*Ought to point out this piece was written a decade ago. Since its publication,
a lot of things not changed, not least the fact that Ringo is now a knight of the realm. Am presenting it as it originally ran, however, since it really was quite baffling that, for all Ringo’s accomplishments - and there are many - it took so long for him to have his day at the palace.
Sir Richard Starkey - it's got a certain ring to it, yes? But despite being part of the greatest, most important beat combo of all time, Ringo Starr as we've come to know and love him has never been afforded as much respect as bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison nor the same accolades as Sir Paul McCartney.
‘But of course, he hasn't,’ the cynics scoff. 'He's Ringo, for crying out loud!' Of course, Ringo - the guy who can't drum, can't sing, can't act, can't do much of anything, really. At least, that's how it seems until you put the lazy journalism to one side and see things the way they really were. So Ringo couldn't drum? Well, tell that to George Martin who considered his work on Rain a "tour de force" or to the three other Bealtes who begged him to rejoin them when he quit the band mid-way through recording The White Album.
And even if he didn't give Ginger Baker or Buddy Guy sleepless nights, only the willfully ignorant would claim Ringo didn't bring something very special to The Beatles. From singing the greatest children's song of all time, ‘Yellow Submarine’, to getting blisters on his fingers after pounding his way through umpteen recordings of ‘Helter Skelter’, Our Man had - two - hands in any number of great moments.
And as Foo Fighter-in-chief Dave Grohl, explains, "Ringo Starr matters because he was a Beatle. How many people can say that? And if you don't think he was crucial to the group, just listen to some of the rubbish those guys made on their own, Ringo included. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison are all giants, but they were never bigger than when they were playing with Ringo."
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