As Ringo Starr brings his All-Starr Band to Spokane, we take a look back at some of his greatest moments
Finally, the Spokane area gets its own Beatle. Ringo Starr is coming to the Northern Quest Casino on Friday, the first visit to Spokane by a Beatle. He arrives with his All-Starr Band, which includes Colin Hay, Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright and Gregg Bissonette. No, those guys are not exactly John, Paul and George. Actually, even Ringo is not exactly John, Paul or George. But still … Ringo is a Beatle, and one of the most beloved of the four. To help explain his enduring appeal, we present the following Top Ringo Moments of the last 47 years:
1961: Liverpool bandleader Rory Storm gives drummer Richard Starkey (aka Ringo Starr) his own nightly five-song vocal showcase. It’s called “Ringo Starrtime!”
1962: Ringo plays his first official gig as a Beatle at a Horticultural Society dance in Lancashire. He lands the job after original Beatles drummer Pete Best is deemed unsuitable for even basic time-keeping duties.
1962: At the “Love Me Do” sessions, producer George Martin replaces Ringo with session drummer Andy White. Apparently, Martin deems even Ringo unsuitable for basic time-keeping duties. (Martin would soon relent; he later refers to Ringo’s drumming as “brilliant.”)
1963: Ringo sings lead on “Boys” and “I Wanna Be Your Man,” his first Beatles lead vocals.
1964: Ringo impresses audiences and critics alike with his Chaplin-like physical comedy in “A Hard Day’s Night,” as well as his delivery of lines such as: “There you go, hiding behind a smokescreen of bourgeois cliches.”
1965: Ringo shows off his knack for memorable drum fills on “Ticket to Ride.” (Superstar drummer Kenny Aronoff would later say, “Ringo always approached the song more like a songwriter than a drummer.”)
1965: On the “Ed Sullivan Show,” Ringo sings “Act Naturally,” which contains the line: “We’ll make a film about a man who’s sad and lonely / and all I have to do is act naturally.”
1965: Ringo’s bejeweled digits are central to the plot of the film “Help!” Sample line: “The Fire Brigade once got my head out of some railings. … I used to leave it there when I wasn’t using it for school.”
1966: “Yellow Submarine,” with lead vocal by Ringo, hits No. 1 in the U.K.
1967: Ringo is introduced as “the one and only Billy Shears” on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
1968: Ringo gets his first Beatles songwriting credit, for “Don’t Pass Me By” on the “White Album.” Sample lines: “I’m sorry that I doubted you / I was so unfair / You were in a car crash / and you lost your hair.”
1968: Ringo stalks out of the recording studio during the “White Album” sessions, fed up with abusive treatment from the other three. He would return two weeks later after realizing that they were being just as abusive to each other.
1969: Ringo stars with Peter Sellers in “The Magic Christian,” a satire in which people dive into a swimming pool filled with excrement.
1971: Ringo scores his first solo hit with “It Don’t Come Easy.”
1971: Ringo appears in the Frank Zappa movie “200 Motels.” His character: Larry the Dwarf.
1973: Ringo scores two No. 1 hits with “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen” – more than Lennon, McCartney or Harrison, at least that year.
1975: Ringo appears in the Ken Russell movie “Lisztomania.” His character: The Pope.
1976: Ringo appears in Mae West’s final movie, “Sextette.” His character: Laslo Karolny, a lecherous film director.
1981: Ringo stars in the lead role of “Caveman.” His character: Atouk. Memorable line: “Zug zug!”
1981: Ringo poses as a state trooper during the publicity sessions for “Stop and Smell the Roses.”
1984: Ringo becomes a superstar with whole new demographic – preschoolers – as the narrator of “Thomas the Tank Engine.”
1989: Ringo forms his first All-Starr Band, with Dr. John, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Nils Lofgren, Jim Keltner and Clarence Clemons.
1989: Ringo throws a party in Cannes to celebrate one solid year of sobriety.
1995: Ringo appears in a Pizza Hut ad, in which he is portrayed as the drummer in a legendary ’60s band: The Monkees.
1999: Ringo records a festive holiday album, “I Wanna Be Santa Claus,” which contains the verse: “If I could be Santa Claus / I’d make ev’ry dream come true / And sign ev’ry card exactly the same / with love from me to you.”
2007: Ringo releases a book called “Postcards From the Boys,” consisting of postcards sent to him by John, Paul and George, with proceeds benefiting the Lotus Foundation Charity.
2008: Ringo releases “Liverpool 8,” an album filled with autobiographical songs. Sample verse: “Went to Hamburg, the red lights were on / With George and Paul, and my friend John.”
2008: Ringo forms his 10th All-Starr Band, with Hay, from Men at Work; ’80s rocker Squier; Stuart, from the Average White Band; ’70s rocker Wright; ’70s jazz-rocker Winter; and drummer Bissonette.
That’s the band that arrives this week at the Northern Quest.
“The show consists of me upfront and then I go back behind the kit and support the music,” Ringo has been quoted as saying.
Which means you can expect the band to play Winter’s “Frankenstein” and Wright’s “Dream Weaver,” as well as Ringo’s “Oh My My” and “It Don’t Come Easy.”
Meanwhile, here’s one final Ringo milestone, from just last Monday: Ringo celebrated his 68th birthday.
Cue drum solo from “Birthday.”