The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia [Paperback]

Bill Harry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Ringo Starr was the genuine working-class member of the Beatles. Born in abject poverty in a tiny terraced house in Liverpool's Dingle, deserted by his father, he suffered years of illness and hospitalisation which affected his schoolwork.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Author Bill Harry was the first person to write about the Beatles on a regular basis and has written more about them than any other writer. A friend of the group since their origin, he coined the phrase 'Mersey Beat' and launched a newspaper of that name to promote the Beatles and the other Mersey groups, a move which actually led to Brian Epstein discovering the Beatles. The rest is history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Books (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753508435
• ISBN-13: 978-0753508435
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,811,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ringo the great, July 6, 2007

By 

Dennis York (Vancouver,WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia (Paperback)

I bought this hoping there would be some text/narration of Ringo's life,esp. before the Beatles. It is truly an encyclopedia and as such is more of a reference book than something to read.I suppose that the movie "That'll be the Day" in which Ringo essentially plays himself during the period of his life pre-Beatles working at a Butlin's-like holiday camp is the closest we can come to getting a glimpse into the "real" Ringo. Ringo was a greaser-rocker (Like the rest of the beatles) and the movie is almost a mini-bio (it's either "that'll be the day" or "stardust" in which Ringo appears;both available on AMazon or Ebay.)
There is a dearth of material on Ringo,which is really unfair as George Martin has observed on the Beatles Cirque du Soliel "Love" CD/show how Ringo's awesome drumming,(which Phil Collins has said is impossible for another drummer to reproduce eg. "the fills on "A Day in the Life");is the glue that kept the Beatles' sound consistent over the years.
Ringo is the foundation without which The Beatles would not've been as successful. Most pop music fans don't pay much attention to drumming and might not realize how unique and great Ringo was w/ the Beatles.
I hope someday that a good author/researcher comes along and puts out a biography worthy of Ringo Starr. It would be totally WRONG if that never happens,esp. while Ringo's still with us. The Ringo encyclopedia probably deserves 2 0r 3 starrs,but I gave it 4 out of respect for Ringo himself,also for the lack of material on Ringo and because only Charlie Watts can come close to Ringo in the sense of being so closely woven into the overall sound of their respective groups,(ok,maybe Ginger Baker,too.)(Watts and Starr are criminally underrated.)Like a good referee or umpire,a good drummer is doing his job well when nobody notices him.