AL CALDWELL
Rory Storm (born Al Caldwell; 7 January 1938 – 28 September 1972) was an English musician and vocalist. Storm was the singer and leader of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpudlian band who were contemporaries of the Beatles in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Ringo Starr was the drummer for the Hurricanes before joining the Beatles in August 1962, replacing original drummer Pete Best. The Hurricanes were one of the most popular acts on the Liverpool and Hamburg club scenes during their existence, although their attempt at a recording career was not successful. They released only two singles (and one additional compilation track) during their early 1960s heyday, and none of their material made the charts. Their second and final single was a version of the West Side Story song “America”, and was produced by the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. (More from Wikipedia)
As skiffle became displaced by American rock and roll, and billed as Ritchie Starkey, he joined a band called Texans in November 1959 that was led by Al Caldwell. They were a well known skiffle band that was trying to reinvent themselves as a rock band. The band went through several names – the Raging Texans, then Jet Storm and the Raging Texans – before settling on Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Starkey developed the Ringo Starr persona at that time, due to his propensity for wearing numerous rings. They became one of the top bands in Liverpool in 1960 and eventually made their way to Hamburg, where they crossed paths with the Beatles; initially, however, they were billed above the Fab Four and were also paid more.
(September 2014)
