It’s Starr time!

IT’S no secret that I love the music of The Beatles. And it’s always been a dream of mine – since I was a young lad - to be able to sit down and chat with any of remaining Fab Four. (I also harboured hopes to jam with George Harrison, he seemed to be doing a lot of that at the time). I remember thinking, “If I could manage that, I’d retire a happy man.” Of course, I said that because I never thought that in a million years, I’d be sitting down and chatting with the one and only Ringo Starr.

(photo by Rob Shanahan) Many things have already been said about Ringo - and if you consider the Beatles Anthology they did in the 1990s, most of it was said by the man himself. How he grew up in Liverpool; why he changed his name from Richard Starkey to Ringo Starr; how he joined The Beatles; his modest success after The Fab Four broke up as he entered acting and other entertainment-related activities; how he formed the All-Starr Band; and so on… But what’s interesting is that while many consider him to be the affable Beatle, he had enough cajones to be the first one to quit the band in 1968 when they started infighting. He may not regularly make the Top 10 list of best drummers of all time, but just listen to tracks like The Beatles' version of Long Tall Sally, Rain, She Said She Said and Strawberry Fields Forever, and you can instantly tell he’s more than a human metronome. And many musicians – not just John, Paul and George - have credited Ringo for redefining the way drums are played (eg, using the “matched grip” to hold the drum sticks; or leading off with the left hand on a right-handed drumset). I mean, Ringo is so cool, he was the voice of Thomas The Tank Engine (and the train conductor on Shining Time Station), and the guy who got the Bond babe Barbara Bach. And he has more friends than you can shake a stick – nay a whole caber - at, should he ever need a little help when recording his albums, like this latest one, Ringo 2012. The guests musicians on the roster here read like a who’s who – including regular collaborator Joe Walsh (James Gang, The Eagles), jazz legend Charlie Haden, Richard Page (Mr Mister), Don Was and Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers).