RITCHIE STARKEY
Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey on 7 July 1940) is an English drummer, singer, songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (where he was billed as Ritchie Starkey). He joined the Beatles in August 1962, replacing Pete Best. After the band’s break-up in 1970, he released several successful singles including the US number four hit “It Don’t Come Easy”, and number ones “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen”. He narrated the first two seasons of the children’s television series Thomas & Friends. Since 1989, he has successfully toured with twelve variations of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. Starr – already inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Beatles in 1988 – will go in for his solo career in 2015, making him a two-time inductee. (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)
