Concert of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

Many books have been written about the Beatles. This one differs from the others in that the Beatles themselves gave their version of events up to 1970.

Quotes from Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and additions from Neil Aspinall, Sir George Martin and Derek Taylor are taken in part from the interviews on which the television and video versions of The Beatles Anthology are based. In addition, the book includes important materials published for the first time. In-depth interviews with Paul, George and Ringo were conducted especially for the Anthology.

The text attributed to John Lennon is taken from extensive sources collected over several years around the world, again specifically for this book. These sources include printed materials and video recordings, private and public archives. The materials are arranged in chronological order and in such a way that the narrative is coherent. To help the reader perceive John's words in a period-specific manner, each quote is labeled with the date it was spoken, written, or first published. Years are indicated only by the last two digits: for example, 1970 is indicated in the text as (70). These dates apply to the entire text fragment, up to the specified date.

In only a few cases, quotations could not be dated accurately (despite the fact that they contain John's original words). They are included in the book without date.

To provide additional historical context, the actual words of Paul, George, Ringo and others, pre-1970, are included here. They are also indicated by the last two numbers, just like John's words.

While working on the Anthology, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr made their personal archives available to the compilers. Moreover, unlimited access to photographs and documents from the archives of Apple and EMI was obtained.

This book was prepared for publication by the editorial staff of Genesis Publications for Apple with the active assistance of the late Derek Taylor, who advised the compilers until his death in 1997.

What can I tell you about myself that you don’t already know?

I wear glasses. Born on October 9, 1940, I was not the first of the Beatles. The first of us was born, Ringo, on July 7, 1940. However, he joined the Beatles later than the others, and before that he not only grew a beard, but also managed to work as a drummer at the Butlins campsite. He also did other nonsense until he finally realized what fate had in store for him.

Ninety percent of the inhabitants of our planet, especially in the West, were born thanks to a bottle of whiskey drunk on a Saturday night; No one intended to have such children. Ninety percent of us people were born by chance - I don’t know a single person who planned to have a child. We are all creatures of Saturday nights (80).

My mother was a housewife. She was also a comedian and singer - not professional, but she often performed in pubs and the like; She sang well and knew how to imitate Kay Starr. She often sang one song when I was one or two years old. This is a tune from a Disney movie: “Do you want me to tell you a secret? But do not tell anyone. You are standing next to a wishing well” (80).

My parents separated when I was four years old and I lived with Aunt Mimi (71).

Mimi explained that my parents had fallen out of love with each other. She never accused them of anything. Soon I forgot my father. It's like he died. But I constantly remembered my mother, my love for her will never die.

I often thought about her, but for a long time I did not realize that she lived only five or ten miles away from me (67).

My family consisted of five women. Five strong, smart, beautiful women, five sisters. One of them was my mother. Life was not easy for mom. She was the youngest and could not raise me alone, so I moved in with her older sister.

These were amazing women. Perhaps someday I will write something like “The Forsyte Saga” about them, because they were the ones who ruled the family (80).

The men remained invisible. I have always been surrounded by women. I often listened to them talk about men and life, they were always aware of everything. But the men never knew anything. This is how I received my first feminist education (80).

The most painful thing is to be unwanted, to realize that your parents do not need you as much as you need them. As a child, I had moments when I stubbornly did not notice this ugliness, I did not want to see that I was unwanted. This lack of love poured into my eyes and into my mind.

I never really needed anyone. I became a star only because I held back my feelings. Nothing would have helped me get through all this if I were “normal” (71).

Most people spend their entire lives under the influence of others. Some people just can't understand that their parents continue to torment them even when their children are in their forties or fifties. They are still being strangled, their thoughts and minds being controlled. I was never afraid of this and never groveled before my parents (80).

Penny Lane is the area where I lived with my mother, father (however, my father was a sailor and spent almost all his time at sea) and grandfather. We lived on Newcastle Road (80).

This is the first house I remember. A good start: red brick walls, a living room that has never been used, drawn curtains, a painting of a horse and carriage on the wall. There were only three bedrooms upstairs; the windows of one looked out onto the street, the second into the courtyard, and between them there was another tiny room (79).

When I left Penny Lane, I moved in with my aunt, who also lived in the suburbs, in a semi-out-of-the-way house with a small garden. Doctors, lawyers and other people of that sort lived in the neighborhood, so the suburb did not resemble a slum at all. I was a good-looking, clean-cut boy from the suburbs, growing up in a higher class environment than Paul, George and Ringo, who lived in council houses. We had our own house, our own garden, but they had nothing like that. Compared to them, I was lucky. Only Ringo was a real city boy. He grew up in the crappiest neighborhood. But he didn't care; he probably had more fun there (64).

In general, the first thing I remember is a nightmare (79).

I see colorful dreams, always surreal. The world of my dreams is similar to the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Dali. I like him, I look forward to him every evening (74).

One of the recurring dreams that I have had throughout my life is flying. I always fly when I am in danger. I remember when I was a child I flew in my dreams, as if I were floating through the air. I usually flew over familiar places, where I lived. And sometimes I had nightmares in which a giant horse or something else scary was coming at me, and I had to fly away. When I had such dreams in Liverpool, I explained them as my desire to leave the city (71).

In my most vivid dreams, I saw myself sitting on a plane flying over some area of ​​Liverpool. I first had this dream when I was in school. The plane flew in circles over the city, rising higher and higher.

– a legend, everyone contributed to the success of the project. They say that the kind and wise Ringo Starr was the soul of the Fab Four, his “sentimental heart.” The excellent drummer, author and performer of songs has made a brilliant solo career and still never tires of delighting fans with new creative ideas.

Childhood and youth

The musician was born in a poor area of ​​Liverpool in the family of baker Richard Starkey. They named the baby in honor of his father according to the prevailing working traditions of those days. A talented drummer will slightly correct the name at the dawn of fame. The nickname is a derivative of the words ring and star. The fact is that Ringo wore a lot of rings, and rated his own drumming highly, “like a star.”

When the son was three years old, the father left the family, and later the mother remarried. Nature did not endow the boy with health; over the years, serious illnesses overtook him. After graduating from primary school, Richard was admitted to hospital with peritonitis, where he spent a year. And a little later I had to miss two years of study due to pleurisy. As a result, the musician never received secondary education.

At the age of 15, the teenager went to earn a living and took on any business. I managed to try myself as a courier, assistant, and bartender on a train ferry. The young man was interested in American music and one day decided to become a drummer. The first drum kit was given to him by his stepfather, to whom the young man promised to become a good musician.

Music

At the beginning of his creative biography, Ringo Starr was attracted to the skiffle style. Various musical groups happily collaborated with the gifted drummer. In the late 50s, fate brought the young man together with the band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, whose work thundered throughout Liverpool. The group was considered the main competitor of The Beatles.

The Beatles accepted the musician into the team in mid-August 1962. With the arrival of Ringo Starr, the team turned into a quartet, which, in addition to him, included, and. The drummer's name quickly became famous.

Ringo performed the drums on almost all the songs. The artist also tried his hand as a singer - his voice can be heard in the choral singing of some of the compositions. The musician also performed lead vocals; the song “Yellow Submarine,” written by McCartney in 1966, belongs to this direction in his work.

The composition immediately after its release took first place in the English hit parade, and later an animated video was shot for it. Starr also wrote singles, for example, he wrote the songs Don’t Pass Me By and Octopus’s Garden.

In an interview, Ringo recalled that he especially remembered working on two compositions that became classics. There's "Hey Jude," nominated for a Grammy Award for best song in 1968, and "Here Comes the Sun," which initially confused the drummer with its odd rhymes, like in Indian music.

By 1968, there was tension in The Beatles. Once there was a conflict between Ringo and Paul McCartney, who called the drummer primitive. The musician was offended and left the group for a while.

Starr embarked on a solo career, launching large-scale advertising. Ringo's first album was released in 1970. A collection of covers of pop hits called “Sentimental Journey” was not appreciated by critics, calling the work unsuccessful. But the following albums - “Beaucoup of Blues” (1971) and “Ringo” (1973) - were received with delight by fans. From the latter, the songs “It Don"t Come Easy", "Photograph", "You"re Sixteen" became hits.

According to music lovers, Ringo Starr's work in the 70s was not distinguished by genius, although the musician released new records almost every year. Only a small part of the songs became popular. These included the singles "Only You" and "The No No Song".

He collaborated with other musicians: he teamed up with the group The Eagles, recorded an album with George Harrison, appeared at the “Concert for Bangladesh”, where he met world stars, Billy Preston, Leon Russell.

The beginning of the 80s did not go well. Ringo was going to release the “Old Wave” record, but he couldn’t do it in his homeland - American and English companies refused. At the time, rumors spread that Starr had a drinking problem. The speculations turned out to be true; the musician got rid of his addiction by the end of the decade and took up his work with renewed vigor.

Ringo created the musical ensemble All Starr Band, whose composition was constantly changing. The group included famous performers and composers Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Joe Walsh, Clarence Clemons and others.

The musicians, under the banner of the Starr Band, went on a tour of Japan and the USA, where they were warmly greeted by fans. In 1998, the ensemble performed concerts in Russia - Muscovites and St. Petersburgers saw one of the Beatles in their homeland for the first time. After 13 years, Ringo will make the Russians happy again.

In 1992, after almost a decade of silence, Ringo recorded a new album, “Time Takes Time,” the authors were third-party songwriters; Starr had a hand in only three compositions, including co-writing the single “Runaways.”

In the mid-90s, fans of The Beatles rejoiced - Starr, Harrison and McCartney decided to create a joint album “Anthology”. The record included Lennon's composition "Free As A Bird", which he recorded 20 years ago.

In the new millennium, the musician continued to pamper his fans with new songs and albums. “An impressive comeback” - this is what critics said about the Liverpool-8 record. A little later, the singer and musician’s solo albums “Y Not” and “Ringo 2012” were released. And in the spring of 2015, Ringo, together with members of the All Starr Band, presented the album “Postcards From Paradise,” which opened with a song based on the events of life before the Beatles.

Movie

Ringo turned out to be an excellent actor - the man managed to star in a number of films. Even before leaving the Beatles, the young man was recognized as the best actor in the Fab Four. Starr's film debut happened in 1964. Together with his colleagues from The Beatles, he played the main role in the film A Hard Day's Night, and then in the comedy Help!

The genre variety of films in which Ringo starred is impressive. These include documentaries, dramas, and even horror films. Starr portrayed himself in the horror film “Son of Dracula,” as the Pope in the science fiction film “Lisztomania,” and as a prehistoric man in the comedy “Caveman.”

In addition, the musician tried his hand as a producer, scriptwriter and cameraman. Such works include the painting “A Magical Mysterious Journey.” But most of all in Starr’s film list are documentaries about the creative path of The Beatles. The Fab Four won an Oscar in 1971 for their autobiographical film Let It Be.

Personal life

Ringo Starr has been married twice. The first marriage, which produced three children, lasted 10 years. The drummer chose hairdresser Mary Cox as his companion. A 15-year-old girl fell in love with a handsome, albeit not tall (Ringo is 173 cm tall and weighs 70 kg) musician at one of the Beatles’ concerts and even got an autograph. Only the chosen one did not pay attention to the fan. Mary continued to regularly come to performances until Starr noticed her.

The couple got married in 1965, but the union did not survive the difficult stage in Ringo’s life after the collapse of the Fab Four, and they separated. Cox died at 48 from leukemia, and the musician dedicated the song “Little Willow” to his ex-wife.

After the divorce, Starr could not find personal happiness for a long time; he dated models and singers. While working in the film “Caveman” (1980), the man met his partner on the set, Barbara Bach, known for her role as a girl in the film “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Passion flared up, and a year later the young people went to the registry office.

In the 80s, directors stopped offering Ringo and Barbara collaboration. The couple became a victim of stereotypical perception - the woman was forever labeled as a “Bond girl”, and the musician was seen as one of the “Beatles”. Due to creative disappointments, Ringo and Barbara began to drink heavily, then became addicted to cocaine, and it ended up in a drug treatment clinic.

Now Ringo Starr leads a healthy lifestyle, works out in the gym, and plays golf. One of my hobbies is drawing.

Ringo Starr now

Starr travels around the world with her All Starr Band, recording new songs and albums. In 2017, a new, 19th album, “Give More Love,” was released. Guest appearances included Joe Walsh, Dave Stewart, Gary Nicholson and Paul McCartney, who played bass and sang backing vocals on a number of songs.

Starr has received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to music. Back in 1965, the musician received the Order of the British Empire from the hands of the Queen. The drummer is also a recipient of the French Order of Arts and Letters and is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in America. And in March 2018, at Buckingham Palace, Ringo Starr was awarded the title of knight - the initiation ceremony was performed by Prince William.

Discography

• 1970 - Sentimental Journey
• 1970 - Beaucoups of Blues
• 1973 - Ringo
• 1974 - Goodnight Vienna
• 1976 - Ringo's Rotogravure
• 1977 - Ringo the 4th
• 1978 - Bad Boy
• 1981 - Stop and Smell the Roses
• 1983 - Old Wave
• 1992 - Time Takes Time
• 1998 - Vertical Man
• 1999 - I Wanna Be Santa Claus
• 2003 - Ringo Rama
• 2005 - Choose Love
• 2008 - Liverpool 8
• 2010 - Y Not
• 2012 - Ringo 2012
• 2015 - Postcards from Paradise
• 2017 - Give More Love

The legend of the death of one of the members of The Beatles, more commonly known as “Paul is Dead,” has again come to mind. The essence of this story is that Sir Paul McCartney died back in 1966, and for another four years, while the permanent British band existed and over the past 45 years, he was replaced by a certain double.

And today, ex-Beatles drummer Ringo Starr surprised the whole world by declaring in an interview with a foreign publication that all these years these rumors were true. The "real" Paul McCartney died in a car accident on November 9, 1966, Mr. Starr said.

All these years, as Paul's former bandmate said, he was replaced by the musician William Billy Campbell, selected by the last manager of The Beatles, who won a competition for the musician's doubles.

"When Paul died, we were all in a panic... We didn't know what to do, and Brian Epstein, our manager, suggested that we hire Billy Campbell as a temporary solution. He was only supposed to play with us for a week or two." but time passed and no one noticed the catch, so we continued to play together. Billy turned out to be a pretty good musician, and he was able to play even better than Paul. The only problem was that he couldn’t get along with John at all." , Hollywood media quote Starr as saying.

The ex-drummer revealed another “secret” of The Beatles: it turns out that John Lennon left the group out of nervousness because the cult band had to lie to the whole world.

So far, neither Paul McCartney himself nor anyone from his entourage has commented on the situation, but after such a sensation, his residence was surrounded by journalists and paparazzi from all over the world.

The British TV channel MI5 also announced the launch of an investigation to determine the truth of this story and the weight of the accusation, because Paul McCartney has been a member of the Order of the British Monarchy for the last 48 years and has repeatedly accompanied the current Queen Elizabeth II to various official closed events. If it is confirmed that it was an impostor, the matter will take a state turn.

Ringo Starr is one of the last living members of the legendary group, besides McCartney himself, reminds Pravda.Ru. This factor explained why he did not disclose the “truth” for so long - fearing that it would die with him, the 74-year-old drummer decided to tell the world about it today.