Biographer Michael Starr has two things in common with former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr – the same last name and the passion to tell Ringo Starr’s life story. Ringo recently admitted that he was interested in writing his autobiography, but turned down the offer because the publishers want him to focus on just his 8 years with The Beatles. Ringo insists that his life before and after The Beatles should not be left out.
Michael Starr agrees that Ringo Starr’s entire life will be a fascinating subject for his new biography on the world’s most famous drummer. The author is sending out a request to Beatles fans for “anyone who has a Ringo story, or any info concerning Ringo, they can contact me at michaelsstarr@gmail.com.”
“My book will cover the entire arc of Ringo’s life, from his birth in Liverpool to the present-day,” Starr explains. “I’m very interested in exploring Ringo’s pre-Beatles life in Liverpool (family, friends, schooling, etc.) and how this shaped his life — since I feel this hasn’t ever really been covered with any depth (especially when compared to the early-life coverage of Paul McCartney, John Lennon and, to a lesser extent, George Harrison).”
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The book is scheduled to be published in 2015. Starr has already written six entertainment biographies, on Peter Sellers, Art Carney, Joey Bishop, Bobby Darin, Raymond Burr and Redd Foxx. Michael Starr is also the television columnist for the NY Post.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different. This is an album that is part of my history – it goes back to the wee hills of Scotland where it was formed. It’s an album called RAM. It reminds me of my hippie days and the free attitude with which was created. I hope you’re going to like it, because I do!”
Paul McCartney, 2012
On May 22, Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 album, RAM, will be released across a variety of formats with new and exclusive content including a beautifully packaged Deluxe Edition Box Set.
Following the successful recent reissues of McCartney, McCartney II, and this year’s Grammy winner for Best Historical Album Band on the Run, RAM is the latest album from Paul’s iconic back catalogue to get the deluxe Paul McCartney Archive Collection treatment. As with the previous releases in the series, Paul has personally overseen every aspect of the project.
The standard release tracklisting is as follows:
Standard Edition
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Ram On
12. The Back Seat Of My Car
In keeping with the reissue campaign to date, the Deluxe Edition Box Set is the ultimate collectable for any fan of this album. Its stunningly presented 112-page book, photo prints, handwritten lyrics and notes, four CDs and a bonus film DVD, tells the full story of a classic album that has gone down in music history as one of the most revered in McCartney’s catalogue.
The deluxe edition tracklisting is revealed as follows:
CD 1 – Remastered Album (as listed above)
CD 2 – Bonus Audio
1. Another Day
2. Oh Woman, Oh Why
3. Little Woman Love
4. A Love For You (Jon Kelly Mix)
5. Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
6. Great Cock And Seagull Race (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
7. Rode All Night
8. Sunshine Sometime (Earliest Mix)
CD 3 – Remastered Mono Album
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Ram On
12. The Back Seat Of My Car
CD 4 – Thrillington – Remastered Album
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. The Back Seat Of My Car
DVD – Bonus Film
1. Ramming
2. Heart Of The Country
3. 3 Legs
4. Hey Diddle
5. Eat At Home On Tour
- Menu music features a selection of jingles from the promo disc Brung To Ewe By
Other content:
112-page book with 32 page scrapboook, 5 photo prints, wallet including facsimiles of Paul’s handwritten lyrics and notes, mini-photographic book of outtakes from the album cover photo shoot, plus digital-only premium membership to paulmccartney.com.
RAM, originally released in May of 1971, is the only album to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney and was Paul’s second post-Beatles LP. It was overshadowed at the time by the drama of the dissolution of The Beatles, as played out in the world’s media. The album topped the charts hitting #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. While RAM polarized critics upon its release, music fans and critics alike since have overwhelmingly embraced it, with Rolling Stone, for example, revising their original review up to 4 stars. Recently RAM has enjoyed even further re-appraisal and acknowledgement including a number of tribute albums.
RAM was written by Paul and Linda, mostly at their Scottish farm on the Mull of Kintyre. In the autumn of 1970 they flew to New York to start the recording process. Without a band in place they auditioned and drafted musicians, who included future Wings drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken.
The band completed the album in early 1971 along with non-album tracks ‘Another Day’ and ‘Oh Woman, Oh Why’ which were released together as Paul’s first post-Beatles single ahead of the release of RAM and became a Top 5 global hit. The multi-disc editions of the RAM reissue include both songs as bonus tracks. The album also gave Paul his first post-Beatles US number 1 single with ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ and a Grammy win for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists.
RAM was also issued in mono with alternate mixes, which were only made available to radio stations at the time. This version has gone on to become one of the most sought after McCartney collectables. It will now be commercially available for the first time ever on CD as part of the Deluxe Edition as well as a limited run on vinyl.
1977 saw the release of Thrillington, an instrumental interpretation of RAM, which was originally recorded in 1971 at London’s Abbey Road Studios and was arranged by Richard Hewson. It was released under the pseudonym Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington, an unknown eccentric socialite who often cropped up in mysterious newspaper classifieds. In reality Percy was a character devised by Paul and Linda. The idea behind it was simply to have some fun and the concept of doing a full orchestral album was an ambition long held by Paul.
The additional film content features previously unreleased and exclusive content including the brand-new documentary, “Ramming” narrated by Paul, as well as the original music videos for “Heart Of The Country” and “3 Legs”.
The remastering work was done at Abbey Road using the same team who recently remastered the complete Beatles’ catalogue.
With the 2012 Olympics coming to London this summer, tourism is expected to increase all across the UK. This increase is expected in areas like Liverpool and its many Beatles locations.
Marketing research data shows that the Olympics can increase tourism for up to 10 years for the host city following the event, as it did in Sydney, Australia following the 2000 games. This “legacy” effect is projected to be felt in the UK for the post-Olympic games period, especially from 2013-2017.
In addition to the Olympics, The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool is anticipating increased attendance beginning in 2012 due to 50th anniversary celebrations of The Beatles. On April 4, 2012, Camilla, HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, visited The Beatles Story in Liverpool to unveil a special plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the formation of The Beatles.
Have you made your pilgrimage to the Beatles’ Liverpool yet? Take your own virtual magical mystery tour by clicking here to see a great slideshow of famous Beatles sites in Liverpool featuring Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, The Beatles’ childhood homes and more!
On February 7, Paul McCartney will be releasing a brand new album of standards he grew up listening to in his childhood—plus two brand new McCartney compositions. The album is called ‘Kisses on the Bottom‘ and will be released on Hear Music/Concord Records.
Paul McCartney in the studio; courtesy Hear Music/Concord Records
The album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011. It also features guest musicians Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, respectively, on the original compositions ‘My Valentine’ and ‘Only Our Hearts’.
[You can listen to Paul's new song, My Valentine, at this link on Soundcloud.com. Paul wrote the song for his new bride, Nancy Shevell, and the song was played for the first dance at their wedding on October 9, 2011].
This is the album McCartney has been thinking about making for more than 20 years – and probably the last thing his fans are expecting. “In the end it was ‘Look, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it,” he says.
In short, Paul believes it is about time “the songs me and John based quite a few of our things on” received the recognition they deserve. Moreover, the record also features a couple of new original McCartney compositions in the spirit of those classics.
“When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them,” Paul explains. “I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys – I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those songs.”
Paul enlisted the help of of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band—who delivered ultra-high quality musicianship and were completely in tune with Paul’s restraint and feel for the music. In the studio, the recording of this album was also a new challenge for Paul who, for the first time ever, performed exclusively in the vocal booth without no instrument – no guitar, no bass, no piano – which led to a vocal performance like no other in his career.
He adds, “It was very spontaneous, kind of organic, which then reminded me of the way we’d work with The Beatles. We’d bring a song in, kick it around, when we found a way to do it we’d say ‘Okay, let’s do a take now’ and by the time everyone kind of had an idea of what they were doing, we’d learnt the song. So that’s what we did, we did the take live in the studio.”
“It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices so, many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people. I hope they are in for a pleasant surprise.”
Madame Tussauds in Hollywood will unveil a new exhibit of four Beatles’ wax figures on the anniversary of John Lennon’s death on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 9 a.m. at the Madame Tussauds Hollywood location at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.
Fans are invited to come place flowers at the feet of a lifelike John Lennon wax figure, complete with his trademark circular glasses and shoulder-length hair, to mark the 31st anniversary of Lennon’s death. Fans who arrive on December 8, 2011 with flowers and mention “Beatles” at the door will receive free admission to the attraction from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.
The interactive exhibit features George, John, Paul and Ringo in their late 1960’s-era styling and allows fans to stand in line with the Beatles to create their own personalized album cover. The traveling exhibit will be in town from December 8, 2011 through February 2012.
Biographer Michael Starr has two things in common with former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr – the same last name and the passion to tell Ringo Starr’s life story. Ringo recently admitted that he was interested in writing his autobiography, but turned down the offer because the publishers want him to focus on just his 8 years with The Beatles. Ringo insists that his life before and after The Beatles should not be left out.
