As Ringo Starr prepares for another tour with his All Starr band, the Beatles drummer has been reminiscing a little with U.K. newspaper the Daily Mail.
Ringo explained why he still hits the road at 70 years of age. “I still love to play. I go down the front and sing ‘Photograph’ or whatever, then I get to go back to the drums and play with all these other musicians,” he said. “It’s a win-win situation. I get the chance to be both the entertainer and the musician. Everyone’s a star, but I’m the big star. The band gets to play 12 numbers between them and I do 12 numbers.”
Talking about the early days in Liverpool, Starr points out that The Beatles were lucky to have him. “It wasn’t just that I was a big shot; I was a cool drummer,” he said. “Brian Epstein asked if I would play lunchtime at the Cavern with them. That’s how I got started.”
He was, after all, a well-known local drummer when The Beatles were still finding their feet. “I was. Within Liverpool I was a lot more well known than them,” he said. “Rory and The Hurricanes were big shots in the city. We had suits. That was our claim to fame.”
As for his enduring friendship with Paul McCartney, Starr explained the nature of their relationship. “‘We are good friends. We don’t live in each other’s pockets, but if we’re in the same country, we get together,” he said. “He’s singing and playing on my latest album and I played on several of his. We’re just pals. We’re the only two who’ve experienced all this who are still here.”
No comments:
Post a Comment