RICHARD STARKEY
A sickly child since his birth, Richard Starkey spent much of his youth in hospital recovering from an unfortunate series of ailments: a burst appendix that sent him into a coma, then broken bones and later inflammation of the lungs. By the time he was fifteen he had missed so much school that he could barely read or write and went to work tending a bar on ferry boats that serviced the Mersey River. During that time, his step-father bought him a drumkit and he joined in the skiffle craze that had captured British youth.
As the Merseyside club scene began to take root, Richie, as he was known then and as friends and family still refer to him, began playing full time. His finesse with a back beat landed him a spot in one of Liverpool's most popular bands, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. To match the flashier names of the other members of the band, he changed his name to Ringo Starr. The Hurricanes were his ticket to fame - or to Hamburg, anyway. There, Ringo spent many a night with his Liverpool mates, the Beatles and even sat in for Pete Best when he was ill.
By 1962, however, the Hurricanes' popularity was waning. The clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg hadn't brought them that ticket to national exposure, a record contract and at the age of twenty-two, Ringo felt he was becoming too old to dally with music. He had resolved to quit and learn a trade when he got a message from John, Paul and George asking him to join the Beatles.
Joining the Fab Four on the eve of their rise to unprecedented fame, Ringo was the odd man out - a hired hand rather than childhood friend. As Rory Storm observed, "During the four or five years Ringo was with us he really played drums - he drove them. He sweated and swung and sung. Ringo sang about about five numbers a night, he even had his own spot - it was called "Ringo Starrtime". Now he's only a backing drummer." But if he was in the background, the drummer's presence was nonetheless essential to the Fabs. Both in public and, it appears, privately, Ringo's unassuming, good natured personality provided a crucial balance between John's razor sharp wit, Paul's stagey coyness and George's sombre posturing.
As the 1960s progressed and the Beatles' musical interest propelled them further into the studio, Ringo found himself with less and less to do. While John and Paul were working on arrangements and George was adjusting his guitar sound, Ringo was in the corner playing cards with Mal Evans for hours on end. By the time of the White Album in 1968, with the other Beatles producing masterpieces daily, Ringo felt distinctly expendable.
After a particularly tense session on 22 August, 1968, he quit the band. The Beatles weathered the storm, recording "Back In The USSR" the next day with Paul behind the drumkit. However, the band managed to persuade Ringo to return within a few days.