But what was a Ringo to do? He hardly ever wrote anything, so taking the Monkees route and making some albums with songs written for him by other people seemed to work.
But hitting the road and playing live was a completely different story. Beatlemania is still not a force to be taken lightly, but even the goofy one knew that it was a hell of a risk to take as a drummer. With the possible exception of Buddy Rich or Phil Collins, there weren’t—and probably still aren’t—too many drummers that fans would pay good money to see bang on things live.
Then, in 1989, Ringo decided to take his own advice, and seek a little help from his friends in the music world. He enlisted members of The Band and Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, as well as Dr. John, Billy Preston, and Joe Walsh—a future brother-in-law—to serve as his touring band. The group would knock out Beatles tunes, Ringo tunes, and members’ own solo material, perhaps as a mini-advertisement—or in some cases, an introduction—to Beatle fans who would buy tickets. And behind his own drum kit while Ringo was up front would be session drumming legend Jim Keltner.
Thirty-three years and 15 lineups later, Ringo never really stopped bringing apples and oranges of the music industry together. I mean, did you ever imagine 10cc’s Graham Gouldman playing “Oye como va” with Gregg Rolie of Santana? How about Peter Frampton playing on “Sunshine Of Your Love” with Jack Bruce? And we know for certain that Howard Jones never thought he’d find himself playing “Karn Evil 9” alongside Greg Lake.
Before giving anyone the spotlight at a shoulder-to-shoulder packed Ruth Eckerd Hall on Friday night, Ringo Starr—82 years old with a new EP that was only 19 hours old—came jogging out in a black jacket from stage left, and immediately started spreading his trademark “peace and love” hand signs before starting the vocals for an all-hands-on-deck set that featured “Matchbox,” “It Don’t Come Easy,” and “What Goes On.”
The latter was described as the only song credited to Lennon-McCartney-Starkey. “I did go to the boys and say ‘You know, it would sound much better the other way: Ringo, Paul, and John,’” he joked.
For all we know, Ringo could have been dead serious. He loves hearing his name, as he expressed on his most recent—and possibly final—full studio album, What’s My Name in 2019. At one point, he even yelled that album title in the form of a question after introducing the band, in an effort not to feel left out. “See, I can go now. My heart is full,” he said.
After Ringo’s introductory trifecta, he ran up to his drum kit, and Edgar Winter was up first to show off his chops. The 75-year-old keyboardist—clad in a floppy red shirt and blessed with hair as long as it was at Woodstock—has been an on-and-off mainstay in the All-Starr Band since 2006. His first number was “Free Ride,” which mainly saw him saunter around the stage with a mic, before throwing a strapped-up 61-key synth around his neck, an idea he later claimed to invent. He also dusted off “Frankenstein,” written specifically for the synth-around-the-neck, but would change from synth to saxophone, to standing quad drums to duel touring drummer Gregg Bissonette on.
Men At Work’s Colin Hay—another sporadic All-Starr mainstay—stood up front on far stage left. Friday night was the third time he had been to Clearwater this year alone. And with Ringo in the room, his contributions went far beyond presenting “Down Under,” “Overkill,” and “Who Can It Be Now?” too.
When Toto’s Steve Lukather wasn’t, he did the majority of his own guitar work, and provided some of the higher notes that nobody else onstage could reach. Most predominantly, Hay sang—and absolutely nailed—every high chorus on “Africa.” Not that Toto’s performance of their meme-making hit in Tampa earlier this year was cringeworthy or anything, but for a guy who celebrates his 70th birthday next year, Hay is still vocally powerful as ever.
Hamish Stuart of Average White Band was a great addition as well. A well-seasoned Beatles collaborator, Hamish mainly stuck to slapping the bass, but once it was Hamish’s time to take the mic (“Cut The Cake,” “Work To Do,”) Lukather took over while the Scot switched for a black Telecaster.
And as for Ringo, he got through the vast majority of his Beatles discography, minus a few. He tried to let Lukather pick a song, and after musically pitching “Day Tripper” and “Please Please Me,” Ringo asked for the opening chord to “Yellow Submarine.” He later joked about how he had two Beatle tunes about the sea, which lead into “Octopus’s Garden,” which has never been played on tour until this year. Whichever version of “Back Off Boogaloo” that’s the most recent is always a treat to hear, as well as the Lennon-penned “I’m The Greatest,” which has a pretty good chance of being Ringo’s alarm tone for when he wakes up in the morning.
Imagine what you could do with a fraction of Ringo’s self love. *ahem* Self peace and love.
