Happy Birthday, Ringo!

SUNDAY, 7 JULY 1940 (71 YEARS AGO)

Ringo Starr was The Beatles' drummer and occasional singer. He was the oldest member and the last to join the band.

"Ringo's a damn good drummer. He was always a good drummer. He's not technically good, but I think Ringo's drumming was underrated the same way as Paul's bass playing is underrated...
I think Paul and Ringo stand up anywhere with any of the rock musicians. Not technically great. None of us were technical musicians. None of us could read music. None of us can write it. But as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make noise, they're as good as anybody!"
- John Lennon -

Ringo was born with the name Richard Starkey on 7 July 1940, at 9 Madryn Street in the Dingle area of Liverpool. His parents split up when he was three, and his mother, Elsie, remarried a man called Harry Graves. Graves got on well with Richard and encouraged the boy's passion for music.
A sickly child, Starkey spent long stretches in hospital. Among his afflictions were a coma caused by appendicitis, a cold which led to pleurisy, and various allergies and intolerances to certain foods. His illnesses made him fall behind academically, and he didn't return to school after a stay in hospital at the age of 13.
Known as Ritchie as a teenager, Starkey became infatuated with the skiffle craze which swept Liverpool and elsewhere in the 1950's. He co-founded the Eddie Miles band, which later became Eddie Clayton and the Clayton Squares, and in 1959 joined the Raving Texans, backing band for local singer, Rory Storm.
It was while playing in these Liverool bands that he gained the nickname Ringo Starr, the first name due to the rings he wore, and the last name because of his solos - which he performed reluctantly - could be billed as 'Starr Time'.
Ringo met The Beatles in Hamburg in October 1960. At the time, he was performing with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, but stepped in on a number of occasions when Pete Best was unavailable. At the time, there was a sense of solidarity among the British groups in Hamburg, and The Beatles got to know Starr well.
When George Martin demanded that Best be replaced, The Beatles insisted that Ringo was the best drummer for them. The decision was controversial among the group's fans, who demanded "Pete forever! Ringo never!" at The Cavern club, and fights broke out.
However, Starr didn't play drums, on The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do". Martin brought session drummer, Andy White, in for the session, relegating Starr to tambourine in "Love Me Do, and maracas in its b-side "P.S. I Love You". From then on, Starr played on virtually all The Beatles' recordings.
Ringo Starr quickly established himself as a rock-steady drummer, whose open hi-hat and four-to-the-floor bass drum helped energise The Beatles' sounds. He was a reliable performer who made only a handful of mistakes during the band's recording career.
A left-handed drummer who performed on a kit conventionally set up for a right-handed player, Ringo formed a distinctive sounds, not least his 'backwards' fills which were created by leading with the 'wrong' hand. As Ian McDonald wrote, "Starr would, during fills, come off the snare onto the tom-toms with his left hand leading so that he could only progress 'backwards' from small tom to floor tom or from small tom to snare."
Examples of his characteristics fills can be found on "A Day in the Life", "Hey Jude", and "Rain" (which Starr considers to be his best drumming).
'Ringoisms' (a term coined by Starr and adopted by the band) were used by John Lennon for the titles of "A Hard Day's Night" and "Tomorrow Never Knows". He also contributed the line "Darning his socks in the night..." to "Eleanor Rigby".
He became the central character in the films "Help!" and "Yellow Submarine", which were a testament to his popularity as a band member. "A Hard Day's Night", too, showed his natural ability as an actor, though he subsequently downplayed his performance, claiming he was hungover on the shoot.
Starr walked out during the recording of the "White Album", after becoming tired of The Beatles in-fighting. Away for two weeks, Paul McCartney played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Dear Prudence".
He composed two original songs during his time with The Beatles: "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden".
Ringo Starr married Maureen Cox on 11 February 1965. They had three children: Zak, Jason and Lee, before divorcing in 1975. Cox died in 1994.
Starr met Barbara Bach on the set of the film "Caveman" in 1980. They married the following year on 27 April.
Zak Starkey is also a drummer. Ringo arranged for him to have lessons with The Who's Keith Moon, a close friend of the family. Zak went on to perform with The Who, Oasis, and the-All Starr Band.