Richard Starkey was born on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool, England. His father left when Richard was very young, and I can't tell you anything about him (Ringo doesn't talk about him much when discussing his childhood). So he was brought up by his now-single mother and her sisters. Probably due to the lack of substantial income that his mother brought in as a single parent, Richard was the poorest of the Beatles and lived in the rough area of Liverpool, which is partially why he was a member of quite a dangerous gang in his late teenage years. When he was 7, he was afflicted with appendicitis and was consequently in the hospital for 10 weeks. From that point on, he was sick for most of his childhood, and was rarely, if ever, in school. In his spare time at the hospital, Richard was first introduced to the newly popular genre, fresh from America, called rock 'n' roll. But unlike the other three future-Beatles, Richard was not interested in guitar, but was instantly taken with the drums.
Once he had moved past his sickly childhood, Richard became something of a "wild child." Like I said earlier, he was part of a gang in Liverpool in which he witnessed (as he claims in The Beatles Anthology) people get stabbed and their eyes gouged out. His interest in rock 'n' roll only emphasized this rebellious phase he was in even more. He joined the most popular Liverpool band of the day, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, as the drummer and gained a substantial following even before he met John, Paul, and George. It was then that he changed his name to the forever immortalized one, Ringo Starr, due to the number of rings he wore on his fingers. He met the other three when both their bands were playing in Hamburg, Germany at various clubs on the red light district of Hamburg, St. Pauli. Rory Storm was much more successful than the hodge-podge-barely-put-together Beatles made up of John, Paul, George, original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and original drummer Pete Best. Nevertheless, the two bands became good friends and Ringo told them to look him up whenever they went back to Liverpool. Which they did.
By 1962, Pete Best was not the drummer that would catapult the Beatles to fame. With Sutcliffe gone (he died of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962), the Beatles were ready to do whatever it took to get them signed. When the three and Best went to EMI Records to audition in front of record producer George Martin, Best failed to impress and he was kicked out. They remembered Ringo from their Hamburg days and the few times he had stood in for Best at concerts at the Cavern in Liverpool and invited him to join the band. But Ringo, still the drummer for Rory Storm, declined. Then the Beatles offered 25 pounds whereas Rory Storm offered 20 pounds. So Ringo took the Beatles for the money and his life was changed forever.
I'm not going to go on an on about the Beatles, as I'm sure people know the story of the Fab Four pretty well. Ringo, called the "funny one" was somewhat unfairly labeled the disposable Beatle. He was hardly at all involved in the songwriting process, something that was almost always reserved for John and Paul, much to the frustration of George, and therefore has been called the Beatle that could have been replaced. He isn't my favorite, but I will completely defend Ringo for his legitimate contribution that he made to not only the Beatles, but to the nature of rock 'n' roll drumming. He is truly a legend, and one that shows no sign of stopping any time soon. So, I wish a very happy birthday to Ringo Starr!!
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