced a live album on Rykodisc. Ringo’s next tour, in 1992, featured holdovers Löfgren and Walsh, multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren, guitarist Dave Edmunds, vocalist Burton Cummings, bassist Timothy B. Schmit, and Ringo’s drummer son Zak Starkey. Earlier in the year Ringo had recorded Time Takes Time, but the album failed to sell despite favorable reviews, a stellar backing cast, and the inclusion of “Weight of the World” and “Don’t Go Where the Road Don’t Go.” When Ringo Starr toured again in 1995, he was accompanied by vocalist Felix Cavaliere, guitarists Randy Bachman and Mark Farner, keyboardist Billy Preston, bassist John Entwistle, and Zak Starkey.

Starr appeared in the 1995 Beatles’ TV documentary, and he drummed on the two new tracks recorded by Paul McCartney and George Harrison for the Anthology set of Beatles recordings. Always good-humored about his past role as part of the Fab Four, he satirized persistent reunion rumors earlier in the year by appearing in a commercial for Pizza Hut, where he is mistakenly reunited with the Pre-Fab Four, The Monkees!

Discography

Sentimental journey (1970); Beaucoups of Blues (1970); Ringo (1973); Goodnight Vienna (1974); Blast from Your Past (1975); Ringo’s Rotogravure (1976); Ringo the Fourth (1977); Bad Boy (1978); Stop and Smell the Roses (1981); Old Wave (1994); Starr Struck: Ringo’s Best, Vol. 2 (1976–1983) (1989); R. S. and His All-Starr Band (1990); Time Takes Time (1992).

—Brock Helander