by Robert Wilkinson
Today we celebrate a merry 72nd birthday of Ringo Starr, Beatle and drummer extraordinaire. He's still "rockin' on one time for us," as he once sang, and given what he's lived through this lifetime, that's no small thing. Today we have lots of videos of this singular talent.
This year I found great videos of his drumming with the Beatles, as well as some videos of stuff he's done since then with some of the best talent in the world. So for your enjoyment, please check out the live video performances of "It Don't Come Easy," "Photograph," and "You're 16" from his immediate post Beatle years, as well as a newer performance of "Honey Don't," written by the legendary Carl Perkins and sung by Ringo when he was "the most popular" Beatle. Today's videos show Carl and Ringo at their best, along with Eric Clapton, who on a separate track also joins George, Elton, Leon, and Ringo live in the Concert for Bangladesh to do George's major Beatle hit "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and the haunting "Bangladesh."
I also found a live performance of Ringo doing a song he sang lead on when he was with the Beatles, "I Wanna Be Your Man," and while mining for gold found a lot of videos of the Beatles live in Japan, as well as footage of their Shea Stadium concerts.
To finish this bunch of odds and sods, there are videos of the Beatles from Shindig and Ready Steady Go, both television series where lip synching was the norm, and a couple of music videos created for Ringo's post-Beatle hits. Enjoy the concert, and a big happy merry and jolly to my mom's favorite Beatle.
My favorite clip of Ringo performing with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan at the Concert for Bangladesh. A fantastic version of Ringo drumming and singing lead on "It Don't Come Easy."
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell Live in the Concert for Bangladesh. While there's only a brief shot of Ringo in this one, here's the incredibly powerful "Bangladesh" from the same prototypical concert for the relief of suffering humanity.
If you want an amazing piece of history and some great tunes by the greatest, here’s the full 1 ½ hour concert! For your enjoyments, The entire Concert for Bangladesh
Doing a song that he sang lead on when he was with with Beatles, here's "Honey Don't" featuring Ringo Starr, Carl Perkins, and friends
Ringo singing It Don't Come Easy in a live performance backed by his All Starr Band (Billy Squier, Colin Hays, Edgar Winter, Hammish Stuart, Gary Wright & Greg Bissonette) Too bad the sound is a bit distorted.
Here's Ringo doing a really great performance at the Concert for George of a song he and George wrote, “Photograph." and from the same show, Ringo singing lead on "Honey Don't"
"Only You" - John Lennon & Ringo Starr music video featuring both
"It Don't Come Easy" - Ringo Starr original music video song promo
Here's a weird clip of Ringo and Hoyt Axton on " Boogie Woogie, Gospel,Rock and Roll Show" from 1975.doing the outro to Hoyt's song, "The No No Song." I also found a rare and extremely funny clip of Ringo and the Smothers Brothers in 1974 doing "The No No Song" complete with sight gags and a really funny end.
An interesting montage of various video performance clips of Ringo singing "A Little Help From My Friends."
From various albums over the years, here's Ringo doing "I Can Help," "I'm the Greatest," (written by John Lennon for Ringo), and "Back Off Boogaloo" with a live version of "Back Off Boogaloo" from 2005 at the second link. (Just let it buffer a few....)
Here are a couple of gems! First, here are Ringo and Paul interviewed about the deaths of John and George on Larry King, and an interesting duet by Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr doing "With a little help from my friends" live! at Radio City.
From 2006, Ringo and the All Starr band doing a tune he sang lead for when the Beatles were at the top of the charts. For your enjoyment, “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
To continue this reeely big shew, heeeeere's THE BEATLES!
From The Beatles live in Japan 1966:
"If I Needed Someone" & "Daytripper"
The link to the entire 1965 Shea Stadium show by the Beatles is now busted. That said, I found more links to various parts of the show, some with better sound than others. This will give you an idea of what Beatlemania was like! Opening with "Twist and Shout" was bold, given that it shredded John's voice pdq.
Beatles at Shea Stadium – Pt. 1 (“Twist and Shout”)
(They couldn't hear a note they played or sang, so all in all it's a pretty good performance. Of course, some of the kids there probably suffered ear drum damage from the decibel level of screams, which were constant throughout the concert!)
Here's footage of Ringo and the Beatles being mobbed in 1964, set to the studio version of Octopus's Garden" which featured Ringo singing lead.
For those who remember when tv show performances didn't actually allow the acts to perform their hits, here are the Beatles "performing" a couple on Shindig! circa 1964:
Closing today's feast is classic footage of a long ago time! From the very first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in February 1964, 13 minutes of pure gold!
Here’s their very first American concert! From Washington DC, the entire 38 minutes of The Beatles play the Washington DC Coliseum
And from their live "performance" in 1964 on the British television hit series, "Ready Steady Go," we have The Beatles performing "Twist and Shout," "Roll Over Beethoven," "I Wanna Be Your Man," and "Long Tall Sally."
Please enjoy your trip to another place, space, and time, when things weren't nearly as weird as they are today. It really was a time when magic, love, and hope were in the air.
© Copyright 2012 Robert Wilkinson
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