Icons: Ringo Starr
I’m in a hotel room with a Beatle. And admittedly overjoyed to be there. For me there are stars, and then there are great songwriters and legends. And then, above all else, are The Beatles.
“Inspired?” he says with a laugh, when I use that word to describe the songs he wrote for his latest album, Postcards From Paradise. “We need to have you around more often!”
Seems like a great idea. His band The Beatles, as the universe knows, was the greatest ever, and the love they brought the world through their short but miraculous reign continues to radiate every day. He came together with John, Paul and George to churn out miracle songs from 1963 to 1969 almost non-stop, forever changing the art of songwriting as we know it.
It was Ringo who often came up with their titles and phrases (“A Hard Day’s Night,” he confirms, was his, though “Eight Days A Week,” often attributed to him, he says, was not) and also conceived distinctive drum parts. A songwriter’s dream drummer, he always crafted soulful parts that served the very essence of each song. Even his fills are legend: soulful grace and visceral power without ever overwhelming the song.
But in addition to all that – the man is a great songwriter. Besides “Octopus’s Garden,” written for The Beatles, he wrote “Photograph” and “It Don’t Come Easy” soon after the big break. He’s since written many albums of great songs. Sure, he had some seriously great teachers. In the movie Let It Be, we see him writing “Octopus’s Garden” on the piano, in C major, trying to discern where its verse would end. Fortunately for him, George Harrison was there, and suggested the return to the tonic, back to the I, C major.
By: Paul Zollo
Source: American Songwriter
