Beatles FAQ

  Ringo has always been a pragmatic musician. His first instrument was  a toy drum - given to him by a visiting nurse while he was in hospital during a childhood illness.

Abbey Road was not a happy working environment during the recording sessions for The White Album. Ringo, the least involved in the squabbling and backbiting, suffered the most from the emotional fall out: I couldn't take it any more. There was no magic and the relationships were terrible. I'd come to a bad spot in life. It could have been paranoia, but I just didn't feel good – I felt like an outsider.   Ringo, Anthology Things came to a head during a recording session for  Back in the USSR  on the 22nd of August, 1968. The precise trigger point is unknown but at some point Ringo snapped. After telling John and Paul he was leaving the group, he walked out of the studio. At first, Ringo's departure seemed to confirm the underlying reason for it. The others assumed that their drummer's 'resignation' was not seriously intended. They continued the recording session. Sardinia The next day Ringo took his family on holiday to Sardinia, where his friend Peter Seller

Designer Robin Cruikshank was doing work for Apple in 1969 at a time when the Starkeys were abandoning the suburbs for north London. Ringo was impressed by Cruikshank's steel and glass work and invited him to designing some pieces for hiss new Hampstead/Highgate home.  The two men got on so well that they formed a company ROH — with Starr/Starkey owning 51% to Cruickshank’s 49%. Admittedly, Ringo’s investment was in relative terms small change dropped down his soon to be discarded old school sofa but it was another indication of the depth of his new interest. Blue Peter Ringo’s design contribution is unclear — he had no formal training but seems to have provided conceptual ideas — one being inspired by a visit to his local car showroom. Why not set the grille of a Rolls Royce into a stainless steel table? In addition to his investment and ideas, Ringo was an enthusiastic front man for the company in its early years. In 1971 he made a famous appearance on Blue Peter, in an unlikely

Richard with his mother, Elsie The then Richard Starkey experienced two major medical episodes. According to Lewisohn, Richard Starkey was 'a robust infant' but fell 'dangerously ill in the early summer of 1947'.  Rushed by ambulance to the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital, the six-year-old was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. An operation revealed that the appendix had burst causing infected peritonitis. As he was wheeled into theatre, Richard requested a cup of tea.  The nurse responded, 'When you come round,'  She kept her promise but it was ten weeks before Richard got his tea. In that time, his mother Elsie was told three times that he would not survive the night. One of these occasions was the eve of his seventh birthday. He continued to slip in and out of consciousness for several months. Even when he left hospital at the beginning of 1948, convalescence from his surgical wounds was slow and painful. There was also a set back which prolonged his

 Outside the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, June 1964. An estimated 300,000 greeted The Beatles in Melbourne in June 1964. The Queen had only attracted half that number the preceding year. Aussie Beatlemania was particularly intense for the Melbourne stop because it marked the return of Ringo.  The drummer had been hospitalised a few days before  the start of the tour. This had caused consternation amongst Beatle fans, but now he was climbing off his sickbed in London to join his buddies down under. It proved a difficult journey.  The flight was horrendous... It’s... a hell of a long way. I remember the plane felt like a disaster area to me. Fans  clearly thought the effort worthwhile. Replacement drummer, Jimmy Nichol was less thrilled. He was sent back to London and obscurity, after a few weeks in the celebrity sun - read more .