Ringo Starr's Biography!
Ringo Starr
1940-
Richard Starkey was born on July 7, 1940 in the front room of
his house at 9 Madryn Street in Liverpool's Dingle Area,
possibly the roughest area of the city. His parents were Elsie
and Richard Starkey Sr. He was an only child. He was called
Ritchie.
When Ritchie was only three years old, his parents parted, and
except for about three occasions, Ringo has not seen his
father since. However, there was nothing like the drama of the
Lennon breakup. The couple seemed to have separated
peacefully, and they were eventually divorced. Ritchie stayed
with his mother at Madryn Street, but they eventually moved to
10 Admiral Grove, virtually just around the corner.
Ritchie went to St. Silas's Junior School at five years of
age, but after just one year, he developed appendicitis. The
appendix burst and peritonitis set in. He was taken to Myrtle
Street Children's Hospital and had two operations. He went
into a coma for ten weeks, and was in the hospital [Ritchie]
for just over twelve months. He came out of the
hospital at the age of seven and went back to St. Silas's. At
this point, he was unable to even read or write, but with the
help of a childhood friend, Marie Maguire, he learned basic
literacy skills. Then at eleven years of age, he attended
Dingle Vale Secondary Modern School. He did not graduate.
Elsie met a man by the name of Harry Graves when Ritchie was
just over eleven years old, and they were married two years
later in 1953. Ritchie welcomed the addition to the family.
However, that same year, Ritchie developed his second major
illness. He got a cold, which turned to pleurisy, which turned
to an effusion of one lung. He went back to the Myrtle Street
hospital and then to Hezzle Children's Hospital where he
remained for two years. When he came out of the hospital at
fifteen, he was did not return to school, and he secured a job
as a messenger boy for British Railways. Ritchie worked at the
Railways for only six weeks. He left because all he wanted a
railway uniform to wear, but they only gave him a simple
railway cap. Later, he worked as a barman, and applied to be a
joiner apprentice.
Ritchie showed no musical interest and did not play an
instrument as a boy. When the skiffle craze came to Britain,
he helped form a group called Eddie Clayton Skiffle, playing
on his first set of drums bought by his father. He later
joined Rory Storm's group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He
quit his job to work as a full-time drummer. Rory Storm was a
showman who convinced Ritchie that he needed to change his
name. Because of Ritchie's fondness for rings, Rory suggested
he change his name to Rings which Ritchie later changed to
Ringo while condensing his last name to Starr.
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were Liverpool's top band at the
time. They were doing so well, in fact, that when they were
offered a chance to go to Hamburg, they could not arrange it.
But they did go later, joining The Beatles at the
Kaiserkeller, which was where Ringo met The Beatles for the
first time. Ringo did a few stand-in engagements with The
Beatles, and he generally sat around with them between sets.He
returned to Liverpool with Rory, but later came back to
Hamburg with Tony Sheridan. During this visit, he considered
remaining in Hamburg for good, but he decided to return to
Liverpool to work with Rory Storm again. It was then that he
received a call from John asking him to join The Beatles.
Ringo's decision to accept was based solely on finances. He
had received an offer from a band called King Size Taylor and
the Dominoes to play for 20 pounds a week. The Beatles offered
him 25. He decided on The Beatles.
The Beatles were offered a recording contract with EMI in
1962. For a variety or reasons, they had become dissatisfied
with drummer Pete Best. However, it was George Martin who put
the final nail in the coffin. He expressed doubts about Pete's
drumming ability and suggested the boys find a replacement.
John then decided the time had come to let Pete go, and since
the group had worked with Ringo before and had liked his
drumming style and personality, he was the natural choice for
Pete's replacement. However, even though Ringo showed up for
the first official gig with his hair combed into the
appropriate Beatle style, it took a while for him to feel
comfortable in the closely knit Beatle fraternity. Ringo felt
himself something of the newcomer and outsider, apparently not
without reason. He was not even told of John Lennon's wedding
to Cynthia Powell on August 23. Even more disheartening was
the appearance of a session drummer, hired by Martin, to play
at the September 11th recording session.
On the day, the Beatles made a second attempt to record "Love
Me Do." Session drummer, Andy White, was given the job of
playing drums on the track, and Ringo was asked to play a
tambourine. On the same day, White also drummed on "P.S. I
Love You" while Ringo shook maracas. It was, however, the
September 4th Ringo version of "Love Me Do" that was finally
released as the single and, according to George Martin, after
the September 11th date there was never any thought of
replacing Ringo again. Ringo had established himself as a
Beatle at last, and at one time was the most popular Beatle
among American fans.
Ringo was perfect for The Beatles. His drumming was always
consistent, a steady back beat that did not overpower the song
or the singer. However, his health would cause him problems
again as a Beatle. He missed three quarters of the 1964 tour
of Scandanavia, Holland, the Far East and Australia to have
his tonsils removed.
Ringo married his childhood sweetheart, Maureen Cox on
February 11, 1965. They had met back in Liverpool during the
Cavern Club days when she had been a student hairdresser.
Their love endured the manifestations of Beatlemania, his move
to London, the seemingly endless rounds of tours, and the fact
that their romance had to be kept secret from the fans. When
Ringo had to have his tonsils removed in early December of
1964, Maureen came to London to nurse him. When she discovered
that she was pregnant, the marriage was quickly arranged. Zak
Starkey was born to his happy and proud parents on September
13, 1965. Ringo, having always longed for siblings himself,
wanted to make sure that his baby boy experienced such joys.
Zak was followed by Jason Starkey on August 19, 1967 and
sister Lee Parkin Starkey on November 11, 1970. To all who
knew them, the couple seemed a perfect match. Their divorce in
July of 1975 came as a shock to many. In April, 1981, Ringo
married Barbara Bach whom he had met during the filming of the
movie Caveman. The service was held in London in a [Caveman]
register's office with George and Paul as witnesses.
Ringo's mother, Elsie, was also present.
Ringo's role in The Beatles was undoubtedly an important one,
but he remained in the background to John and Paul. On several
albums, he would be given a token song to sing, but Ringo
never really had pretensions about being a song writer. Only
two original Starr compositions appear in the Beatles'
discography. These are "Don't Pass Me By" on The Beatles
(White album) and possibly his most famous song "Octopus's
Garden" on Abbey Road. Following the Beatles' break up, he
began a fairly successful solo career which produced eight
albums and thirteen singles. He also toured twice with his
All-Star band, first in America and Japan in 1989 and later in
America and Europe in 1992. Members of the 1992 band included
his son, Zak, Dave Edmunds, Nils Lofgren, Todd Rundgren, Joe
Walsh, Tim Cappello, Timothy Schmit, and Burton Cummings.
[All-Star]
Apart from his music, Ringo has also done voice-overs for
television, movies, and was probably the most famous conductor
in the children's television series, Thomas The Tank Engine.
It appears as if after a long and rewarding career, Ritchie
finally got to wear his railway uniform.
**Biography credit goes to:"The Beatles On Abbey Road"**
BACK TO VERTICALMAN!
