Former Beatle main Starr of yearly tour
By BILL DEYOUNG Scripps Howard News Service
Sept. 4, 2003

Rather than sit at home and count his piles of Beatle money, Ringo Starr prefers to do what he's always done: make records, get onstage and entertain people.

"I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody," the 63-year-old rock ’n’ roll legend said during a phone interview. "I just want to play and have fun. I want to write.

"And though I keep saying that flippantly, 'Have fun,' it's a serious business. You have to put a lot of time in."
Nearly every summer for the past 14 years, Starr has toured with a group of latter-day rockers, most of whom had their one or two hit records ages after the Beatles disbanded.
Although the lineup is different for each tour, the ensemble is always called Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.

In this outfit, there's only one constant. And he's having a great time.
"I really enjoy the concept that I'm down in the front for half the show, and then I'm playing with all these other guys for the other half," Starr says. "I get a chance to really play the drums and perform, you know?"
The 2003 All-Starr Band includes John Waite (the Babys, Bad English), Paul Carrack (Ace, Squeeze, Mike + the Mechanics), Colin Hay (Men at Work), former Prince protégé Sheila E. (“The Glamorous Life”) and session saxophonist Mark Rivera.
To pick his annual crew, Starr explains, "you just have a list. It started with my phone book. And that was the first list. And it's moved on since then, ’cause we've used a lot of different type players. We try and put a combination together that we can all enjoy."
Starr's most recent album, "Ringo Rama" (the title is a play on the Hindu words Hare Rama) was recorded with a band called the Roundheads, fronted by Starr's songwriting partner Mark Hudson (uncle of actress Kate).

"Ringo Rama" is the fourth Ringo Starr album with Hudson and company. They've played a few live shows, but, Starr says, touring season inevitably means a new stable of crowd-pleasing All-Starrs.
"In January," he says, "when I was thinking of touring again, that actual thought did come up: Shall we go with the Roundheads, or should I go with the All-Starrs? I thought, well, I'm gonna do the All-Starrs in the end, after much, much deliberation."
Although "Ringo Rama" hasn't exactly turned the music world on its collective ear, hope springs eternal, Starr says. "Well, maybe the next one will tear up the charts. It's not that I need it, it's just the thought: You think 'Oh, this is it . . . we've made a great one.'
"And wherever it goes, it doesn't matter because I can really stand by it. Musically it's great, I had a lot of fun making it; there's nothing to be ashamed of. And you put it out there and you see where it falls."
And you hit the road. Although the All-Starr set list is heavy on Starr's signature songs, the ex-Beatle says people ask him all the time if he'll ever do any lesser-known tunes from his group or early solo careers.
Don't hold your breath.

"I got a sort of a set that works live, keeps it up," he says. "I'm doing 'Don't Pass Me By' for the first time ever, and I'm doing two from 'Ringo Rama.'
"It's just part of the game. If anyone came to see me and I didn't do 'Little Help From My Friends,' they'd feel cheated, I feel.
"And so you've gotta do that, you gotta do 'Yellow Submarine,' you gotta do 'Photograph,' you gotta do 'It Don't Come Easy,' 'Act Naturally.' It mounts up, you know?"
Would Starr ask his old pal Eric Clapton to do an All-Starrs tour?

"Yeah, but would Eric come out and do three numbers? I don't know," he says, laughing.
"I've had that thought, we'd have Elton on piano, and Eric, and Ray Charles, and Aretha could sing.
"Of course you have those thoughts, but you can't really see it's gonna happen."

Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band

Where: Dodge Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix
When: 8 p.m. Friday
How much: $30-$100
Info: