Ringo Starr

by Alan Clayson

Born on July 7, 1940, in a gritty Liverpool suburb known as the Dingle, Ringo Starr (nee Richard Starkey) was the oldest Beatle and the only one to actually emerge from the crumbling Merseyside slums of Beatle lore. He was a sickly child, and, because of extended hospitalizations, received little formal education. After a series of menial jobs, lightning struck in 1962 when he replaced Pete Best as the Beatles' drummer just as they were about to record their first. Single, "Love Me Do." It's been said that the timing of this momentous event makes Ringo Starr the luckiest man in pop music, but according to John Lennon, luck was only a small part of Ringo's success. He was, said Lennon, a "star in his own right in Liverpool before we even met. Ringo's talent would have come out one way or the other. Whatever that spark is in Ringo, we all know it but we can't put our finger on it." Ringo, like the other members of the group, matured. In the hothouse of Beatlemania and its enduring afterm