Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band perform July 6 at the Fox Theatre.
It was 50 years ago today (OK, technically not until Aug. 16) that Ringo Starr taught the band to play, replacing Pete Best as drummer for what would ultimately prove the most popular rock group ever. Over the past six decades, the artist born Richard Starkey, to quote Journey’s Steve Smith, “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” of a band. In short, the often-hilarious Ringo proved drummers were no joke.
Though John Lennon and Paul McCartney deservedly get most of the credit for the Beatles’ myriad hits, Ringo’s role in the band’s success is often underrated. His offbeat drumming was massively influential, with Rolling Stone naming him the fifth-best drummer of all time. He performed lead vocals on such major hits such as “With a Little Help From My Friends” and “Yellow Submarine,” and wrote Beatles classics such as “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Octopus’s Garden.” His unusual turns of phrase (known as “Ringoisms”) were the inspiration for songs such as “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and he occasionally contributed lyrics to unfinished Lennon/ McCartney tunes like “Eleanor Rigby.”
Since the band’s breakup in 1970, Starr has had as diverse and varied a career as a rock star could hope for. He worked with all of his former Beatles bandmates on various projects, and has recorded solo material in styles ranging from early 20th-century pop standards and country, to disco and pop. He’s also acted in various films, starred on two children’s TV shows (including “Thomas the Tank Engine”) and even created avant-garde designs for his own furniture company.
These days, Starr (who released his latest album, Ringo 2012, earlier this year) tours regularly with his aptly named All-Starr Band, which includes such revered rock legends as Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Rick Derringer, Richard Page of Mr. Mister and Wally Palmar of the Romantics. Now in his early 70s, the remarkably youthful Ringo’s legacy would easily allow him to dominate the spotlight. But instead he spreads his mantra of peace and love by giving each All-Starr time to shine, proving that he still gets by with a little help from his friends.
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Bret Love is the founder of ecotourism/conservation site GreenGlobalTravel.com; the national managing editor of INsite magazine; and music editor for Georgia Music Magazine. He freelances for more than a dozen other national and international publications, and performs on numerous improv teams with Jackpie at Relapse Theatre.
