Peace and Love and Many Happy Returns!

Today, Ringo Starr has turned 82 years young. I say “young” even though he’s not just seventeen, you know what I mean. But while the man may be an octogenarian, to me, he remains young at heart and full of amazing energy. I can tell you one thing: If I make it to 82, I’d be happy to have 50% of Ringo’s vitality!

I also like Ringo’s simple message of peace and love. During a time of significant change and deep division in this country and when much of the rest of the planet is pretty messed up as well, we need peace and love more than ever. Yes, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

As Ringo usually does, today, he’s celebrating his birthday and peace and love message with a little help from his friends. According to a recent statement on Ringo’s website, he and his wife Barbara Starkey will be joined…by family and friends, including current All Starrs Steve Lukather, Edgar Winter, Colin Hay, Warren Ham and Gregg Bissonette, as well as friends Benmont Tench, Jim Keltner, Richard Marx, Matt Sorum, Ed Begley Jr, Linda Perry, Diane Warren, Roy Jr and Alex Orbison.

They will gather together in Los Angeles for Ringo’s annual Peace & Love Birthday event, and at Noon give the traditional “Peace and Love” exclamation. This year Artemis Music Space Network, through the International Space Station (ISS) will amplify that message not only to the entire planet but up into Earth’s orbit and to the stars. That’s certainly a remarkable effort!

I’d like to acknowledge today’s happy occasion by celebrating Ringo’s music, borrowing from a post I published a year ago. I’m adding a Spotify playlist at the end.

It Don’t Come Easy – non-album single, April 1971

Photograph – Ringo, November 1973

No No Song – Goodnight Vienna, November 1974

Wrack My Brain – Stop and Smell the Roses, October 1981

In My Car – Old Wave, June 1983

Drift Away (featuring Tom Petty, Steven Tyler and Alanis Morissette) – Vertical Man, June 1998

Walk With You (duet with Paul McCartney) – Y Not, January 2010

Postcards From Paradise – Postcards From Paradise, March 2015

We’re on the Road Again – Give More Love, September 2017

Let’s Change the World – Change the World (EP), September 2021

Here’s the aforementioned Spotify playlist, which includes both the above tunes, as well as some additional songs.

And, remember, wherever you are at noon today, Peace and Love!

Sources: Wikipedia; Ringo Starr website; YouTube; Spotify

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Clips & Pix: Ringo Starr/Rock Around the Clock

Did the world need this cover of Rock Around the Clock? Probably not. Did Ringo Starr reinvent classic rock & roll with it? Nope. Do I still love it? Hell, yes!!! In fact, when I saw the clip earlier this afternoon, it put a big smile on my face and literally made my day. This is what Ringo excels at – using his positivity and making people happy. I hope you find it as much fun as I did, which is why I wanted share this as soon as I could.

Here’s what Ringo said on his website about the song, for which the official video was released today. “Yes let’s rock! This track takes me back – rock and roll memories from when I was about to turn 15. I’d been in hospital with tuberculosis for a year or so, where I’d already spent my 7^th and 14^th birthdays, and I didn’t want to spend another one there again. I was doing well, so my mother talked to the doctors, and they agreed to let me out.”

Ringo’s website further notes he first heard Rock Around the Clock in the film Blackboard Jungle, which his grandparents took him to see for his 15th birthday. “I’m sitting there, I’d been in the hospital, don’t know much about what’s going on lately, and they ripped up the cinema!!!,” he recalled. “They just threw the chairs and went crazy. I thought, ‘WOW this is great!!!!’ I remember that moment like it was yesterday, it was incredible. And the song just rocks. So when it came to choosing tracks for this EP I thought of doing ‘Rock Around the Clock’ for all these good reasons.”

Ringo’s cover of Rock Around the Clock was first included on his recent EP Change the World that appeared on September 22. He got a little help from some friends, who in this case most notably include guitarist Joe Walsh. Watching him rockin’ out only adds to the fun. He’s also a bit of a goofball!

Written in 1952 by Max Freedman and James Myers (credited as Jimmy De Knight), Rock Around the Clock was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets and released as a single in May 1954. It became the best known and most successful rendition of the tune. Topping the mainstream charts in the U.S., UK and Australia, the tune also was Haley’s biggest hit.

Sources: Wikipedia; Ringo Starr website; YouTube