It should come as no surprise that Ringo is recording another Country album in Nashville; Ringo Starr “Look Up”. He is the Beatle most known for his love of country music, though all four Beatles were big country music fans.
Ringo Starr has announced his next album: a country record, produced and co-written by T-Bone Burnett. Look Up is due out in January 2025. It’s his first new LP since 2019, and his first country record in more than 50 years.
In addition to Burnett, who co-wrote nine out of 11 songs on the record, Look Up features a host of country, bluegrass, and Americana talent including Alison Krauss, Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, and Molly Tuttle. The first single from the album, “Time On My Hands,” is out today.
Three Versions of a new Ringo Starr book listed at Julien’s auctions. Deals with Ringo’s various drumkits over the years as well as dealing with his fashion consciousness!
#1 Signed edition Listed at $750.00 Comes boxed with a video
Ringo had made his debut with The Beatles at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, on 18th August 1962. However, if the reception wasn’t great at Hulme Hall, he was in for a rude awakening four days later at the Cavern Club. Debbie Greenberg remembers it well.
“Overnight, the Beatles had a following of devoted fans and I was one of them,” recalled Debbie. “The amazing thing about the Cavern was that the Beatles and all the groups were so accessible. We were literally inches away as they played.
“Pete Forever, Ringo Never”
“The girls went crazy when Pete Best was sacked and replaced by Ringo. Pete was sultry, fiercely good-looking and oozed sex appeal. They would heckle the Beatles when they were on stage, shouting; “Pete forever, Ringo never.” We were all outraged and couldn’t understand why Ringo was the new drummer. The sound didn’t seem any different to us.
Rumours about Pete’s dismissal circulated around Liverpool. Some said he was too good-looking and Paul was jealous because he was getting the most attention from the girls. Others said Brian Epstein had decided his drumming wasn’t good enough. I don’t suppose any of us will ever get to the bottom of it; even Pete Best didn’t know why he was dropped.
“Hi there, all you cave-dwellers”
“The Beatles inspired many groups to embrace rock ‘n’ roll – and they all wanted to play the Cavern. The resident DJ, Bob Wooler, would always introduce the show with, “Hi there, all you cave-dwellers. We’ve got the Hi-FI high and the lights down low.” At the end of the night he always played “I’ll Be There” by Bobby Darin and we all knew it was time to leave. It was never the signal to get romantic as it was in other clubs. It was just time to go and catch the bus home.”
GET YOUR COPY OF DEBBIE’S GREAT BOOK ABOUT THE CAVERN
Cavern Club – The Inside Story
This first-hand account of Debbie’s teen years frequenting and eventually helping to run the original Cavern Club is the authentic inside story of the Beatles launch pad, full of triumphs and failures – and surprise celebrity encounters.
£17.25Original price was: £17.25.£13.50Current price is: £13.50.
In the latest excerpt from Tony Broadbent’s book The One After 9:09, Tony looks at the great change from Pete Best to Ringo. Did Paul and John drive to meet Ringo?
August 16 – Thursday | In the early hours of the morning John and Paul drive across country to Butlin’s Holiday Camp, in Skegness, to recruit Ringo Starr | Meanwhile, mid-morning at the NEMS office, Whitechapel, Liverpool, by request of the three other Beatles; and quite without warning; Brian Epstein sacks Pete Best from the group | Not The Beatles’ finest hour; and only understandable in the light John, Paul, and George all thought that if they didn’t act—and get a different drummer—they’d lose their hard-won Parlophone recording contract.
£25 a Week
| Ringo agrees to join The Beatles—for £25 per week—but elects to play on with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes until the weekend | That evening Johnny ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson, of The Big Three, is drafted in as drummer for The Beatles’ scheduled gig at the prestigious Riverpark Ballroom, Chester.
PAUL McCARTNEY pressed his foot down hard on the accelerator and, wheels spinning, tyres screeching, his ‘new’ Goodward-green Ford Consul Classic shot forward from the traffic lights. There wasn’t a minute to lose. He and John had left Liverpool at the crack of dawn to make the 160-mile journey, across country, to the seaside resort of Skegness. Only this was no pleasure trip, but a rescue mission. To rescue themselves, their group, and the recording contract that was almost certainly now within their grasp.
Off to Butlin’s
The sole reason they were speeding to the Butlin’s Holiday Camp, located on the east coast of England, to pick up Ringo Starr. And once they’d got both him and his drums packed safely inside the car and the trunk, they’d turn right round again and make the long journey back home.
Paul had decided not to go via Manchester and Sheffield, but opted instead for the more southerly route through Warrington, Stockport, and Chesterfield, before finally making for Lincoln and Skegness. “It’ll be much faster that way. Less traffic.”
Thermos Flask?
“The speed you drive, Paul, I’m surprised we’re not already meeting ourselves coming back. Just get us there in one piece, will yer?” John yawned and poured himself another cup of coffee from the Thermos flask Paul’s dad had given them. “Incidentally, your dad could’ve put some bloody milk in here,” sniffed John. “It’s just like that Nazi crap we drank in Hamburg.”
“Well if you’d just like to step outside the car and get yourself some, John, I’ll be back this way in about five or six hours.”
“Ha, bloody, ha, but no complaints, it’ll do till we get there. Anyroad, I’m just really glad Ringo said, yes, to our ‘Eppy’.”
“Me, too, as it’s clear Pete can’t help get us where we’re going to.” Paul glanced over at his friend. “So, you’re okay with it, now, John?”
“What? The coffee?”
“No, dafty, what we’re doing now…dumping Pete for Ringo.”
“Yeah, I am.” John nodded. “But only because of the group, Pauly, nowt else. You’ve always got to think of the group, first. That’s what I did when I first met you. You could play better than me, so I didn’t hesitate, the group was that much stronger with you in it.”
Paul nodded and smiled. “I’m glad you did, Mr Lennon. Only, that’s what our George has been on about, all this time, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. I thought he was a right drag, going on and on about it, at first, but after both Decca and EMI, well, I changed my mind.”
“Funny, our George, then George Martin coming to the same conclusion…both pushing for a change so the group could sound better.”
Us Being Better
“But that’s it, Pauly, us being better as a group. We’ve always got to do that, you and me, or what’s the bloody point? Just playing the same old things, the same old way, would get us nowhere. It’d kill me, for sure. Kill us, too. And that’s not what it means to be a Beatle.”
“It’s like when we write our songs…always trying to make them better than the last one…then trying to make them better each time we play them. Like that harmonica piece you worked out on, ‘Love Me Do’. It made the song sound so…so much better…real bluesy, like.”
“That was from me listening to that Delbert Clinton play harmonica for Bruce Channel. What a terrific bloke. He showed me some real nice licks on the harp. That’s what I mean, you see, it’s always searching for what’ll make what’s good sound that much better.”
Paul ripped right into ‘Searchin’—the root of anything and everything good yet to come.
John started in on ‘One After 909’—one of the first songs he’d ever written that he’d thought was any good.
Paul joined in—right on track—harmonising—seamlessly.
Paul laughed. “Right, then, you bugger, now one of mine.” And then he lit straight into ‘I Saw Her Standing There’.
John nodded, imagined, reached for new and different notes, and harmonised in fourths, as Paul sang in fifths. It sounded great. They both nodded, then. Yeah, that’s a real keeper.
And that’s how they went on for miles and miles. The two of them singing and laughing and joking and thinking and smoking and chatting—in between challenging each other with their favourite songs. Some of which they’d written together.
With all of the publicity surrounding the “new” Beatles Get Back film directed by Peter Jackson, I have had countless conversations about the new film. The anticipation is at almost fever pitch as the trailers we have seen look incredible.
It made me decide to back and watch the original “Let It Be” film that was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. It has been years since I last watched it and through all the discussions over those years, one theme seems to permeate through everything: we were watching The Beatles fall apart. But were we?
Paul and George Argue
The most famous element was always the argument between Paul and George, where George tells Paul that he will play whatever Paul wants him to, or he just wouldn’t play. Fans also refer to Yoko being permanently at John’s side, which she was.
But was it a negative film? Is it too painful to watch?
I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed watching it again, and it was filled with lots of fun scenes where you could see all four of them enjoying what they were doing, especially when they break out into funny arrangements, or the silly voices come out, like in “Besame Mucho”. But, it wasn’t the dark, depressing film that I seemed to think it was.
The Beatles Rooftop Concert
Then of course, we end with that incredible rooftop concert. How Lindsay-Hogg and his team were able to capture that is incredible, with the limited technology and space available. Plus, when you see them performing, I think they were recapturing memories of playing to crowds, which they hadn’t done since August 1966. The Beatles were enjoying themselves and it still such an iconic film.
Apology Needed?
We know Peter Jackson’s 6 hour special series is going to be superb, and it will have been worth the wait. However, I believe we also owe an apology and debt of thanks to Michael Lindsay-Hogg who has probably had a lot of negativity surrounding the film he made. He did a great job with what he had to work with.
Let It Be or Get Back?
Yes.
Enjoy the original, but I can’t wait for the new one too.
Paul was convinced that Ringo didn’t play drums on the group’s first Parlophone single, “Love Me Do” – and Ringo agreed. But, history has shown that he was indeed on the UK single release. Considering that Andy White was hired to drum on the recording, there are questions. Was Ringo’s version mistakenly released on the UK single? After all, the White version of “Love Me Do” appeared on The Beatles’ debut studio album Please Please Me, the UK EP release The Beatles’ Hits, and also on their U.S. single release.
“Love Me Do” The Beatles’ first single released on 5th October 1962
WAS IT RELEASED BY MISTAKE? ANY EVIDENCE?
If the Ringo version wasn’t considered good enough after 4th September, why release that first version? Neither George Martin nor Ron Richards were sure if it was selected intentionally or not.
Releases of “Love Me Do” issued after The Beatles’ Hits on 21st September 1963 contained Andy White’s version. Why? The original master recording of Ringo’s version of “Love Me Do” destroyed or recorded over. EMI only had Andy White’s 11th September recording to use. It was the only remaining – and arguably the superior – version. When “Love Me Do” was released in the U.S. in April 1964, it was Andy White’s version that was used.
MCARTNEY NOT MCCARTNEY!
A further mistake was made when 250 promo discs of “Love Me Do” were released, misspelling Paul’s name as McArtney; something he was used to in Mersey Beat. One of these discs was sold in October 2017 for $14,757, the most expensive 7-inch single ever sold.
50TH ANNIVERSARY MISTAKE?
In a twist of fate – or was it an inside joke – when Apple decided to reissue “Love Me Do” on the 50th anniversary, they initially used Andy White’s version. They then had to quickly recall those records, so that Ringo’s version could be issued.
The final piece of evidence is one of omission. With the group’s popularity increasing, why did they not ask Ringo to re-record “Love Me Do” for the album? The conclusion is that Ringo’ version was most likely released by accident. That is not uncommon in the recording industry, even today. Nothing else really makes sense.
Excerpt from Finding the Fourth Beatle the story of the 23 drummers who put the beat into The Beatles
David Bedford
Finding the Fourth Beatle – Double CD
This double CD has 41 tracks by 17 different drummers who all played with The Beatles
£12.99Original price was: £12.99.£10.99Current price is: £10.99.
