1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: Ringo Star are insane. A hostile audience nearly ruined his 3 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: debut as the Beatles drummer because they wanted him out 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: of the band. French Canadian separatists in Montreal threatened his life. 5 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: He was followed and detained by Mexican federales hell bent 6 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: unlocking him up for good. He nearly killed himself and 7 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: his wife when he drove his Mercedes into not one 8 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: but two lampposts in a rainstorm. And despite a decade's 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: long running gag that he wasn't creatively on par with 10 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: his fellow Fabs and the Beatles, Ringo Star made some 11 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: of the most profound innovations in rock drumming, creating some 12 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: of the greatest drum tracks on some of the greatest 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: songs of all time. Unlike that music I played for 14 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show. That wasn't from 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: a great song. That was a preset loop from a 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: mellotron called Phantom Buddha MK one. I played you that 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,759 Speaker 1: loop because I can't afford the rights to breaking up 18 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: is hard to do by Neil Sadaka, And why would 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: I play you that specific slice of down doob Doo, 20 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: Down Down Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on August nineteenth, nineteen 22 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: sixty two, And that was the day that Ringo star 23 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: played his first gig with the Beatles at the legendary 24 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: Cavern Club, a gig that nearly ended in a riot. 25 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: On this episode, hostile audiences French Canadian separatists, Mexican Federales, 26 00:01:43,440 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: and Ringo Starr. I'm Jake Brennan and this this disgrace Land. 27 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: You could tell they were Federales because they looked exactly 28 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: like they did in the movies. The military costumes who 29 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: were elaborate, downright theatrical, even jackets stiffly buttoned up to 30 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: the neck, crown hats with little visors nestled perfectly atop 31 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: their heads. But this wasn't a Sergio Leoni or Sam 32 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: PECKINPAM movie. James Coburn and Ernest Borgnin weren't going to 33 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: come to your rescue with shotguns, Draan. This was real life. 34 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: This was Guadalajara Airport. This was the dawn of the 35 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties. February nineteen eighty, to be exact, Ringo Starr 36 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: was trying to go incognito, you know, like a man 37 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: with no name, but it wasn't working. Everyone knew Ringo's name, 38 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: and that is to say they knew the stage name 39 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: that long since eclipsed the name his mother gave him. 40 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: He had also just become the first Beatle to ever 41 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: step foot in Mexico. Thus the Federales in the cafe doorway, 42 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: Ringo worked on his breakfast of Champions champagne. It was 43 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: better than lukewarm coffee, plus at the blood flowing for 44 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: what was sure to be a multiple wine bottle kind 45 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: of day. At this point, most of his days were 46 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: the ones he remembered. At least. His friend Keith Allison, 47 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders, sat next to him. 48 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: The two were on a layover in Guadalajara on their 49 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: way to Durango to shoot a prehistoric slapstick comedy called Caveman. 50 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: They carried a few suitcases with them, including a road 51 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: case that held a four track tape recorder and a 52 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: guitar in case inspiration struck and the Federales sized up 53 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: the cases that sat next to Ringo and Keith and 54 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: thought about all the illegal drugs that must be inside, 55 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,119 Speaker 1: maybe a brick of marijuana, just like the one Japanese 56 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: cops found on Ringo's former bandmate Paul McCartney at the 57 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: Narita International Airport one month earlier. Paul did ten days 58 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: in a hardcore Japanese prison for that offense. Now in Guadalajara, 59 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: Mexican authorities were hoping they could follow suit another Beetle 60 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: busted and that would be movie bueno. But the Federales 61 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: that could mean a serious bump take home pay. Ringo 62 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: knew it wasn't a movie, but still he couldn't help 63 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: but hear music playing his head as he returned the 64 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: federals dead eyed stare. He heard in akarina trumpet's whistling 65 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: a soprano recorder that sounded like a dying coyote, a 66 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: soundtrack to Ringo's own personal Mexican standoff. And the Federales 67 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: finally walked up to Margo and Keith and asked to 68 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: see their passports. Ringo began to panic. He couldn't be 69 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: that stupid, right, not after what happened to Paul. He 70 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: hadn't smuggled any drugs in his luggageer so he thought, 71 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: he was sure, pretty sure, And then again, there were 72 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: entire years in the last decade that he couldn't even remember. 73 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: His brain was pickled. Fuck, Ringo thought, just you know, 74 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: act naturally. Ringo's act was either too natural or not 75 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: natural enough. The Federals weren't satisfied with a stinking passport. 76 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: They took the duo to a cramped private room and 77 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: they dug through the pockets of Keith's jacket. They looked 78 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: inside Ringo's boot like it was a cavernous vessel for 79 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: contramand and the Federals told Ringo and Keith to take 80 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: out their wallets. Then they tapped the bills on top 81 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: of a slab of black marble on a table. The 82 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: marble was so black that any white residue that fell 83 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: from the bills would be noticed immediately. The Federals just 84 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: needed a speck to fall on that marble, a flake, 85 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: some dust. Ringo told them that their efforts were in 86 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: vain and they weren't going to find anything privately to himself. 87 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:59,159 Speaker 1: He hoped to God they wouldn't. Ringo wasn't simply anxious. 88 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: He was so annoyed by all the unwanted attention. He 89 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: was currently receiving. He had spent a good chunk of 90 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: the past decade trying to distance himself from the Beatles, 91 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: trying to leave the past in the past and finally 92 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: move on. And now the only reason his shit had 93 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: been seized and searched was because of that past. When 94 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: the Beatles broke up in nineteen seventy, at the height 95 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: of an unprecedented career that seemed to have no ceiling, 96 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: Ringo let the other guys in the band cool off. 97 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: They could be angry. Ringo wasn't the getting angry tight. 98 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: He'd just hang around until they were ready to get 99 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: back together. As it became increasingly obvious that a reunion 100 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: was never going to happen, what with Paul and John 101 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: waging a public war and song, Ringo finally just got 102 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: on with it. Feeling like an equal to Paul, John, 103 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: and George had been hard enough from the start. Ringo 104 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: may have been the oldest Beadle in age, but he 105 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: was the last to join. The other three had already 106 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: developed a brotherly bond, and they'd spent the better part 107 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: of two years perfecting it. Ringo felt like a heel 108 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: and on the joke, even though he was as witty 109 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: as any of them. He was even known as the 110 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: Funny Beatle. The producer George Martin was underwhelmed by Ringo's 111 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: playing and replaced him with another drummer on his very 112 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: first recording session with the band. The version of Love 113 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: Me Do, released as a US single and on the Beatles' 114 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: debut album, Please Please Me, featured not Ringo on drums, 115 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: but session man Andy White. Ringo was relegated to tambourine. 116 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: Only the UK single release featured their earlier take with 117 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: Ringo on drums. In later years, George Martin explained that 118 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: he'd already booked White to play before Ringo had joined 119 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: the band, but that testimony contradict's studio logs that clearly 120 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: show the Abbey Roah production team was unsatisfied with Ringo's contribution. 121 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: Ringo never really shook the stigma of being just the 122 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: drummer and the Beatles. Did it bug him that he 123 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: couldn't write a song that could go toe to toe 124 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: with his bandmates? Sure was he frustrated that he couldn't 125 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: play any other instruments besides the drums, of course, but 126 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: that didn't mean he was creatively challenged. There's a joke 127 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: that's often attributed to John Lennon, though it was actually 128 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: made by a comedian after John's death. That goes Ringo 129 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: wasn't the best drummer in the world. It wasn't even 130 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: the best drummer in the Beatles. Consider, however, that when 131 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: Ringo briefly quit the band during the making of the 132 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: White Album, it took all three of the other Beatles 133 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: to cobble together a decent drum track for Back in 134 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: the USSR. I'm serious. Next time we listen to the 135 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: White Album's opening track, listen to the drums. That is 136 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: the sound of Paul, John and George all trying very 137 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: hard to do the thing that Ringo did very simply, 138 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: don't come easy, lads. The truth was that Ringo was 139 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,839 Speaker 1: an innovator. Never before had the way the drums were 140 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: played been such a central component to the construction of 141 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,199 Speaker 1: a song in the history of popular music. There's br 142 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: and Ar before Ringo and after Ringo, and no one 143 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: played the same after Ringo hit the scene. But in 144 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty that wasn't Ringo's legacy. Ringo remained the fool, 145 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 1: the funny Beatle, the non creative one, the one who 146 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: wasn't rated very highly, just a lucky kid from Liverpool's 147 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: tough end who happened to catch the break of a lifetime, 148 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: and he was pretty goddamn sick of hearing about it. 149 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: Sitting in a private room at the Guadalajara Airport with 150 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: federales tearing through his luggage, Ringo was forced to hear 151 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: about it, talk about it, and think about it all 152 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: over again. He just wanted to be someone else. But 153 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: who exactly could he be if not a beetle? How 154 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: would Ringo star to find himself in the nineteen eighties 155 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: and beyond could he even summon the energy to try? 156 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: Just a few years before Ringo's star physically altered his 157 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: appearance and hopes that it would change who he was, 158 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: he walked into a barber shop and said, take it 159 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: all off. They shaved his head, his beard, his mustache. 160 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: The only hair he had left on his head was 161 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 1: his eyebrows. But if this barber were showing photographs, one 162 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: could plainly see that he had even severely sinned. The 163 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: wooly caterpillars above Ringo's eyes. He had never looked less 164 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: beutlesque than all of it life. At the time Ringo 165 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: said that he did it because where he was living, 166 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: Monte Carlo was too hot and he needed to cool off, 167 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: But later in an interview with People magazine, he gave 168 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: a very different reason. It was a time when you 169 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: either cut your wrists or your hair. Ringo set and 170 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: I'm a coward. It was widely known throughout Liverpool that 171 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: Ringo Star was the best. Other drummers wish they could 172 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: play like. Most bands thought seriously about replacing their drummers 173 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: with Ringo because no one played like Ringo. Ringo's technique 174 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: was homegrown. Unlike other drummers who held the right stick 175 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 1: over hand style left stick underhand style, Ringo opted for 176 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: an odd match stick style approach, which meant he held 177 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: both of his drum sticks overhand, and despite being left handed, 178 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: he played his drum kit as if he were right handed, 179 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: which meant that he led with his left hand while 180 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,200 Speaker 1: moving across the drums from left to right, and he 181 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:21,439 Speaker 1: looked cool as shit doing it. No one looked cool 182 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: as a Ringo Star. In the early nineteen sixties, he 183 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: how cooled his band leader Rory Storm of Rory Storm 184 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: of the Hurricanes, when he shook his head in ecstasy 185 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: from behind the kit. He had a beard. At the 186 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: time when young musicians were clean shaven, impresentable to take 187 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: home to mom. He drove a zephyr zodiac. He was 188 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: the coolest motherfucker in the room, in any room. But 189 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: tonight August nineteenth, nineteen sixty two, at twenty two years old, 190 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: on stage at the soon to be legendary Cavern Club 191 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: in Liverpool, perhaps the most important night of his professional 192 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: life up until that time, Ringo did not feel cool. 193 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 1: He felt woefully inadequate, like an impostor. The cavern was packed, 194 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: raucous applause quickly gave way to rabbit shouts and heckles. 195 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: Ringo had never experienced such a volatile live and all 196 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: of his year's drumming with other bands, the voices in 197 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: the audience weren't chanting for another song. They were chanting 198 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: for another drummer, and Ringo didn't know if he'd make 199 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: it out of the dance seller alive. As each second passed, 200 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: it felt more and more like his first gig as 201 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: the Beatles drummer would wind up his last. Okay, so 202 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: technically it was his second gig as the Beatles drummer. 203 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: The first had taken place at the Horticultural Society danced 204 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: the night before, but who's a fuck about the Garden Show. 205 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: This was the first gig that mattered. This was the 206 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: Cavern Club, the claustrophobic underground venue that was to early 207 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: rock and roll what CBGB's would beat a punk. It 208 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: was where early Beatles fans lost their collective shit while 209 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: witnessing some of the most cathartic live music ever performed. 210 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: And there was one thing the majority of those Beatles 211 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: fans agreed on that night. Pete Best Forever Ringo Never. 212 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: They shouted it over and over again. Pete Best, Forever, 213 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: Ringo never. Pete Best, Forever, Ringo never. Best, of course, 214 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: was the Beatles' original drummer up until a few days before. 215 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: His sacking came as a shock to fans. He had 216 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: been there from the beginning through the band's formative touring years, 217 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: but in the eyes of John, Paul and George, Pete 218 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: never really fit into the goon show vibe of the band. 219 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 1: As Paul McCartney once said, we were the wacky trio 220 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: and Pete was perhaps a little more sensible. So the 221 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: band did the sensible thing. They fired Pete. Technically they 222 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: had their manager, Brian Epstein, fired Pete Best. Pete felt 223 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: like he'd been stabbed in the back. He was so 224 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: distraught that he actually contemplated tying a rock around his 225 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,199 Speaker 1: neck and jumping in the Mercy River. Other Liverpool drummers 226 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: were equally shocked to them. Replacing Pete even for one 227 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,679 Speaker 1: gig was tantamount to a scab crossing a Union picket line. 228 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: When Johnny Hutchinson, drummer for a rival band called the 229 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: Big Three, was asked to keep pete seatwarm for Ringo, 230 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 1: who was tying up loose ends with Rory Storm, Hutchinson 231 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: immediately declined. I wouldn't join the Beatles for a gold clock. 232 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: He said. Pete Best is a very good friend of mine. 233 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: I wouldn't do the dirty on him. The Beatles' own 234 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: road manager, Neil Aspinall, was doing the dirty with Pete. 235 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: Best's mom was the father of Pete's newborn half brother. 236 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: Even he was on Pete's side at first, Neil refused 237 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: to set up Ringo's drums at shows. The coup happening 238 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: in the drum seat of Liverpool's greatest band was not 239 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: without some serious disturbances in both the band's camp and 240 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: its fanatical fan base, and right now in the depths 241 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: of the Cavern Club, it seemed a disturbance of savage 242 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: proportions was about to break out the chance and screams 243 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: from the audience, who were getting louder. Ringo tried to 244 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: tune them out, try to keep on playing, swinging the 245 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: beat like a motherfucker and shaking his head in the 246 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: way that typically got fans worked up into a frenzy. 247 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: But he couldn't concert. All he could hear was the 248 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: incessant Ringo never, over and over and over. It made 249 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: him feel less than unwanted, like he was trying to 250 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: insert himself into a family that didn't want him there. 251 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: And Brian Epstein was paying him twenty five pounds a week, 252 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: unheard of money for a drummer in Liverpool, but it 253 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: wasn't worth this. The crowd moved like a pregnant wave 254 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: at sea. Ringo could sense something horrible was about to happen. 255 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,359 Speaker 1: All those angry people were about to crash on the stage, 256 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: swallowing up Paul John and George first, and then last, 257 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: and most definitely least Ringo. They'd destroy him he was 258 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,440 Speaker 1: up on the drum, throwne all by himself, no protection. 259 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: He never felt so vulnerable in his life. Long before 260 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: he was Ringo star he was Richard Starkey, but he 261 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: had always been vulnerable. His father walked out when little 262 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: Richie was just three years old. When he was six, 263 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: his appendix burst and he was rushed into surgery to 264 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: have it removed. Nowadays, this procedure is fairly straightforward, but 265 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty seven it was extremely risky. The doctors 266 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: told Richie's mother three times throughout the night that he 267 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: wouldn't make it. When he did pull through, the kids 268 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: at school gave him his first nickname, Lazarus. Richie put 269 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: that nickname to the test when, at the age of thirteen, 270 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: he was hospitalized for a second time. This time was worse. 271 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: This time he'd had to fight harder if he wanted 272 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: to see another day. This time it was tuberculosis TB 273 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: Next to London. Liverpool had whathered the most casualties and 274 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: architectural destruction of any British city during the war, four 275 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: thousand dead from Hitler's bombs. The place was reduced to 276 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: smoldering rubble. The air was choked with the Kenzieans, a 277 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: breeding ground for TP especially in the Dingle, Liverpool's rough 278 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: working class neighborhood, were Ringo lived with his mother in 279 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: the Dingle is where he returned after two years at 280 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: the Heswald children His Hospital, after rebilitating himself back to 281 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 1: good health, well good enough health, Richie was still more 282 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: fragile than the other kids, more vulnerable. He found that 283 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,439 Speaker 1: our first hand on the mean streets of Dingle, to 284 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 1: survive meant first he had to have the look striped 285 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,920 Speaker 1: jacket and trousers, string tie, hair grease back like a 286 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,479 Speaker 1: duck's arse. The name teddy boy may have sounded sweet, 287 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: but the Dingle gangs that wore the InVogue look like 288 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: a badge were tough as hell. Being fragile in all 289 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,159 Speaker 1: which he looked for protection in the gangs. He was 290 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: roughed up a few times, but he never caught a knife, 291 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: and he never knifed anyone else. But he saw other 292 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: boys get stuck. He saw blood spill out by the docks. 293 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: One kid get the ship pounded out of him with 294 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: a hammer, another lost his eye. Richie couldn't handle it. 295 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: He couldn't imagine this being his life, day in and 296 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: day out, stuck in the goddamn dingkle, breathing the filthy air, 297 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: watching his back at all times for fear of a 298 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: jump from a rival gang. He needed something to get 299 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: him out for good, and he was pretty sure he 300 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,400 Speaker 1: had that something too. He had found it during those 301 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: two long years inside the children's hospital. During the music 302 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,399 Speaker 1: classes that the hospital provided, Richie discovered the drums. The 303 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: kit was rudimentary, but he loved the sound of me, 304 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: the sound he made. From that point on, it's all 305 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: he wanted to do. He never returned to school. He 306 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,440 Speaker 1: just wanted to make a racket. Playing the drums, and 307 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: playing the drums better than anyone else in town would 308 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: lead him to another gang, a rock band, which is 309 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: what rock bands are at their core, gangs. For this role, 310 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: he had to wear the right outfit, just like he 311 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: had as a teddy boy skulking around Liverpool, but he 312 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 1: also chose a fashion accent that was unique to him, 313 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: rings that covered his fingers, and those rings led directly 314 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: to his next nickname, a nickname that he would fully 315 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: embrace for the rest of his life, even when people 316 00:18:55,320 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 1: used it against him. Pete Best Forever, Ringo Never Jesus Christ, 317 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: the peap Best. Fans at the Cavern were going to riot. 318 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: Ringo could feel it. There was nowhere to run down 319 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 1: here and nowhere to hide. The cavern was a goddamn 320 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: fire hazard. Ringo began to regret his decision to leave 321 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 1: Ory's Storm in the hurricanes and then, for a reason 322 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,719 Speaker 1: that was never made clear to him, a dissenting voice 323 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: rang out from the surly majority. Up with Ringo. A 324 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 1: few more voices began to chime in, Ringo Forever, peepe 325 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: Best Never. Ringo tried to find comfort in the sudden 326 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: positive reinforcement. He played white knuckled Phills to the rest 327 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: of the set. The tide was stammed, if not entirely turned, 328 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: yet no one let a finger on Ringo George, on 329 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: the other hand, he wasn't so lucky. An irate fan 330 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: headbutted and ran under his eye when he came off 331 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: the stage. The group was hustled up the stairs and 332 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: out of the club under the protection of a burly doorman, 333 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: and though the fans would eventually embrace Ringo as the 334 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: cheeky fourth ma member of the group, being accepted didn't 335 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: me being safe. If there was one thing Ringo knew, 336 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: it was that one could never have too much protection, 337 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: because what happens tomorrow, well, one never knows. We'll be 338 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: right back after this. We're we're, we're. Ringo Star was drunk. 339 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: He'd been knocking back booze by the bottleful well before 340 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,439 Speaker 1: dinner at Pinocchio's, his favorite restaurant in the place he 341 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: now called home. Monte Carlo didn't just have great restaurants. 342 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: It offered shelter for a wealthy musician looking to avoid 343 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: paying eighty three percent of his earnings to the UK government. 344 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: Ringo's Monte Carlo shelter was swank a condo on the 345 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,199 Speaker 1: thirty third floor overlooking the Mediterranean, but most nights the 346 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 1: view went unadmired. Ringo was such a regular fixture at 347 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: the Loewe's case that it felt more like his home 348 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: than his actual home did. The staff were so used 349 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: to seeing his face and taking his money that they 350 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: let him deal blackjack to gamblers who were so filthy 351 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: rich they didn't even know what a fucking beetle was. 352 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: On this night, however, Ringo wasn't playing with a full deck, 353 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: though he was full of wine. Wine helped him care 354 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: less that he was spending way too much money on 355 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 1: gambling and nightclubing. The Beatles had only just legally dissolved 356 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 1: the year prior, in nineteen seventy five, which meant that 357 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 1: after five long years of Allan Klein's even longer read tape, 358 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,120 Speaker 1: Ringo finally got the financial windfall he'd been waiting for. 359 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,919 Speaker 1: He prioritized spending his money over making records. It was 360 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: like all the things they said about him were true. 361 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: Ringo Star wasn't brilliant like the other lads. The New 362 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: York Times put it bluntly in a nineteen seventy five article, 363 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: Ringo was the Beatle quote generally judged the least exceptional 364 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:02,719 Speaker 1: in terms of talent, unquote a self fulfilling prophecy. And 365 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: so was this night at Loew's. The rooms spawn almost 366 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: as fast as the roulette tables, slot machines rang out, 367 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,439 Speaker 1: cards shuffled, champagne glasses clinked. Ringo began to argue with 368 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,359 Speaker 1: an employee. Why was he arguing? He couldn't be sure, 369 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: he could barely see straight. Within minutes, he was tossed 370 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: outside onto the lonely sidewalk. It would be a while 371 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: before they invited him back. The nineteen seventies were rough. 372 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: The decade began auspiciously enough, and in nineteen seventy one, 373 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: Ringo released one of the greatest solo Beatles singles of 374 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: all time, it Don't Come Easy. It hit number one 375 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: on the Canadian charts and number four on the UK 376 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: and US charts. Even better, it outsold all three of 377 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 1: his ex band made singles released at the same time. 378 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: Maybe it was beginner's luck. Ringo had a few more 379 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: hits with Back Off, Boogaloo and a Photograph, but each 380 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: subsequent album he released so less and charted lower. Some 381 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: of his records in the mid to late nineteen siies 382 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: didn't even make the charts in the UK. And then 383 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: there was the divorce. And I'm not talking about the 384 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: split from the Fab four. Ringo's first marriage to Maureen 385 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:16,119 Speaker 1: Cox was flaming out hard. Ringo and Maureen, or Mo 386 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: as she was known, first began dating wayback during the 387 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: Cavern club days, and they were young when they tied 388 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,920 Speaker 1: the knot. He was twenty four and she was eighteen. 389 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: And as the whirlwind of fame beget the existential crisis 390 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: of the Beatles' breakup, which was then compounded by Ringo's 391 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: descent into alcoholism, the marriage buckled. To deal with the 392 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: ensuing heartache on wee. In despair, Ringo pulled to John 393 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: Lennon and flew out to Los Angeles to get high 394 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 1: with a little help from his friends. That men night 395 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,679 Speaker 1: after night of copious drinks with Beatle John the Who's 396 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: Keith Moon, Alice Cooper, and Harry Nilsen, the La singer 397 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: songwriter beloved by the Beatles, who had struck up a 398 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: brotherly friendship with Ringo. When the group switched things up 399 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 1: and partied in London, Ringo's good friend Mark Bowlan of 400 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: t Rex would join them. In La. The lubricated crew 401 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: of so called Hollywood Vampires haunted the Sunset Strip. They corroused, 402 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 1: they cavorted, they emptied every bottle they could find, and 403 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: they could hardly remember any of it. In fact, Ringo 404 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:17,360 Speaker 1: had to be reminded of the crazy shit he did, 405 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: like the fact that he and Harry made a seriously 406 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: awful rock and roll vampire foot that no one saw, 407 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: called The Son of Dracula, or that he recorded a 408 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: single called No No Song where he actually sings about 409 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: not drugging or drinking anymore. It's a great song, by 410 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,159 Speaker 1: the way, or that he and Keith Moon managed to 411 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 1: get the Turtles flow and Eddie fired from their DJ 412 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 1: gig at LA's kro Q after they showed up, and 413 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: Ringo slurred the word fuck fifteen times in ninety seconds 414 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: live on air. And the dumbest shit was the shit 415 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: you could easily forget. What Ringo could never forget, however, 416 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: was the worst stuff, the most depressing stuff, like when 417 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: Mark Bolan died at twenty nine in nineteen seventy seven, 418 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 1: or when Keith Moon died at thirty two in nineteen 419 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: seventy eight. Both Mark and Keith died with their legacies intact. 420 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: They were both still members of the bands that made 421 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: them famous, and they were both regarded as geniuses. Ringo 422 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: shudder to think what would the world say about him 423 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: if he stopped breathing tomorrow? From where he typically sat 424 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,439 Speaker 1: high above the rest of the Beatles on his drum riser, 425 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: Ringo Starr couldn't help but feel exposed. Maybe it was 426 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 1: the Cavern Club PTSD, but tonight at the Montreal Forum 427 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: he felt even more exposed than usual. It was a 428 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,160 Speaker 1: sitting guck. He knew there were trained sharpshooters in the audience, 429 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,160 Speaker 1: ready at a moment's notice to put a deranged fanatic 430 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: in the crosshairs. He knew that the guy sitting on 431 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: the side of the stage next to his drum riser 432 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: was actually a Montreal detective and playing clothes, but that 433 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,639 Speaker 1: didn't make him feel any safer because the authorities weren't 434 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: on the lookout for your run of the mill hysterical 435 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,239 Speaker 1: Beatles fan, not the kind who screamed, cried, pulled their 436 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: hair up, even dislocated their shoulders, shocking for a good view, 437 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,679 Speaker 1: which is what actually happened a month earlier at the 438 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: North American tour opener in San Francisco. No, they were 439 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,399 Speaker 1: looking for the people who had sworn to murder Ringo 440 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:18,360 Speaker 1: star on this very evening. It was September nineteen sixty 441 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,800 Speaker 1: four and the Beatles were playing two shows in one 442 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: night at the Forum. According to that day's edition of 443 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: Montreal newspaper, French Canadian separatists with an anti Semitic agenda 444 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: had threatened to shoot Ringo at the show because he 445 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: was Jewish. The thing was, Ringo wasn't Jewish. The fact 446 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: that he wasn't who the anti Semitic lunatics thought he 447 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: was didn't offer Ringo a whole lot of comfort. To 448 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: be honest, neither did the plain closed cops sitting next 449 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,959 Speaker 1: to him. What was he gonna do catch the bullet? 450 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 1: After his drums had been set up, Ringo re arranged 451 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 1: all of his symbols so instead of laying flat as 452 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,440 Speaker 1: they usually did, they were turned up to face the audience. 453 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: Could copper alloys stop a speeding bullet? Ringo had no clue, 454 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,119 Speaker 1: but it was worth a shot. The first show of 455 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: the night was difficult enough. Ringo couldn't take his mind 456 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: off the death threat or his eyes off the strange 457 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,399 Speaker 1: people in the audience, and the second show wasn't a 458 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,639 Speaker 1: hard day's night. It was torture, worse than his Cavern 459 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: debut as Pete Best's replacement. Any drum fill could be 460 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 1: his last, but Ringo lasted until the end of the show. 461 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: As soon as the final chord of the final song, 462 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,120 Speaker 1: Long Tall Sally rang out, Ringo descended from his drum 463 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: rise there deep into the bowels of the Montreal Forum, 464 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,360 Speaker 1: where he felt a little safer. He wouldn't feel entirely 465 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,720 Speaker 1: secure until they got the hell out of Montreal, which 466 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 1: they did immediately. The bad Nicks plans to stay the 467 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,479 Speaker 1: night and instead ran for their lives. When the Beatles 468 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: stepped onto a plane later that evening, they had only 469 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 1: been in Montreal for ten hours and they would never return. 470 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 1: Their departure was witnessed by three hundred Canadian Beatle fans 471 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: and dozens of policemen. Ringo looked out the window at 472 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 1: the crowd as the plane began and a taxi down 473 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: the runway. He wondered if his would be assassin was 474 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: among the throngs staring back at him. He escaped death 475 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: that day, but he never escaped the feeling that whether 476 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: it was a fanatic with a gun or a fan 477 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: with a crush on a different Beetle, there would always 478 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 1: be someone waiting in the wings to knock him down. 479 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: Hundreds of fans were waiting when Ringo star stepped out 480 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: of the private room at the Guadalajara Airport. Word got 481 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: around that a Beetle was about to be handcuffed to Mexico, 482 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: just like Paul had demanded in Japan, but the federales 483 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: found nothing they were wrong about. Ringo. He and his 484 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: friend Keith Allison, we're free to go. The fans, however, 485 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't let Ringo leave. They all wanted to touch him. 486 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: They asked in Spanish for an autographo. In nineteen eighty, 487 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: Ringo had been out of the Beatles for longer than 488 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: he'd been in the Beatles. It was still all anyone 489 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about. No one wanted to talk about 490 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: Ringo's latest solo record or movie. It was always when 491 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: was the band getting back together? Was Ringo really hiding 492 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: drugs somewhere in his luggage? Ringo had Paul McCartney's recent 493 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: bust in Japan to thank for that last bit. Ringo 494 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: put on his sunglasses and kept his head down and 495 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: pushed his way through the crowds so that he could 496 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: catch his connecting flight to Durango. When he arrived, he 497 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: sent Paul a three word telegram thanks. A lot more 498 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: negative attention followed. Ringo's girlfriend turned fiance of six years, 499 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 1: Nancy Andrews, sued him when he left her for his 500 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: Caveman co star, playboy, model and former Bond girl Barbara Bach. 501 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: Nancy lost the lawsuit, put the case in reduced the 502 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: legal term palimony into the lexicon, as well as the 503 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: right in California for unmarried partners to sue for the 504 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: division of property following a split. In December of nineteen 505 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: eighty John Lennon was shot, and aside from mourning the 506 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: loss of his dear friend, Ringo mourned the fact that 507 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 1: the Beatles could never come together again. Even though he 508 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: had previously distanced himself from his past and the biggest 509 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,760 Speaker 1: band of all time, it was crushing to know that 510 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 1: he and the other Fabs couldn't eventually drift back to 511 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 1: each other when the time was right. And then, in 512 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: May of nineteen eighty one, Ringo crashed his white Mercedes 513 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: three point fifty s l on a rainy road outside 514 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: London with Barbara and now his wife in the passenger seat. 515 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: The car went off the road, hit one lamp post 516 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: and then another, rolled over and wound up on the 517 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: other side of the highway. Ringo was thrown from the 518 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: car when it hit either the first or second lamp post. Luckily, 519 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 1: neither he nor Barbara sustained any major injuries, but his 520 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: solo career was the next to hit the skids. He 521 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: was dropped from RCA. He couldn't convince labels in the 522 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: UK or the US to release his music. He was 523 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: a Beatle and he couldn't get a label to sign him. 524 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: His ninth solo album, nineteen eighty two, s Old Wave, 525 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: only saw releasing Canada and Germany, and it was the 526 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: biggest flop of his career. Ringo had gotten what he'd wanted. 527 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: He'd been left alone and no one asked him about 528 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: the Beatles anymore, and no one asked about anything really. 529 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: By his own account, Ringo could be found at the 530 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: bottom of a bottle. He drank eight days a week. 531 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: Having been left alone meant being left to his own 532 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: devices and even worse vices. Barber drank with them, and 533 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: the drinking led to verbal and physical fights, many of 534 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: them in public, that often involved her old bottles and 535 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: slapped faces. He hit rock bottom in October of nineteen 536 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: eighty eight. Ringo star woke up after another bingch. He 537 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: had no idea how long he'd been under. House was 538 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 1: torn apart, bombed out. It looked like Liverpool's circa nineteen 539 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: forty five. I came to one Friday afternoon. Ringo later 540 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: said it was told by the staff that I had 541 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: trashed the house so badly that they thought there had 542 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: been burglars, and I had trashed Barbara so badly they 543 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: thought she was dead. This wasn't Ringo star. Deep down, 544 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: he knew it. He wasn't abusive. He did care about 545 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: his wife, his life, his place in the legacy of 546 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: the Beatles. Ringo and Barbara made the decision to get 547 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: clean together, and they flew out to the Arizona Desert, 548 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: specifically the Sierra Tucson Rehab Center, and dried up for 549 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: good wine tequila kangnac No, no, no no, he didn't 550 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: drink it no more for real. This time, Ringo and 551 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: Barbara's relationship became stronger than ever, and they moved forward. 552 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: They didn't look back, and that's to say they didn't 553 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 1: look back on the bad things. A sober Ringo discovered 554 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: that there were some things worth looking back on. First, 555 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: he formed a revolving supergroup of musicians and dubbed them 556 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: his All Star Band. The group's first iteration in nineteen 557 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: eighty nine included rock and roll royalty like Joe Walsh, 558 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: Nile's Loughbrin, Doctor John Billy Preston, and Rick Danko, and 559 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: Levon Helm from the band The All Star Band Mind 560 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 1: the Past for musical treasure, performing many of its members' 561 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: older hits for new audiences. Ringo then embraced the legacy 562 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: of his old band, The Beatles, beginning with the massive 563 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: anthology mini series and book undertaking in the nineteen nineties 564 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: and continuing with the seemingly perennial stream of reissues and 565 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: reappraisals of the band's back catalog that continues today. In turn, 566 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: the fans embraced Ringo and offered their own reappraisal of 567 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: his part in music history. Ringo stocks Guy rocketed. The 568 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: appreciation for his unorthodox playing hid an all time high. 569 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:57,760 Speaker 1: Fans were suddenly rushing to his defense. Rather than making 570 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 1: him the butt of the joke, they protected him. They 571 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 1: praised Ringo's heavy drone beat and Tomorrow never knows his 572 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: rhythmic accents had come together the way he played his 573 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: part and ticket to ride, dragging the beat by thundering 574 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:15,720 Speaker 1: of the toms. No one played like Ringo. Fellow drum 575 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: and admitted beatlemaniac Dave Grohl put it best, Ringo is 576 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: the king of feel, But Ringo Starr spent so much 577 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: of his life after the Beatles not feeling like the 578 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:33,880 Speaker 1: king of anything. And that is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, 579 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly 580 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 1: and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for 581 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: this episode can be found on the show notes page 582 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,960 Speaker 1: at disgracelamdpod dot com. If you're listening as a Disgraceland 583 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,799 Speaker 1: All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We 584 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: really appreciate it. 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