Ringo Starr Biography |
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Richard Starkey Jr. was an only child of English working-class parents. His father left the family when Ringo was three, and young Starkey endured a somewhat sickly childhood with recurring bouts of tuberculosis. He got his first set of drums at 13, and dropped out of school at 15. After that, Starr worked as a delivery man and drummed for Rory Storm & The Hurricanes. He was hired to replace drummer Pete Best as the fourth and final Beatle, and alongside John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. Despite the band`s phenomenal success, Starr has been described as a merely adequate drummer. He sang on only a handful of their songs -- "Yellow Submarine", "With a Little Help from My Friends" -- and wrote only two of their songs, "Octopus` Garden" and "Don`t Pass Me By".
After the Beatles broke up, Starr had solo hits including "It Don`t Come Easy", "Photograph", "You`re 16", and "Oh My My", while doing the occasional light acting. He narrated the delightful Harry Nilsson cartoon The Point, then produced Son of Dracula film starring Nilsson as the Count and Starr as Merlin the Magician. Starr co-starred in Mae West`s last film, Sextette, and starred in the Caveman with Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, and Barbara Bach. Bach and Starr were married in 1981. He played the Mock Turtle in a 1986 BBC telemovie of Alice in Wonderland. He was the train`s conductor on Shining Time Station in 1990 and 1991, until he was replaced by George Carlin. Starr tours with his All Starr Band, with a varying lineup that has included Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Colin Hay, Paul Carrack, Mark Rivera, and Sheila E, as well as Ringo`s drummer son Zak. Biography Credit: www.nndb.com/people/071/000023002/ |
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Trivia |
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BiographyPetsTiger DogTrivia and QuotesQuotes about his early drumming years with The Beatles] I started to be an engineer but I banged me thumb on the first day. I became a drummer because it was the only thing I could do. But whenever I hear another drummer I know I`m no good. [John Lennon] taught me the song I sing. I can only play on the off beat because John can`t keep up on the rhythm guitar. I`m no good on the technical things but I`m good with all the motions, swinging my head, like. That`s because I love to dance but you can`t do that on the drums. I figure we`re good for another four years. I don`t want to invest me money in stocks or anything. I just want to have it and draw 20 or 30 quid a week. The main thing is, I don`t ever want to go back to work. don`t like talking. It`s how I`m built. Some people gab all day and some play it smogo. I don`t mind talking or smiling, it`s just I don`t do it very much. I haven`t got a smiling face or a talking mouth. I remember the day Zak was born. It was the first time I`d felt totally useless. There was Maureen having our baby. She kept on crying "Help!" and I kept asking "How?" I think the most exciting thing is that you expect people our age to know the music, but actually a lot of kids know the music, and if anything is left, we have left really good music, and that`s the important part, not the mop-tops or whatever. I`d like to end up sort of unforgettable. I`ve never been able to sit round on my own and play drums, practice in the back room, never been able to. I`ve always played with other musicians. It`s how I play, there`s no joy for me in playing on my own, bashing away. I need a bass, a piano, guitar, whatever, and then I can play. [on is marriage to Maureen Cox] She`s just sort of ordinary, she`s from Liverpool. And the genuine fans wrote in saying, you know, "If you are going with her, good luck and I hope you`re happy". [on meeting Elvis Presley in 1965] The saddest part is that, years and years later, we found out that he tried to have us banished from America, because he was very big with the FBI. That`s very sad to me, that he felt so threatened that he thought, like a lot of people, that we were bad for American youth. This is Mr. Hips, the man, and he felt we were a danger. I think that the danger was mainly to him and his career.Trivia Wasn`t the oldest or the youngest member of the Beatles, he was one of the 2 members of the Beatles that were in beween the oldest, and the youngest member of the beatles, Before becoming an official member of The Beatles in 1962, he played many gigs with them and made recordings during 1960 and 1961 in Liverpool and in Hamburg, Germany. Got his first set of drums as a present from his stepfather, who brought them back from London. Was able to turn professional with a £25 loan from his grandfather Starkey to make a deposit on a better drum set, made by Ludwig. He is three months older than John Lennon, who founded The Beatles, and the last to join the group, technically making him both the oldest and youngest Beatle. Inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame as a member of The Beatles on January 20, 1988. Is left-handed, though he plays a right-handed drum set and makes unusual accents and stops. Missed several years of school, because of illness growing up. Learned to read and write with the help of a neighbor girl, who became his babysitter. The three children he had with Maureen Cox are sons Zak (a featured drummer with The Who) and Jason and daughter Lee. Though Paul McCartney is the most successful ex-Beatle, Ringo actually had more solo US Top ten hits. (McCartney performed most of his Top Tens with Wings). Two of his biggest solo hits, "It Don`t Come Easy" and "Photograph", featured ex-bandmate George Harrison on guitar and backing vocals. Wrote the song "Octopus`s Garden" while on vacation. He claims to have got the idea for the song after conversing with a chef about octopi. | ||
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