Beatles' drummer gets his due in 'Ringo'
In his signature song for a little pop group from Liverpool, England, Ringo Starr warbled "I get by with a little help from my friends."
Well, those friends better be proficient in iCal and multitask scheduling because the diminutive Billy Shears is a little busy these days.
Starr, recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist (the last Beatle to be so honored), has released a new CD, "Postcards From Paradise." He's the face of both a new ad campaign for Skechers and his own #PeaceRocks social media movement. And he's headed back to the concert trail this fall with the latest version of the All Starr Band.
Did we mention that he turns 75 on July 7? And that he has, thanks to an insanely healthy lifestyle, plenty of boundless energy (as Houstonians saw firsthand last year during his gig at The Woodlands) and only a slightly higher body-fat percentage than, say, Gollum.
In the first major biography of the "funny Beatle" in nearly a quarter century, Michael Seth Starr (no relation) charts the life and career of the man born Richard Starkey.
The book separates Starr's life into three parts: pre-Beatles, Beatles and Post-Beatles. Readers learn that growing up, Starr - beset by a variety of medical ailments, some life-threatening - spent nearly three years of his youth confined to hospitals.
A besotted fan of U.S. music (especially country), he and a friend went so far as to visit their nearby U.S. Consul, filling out forms and looking into factory jobs for a planned emigration to … Houston. Because that's where bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins lived
By: Bob Ruggiero
Source: Houston Chronicle
