The Beatles Boxed Set (29 page)

One of the earliest performances of Rory
Storm and the Hurricanes: (left to right) Johnny Byrne, Alan Caldwell aka Rory
Storm, Lou Walters, Richie Starkey, and Ty O’Brien, May 3, 1960

            On
January 2, 1960, the band played at The Cavern Club with The Cy Laurie Jazz
Band; the following week, they supported The Saints Jazz Band and Terry
Lightfoot’s New Orleans Jazz Band.

            Surprisingly,
it wasn’t rock ‘n’ roll music played at the Cavern those days because it was
not accepted by the customers or management. When Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
played there on January 17, 1960, they performed
Cumberland Gap
by
Lonnie Donegan. They also played
Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On
by Jerry
Lee Lewis. The audience was outraged and threw copper coins at them. Ray
McFall, manager of the Cavern, fined them six shillings. But the coins that
they collected from the stage were more than the fine.

            By
then, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes became the top ranked band in Liverpool. In
May 1960, they played at The Liverpool Stadium on the same bill as Gene
Vincent. Larry Parnes, an English pop manager who promoted the concert of
Vincent, invited Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to audition at the Wyvern Club
as a backing group for singer Billy Fury.

            In
July 1960, the band secured a residency at Butlins holiday camp in Pwllheli for
£25 a week, but now Richie was faced with a dilemma. If he was to accompany the
band to Pwllheli, he had to quit his apprenticeship at Hunt and Son. Elsie and
Harry tried to persuade him to stay and continue his apprenticeship, as did his
fiancée, Geraldine McGovern.

            Richie
first met dark-haired girl Gerry at Litherland Town Hall in 1957 and replaced
his first girlfriend, Patricia Davies. In 1960, they became engaged, and
Richie’s grandfather presented him with his gold wedding ring for the occasion.
By March 1961, everything was being made ready for the wedding. The reception
hall was already reserved and the wedding cars booked.

            As
it turned out, Gerry wasn’t enamored of the music the way Richie was and whined
that “Rich’s drums were his most precious possessions.” She couldn’t believe
that he hadn’t settled himself in at the jobs of trainee joiner that Harry
Graves had got him at Hunt and Son. Richie had just received news that Rory
Storm and the Hurricanes had been offered a season at Butlin’s holiday camp. He
was so excited that he couldn’t commit to the sensible job that Gerry and Elsie
wanted him to have. This caused a strain in the couple’s relationship.

            Gerry
recalled, “When he went off to Butlins I told him I didn’t want him to go. We
talked it over – there was no shouting or slanging. But that was the end.” Even
if Richie got himself a steady job, Gerry would always be upset about the fact
that Richie had set his eyes on making a career in music. She said, “[Ringo’s]
music always came first. He was playing most nights and if I wanted to see him
I had to trail along with him to a dance. We were never able to have much time
together.”

            Richie
had second thoughts, but was tempted by twenty pounds a week that he could get
if he joined the band at Butlins. But when Storm told him about how many women
would be “available,” Richie gave up his four-year apprenticeship and happily packed
his bags.

            Ever
the showman, Rory Storm suggested that they all adopt a flashier stage
nickname. Richie chose to call himself “Rings” because of his penchant for
wearing rings on his fingers. The name morphed into “Ringo” which he thought
sounded more “cowboyish”. As for his last name, Starkey was shortened to Starr
because it fit better with Ringo. Storm began calling his solo offering as
“Starr Time.”

            The
band was now playing more than 16 hours every week. Allan Williams, a promoter,
businessman and owner of coffee bar, The Jacaranda, contacted the band and
offered them an engagement in Hamburg, Germany, where he had already sent Derry
and the Seniors. The success of this group prompted Williams to send an
additional group.

Richie Starkey’s penchant for rings
earned him the name Ringo; Starr was chosen as his last name as it fit better
with Ringo

            Since
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were already committed to Butlins, they turned
down the offer and Williams instead sent the Beatles to Hamburg. When the
summer season ended, they traveled to Hamburg and replaced Derry and the
Seniors at the Kaiserkeller.

The
Hurricanes arrived in Hamburg on October 1, 1960 after negotiating to be paid
more than The Seniors and the Beatles. They would play five or six 90-minute
sets everyday alternating with the Beatles. Despite the fact that the
Hurricanes were paid more money and had better accommodations, the two bands
became friends. Ringo got on well with the Beatles, particularly George
Harrison, and would sometimes stay around to listen to the Beatles when the
Hurricanes were not playing.

Rory Storm and the Hurricanes’ first
stint in Hamburg, circa October-December 1960

            The
stage at the Kaiserkeller was made of planks of wood placed on top of beer
crates. Rory Storm and the Beatles made a bet to see who would be the first to
break it. The two groups performed for days until a slight crack appeared. When
Storm jumped off the top of the upright piano while performing
Blue Suede
Shoes
, the stage finally broke.

            As
Storm landed on the stage, it cracked and formed a V-shape around him. He
disappeared into the crack, along with all the amplifiers and Ringo’s cymbals. Bruno
Koschmider, owner of the Kaiserkeller, was furious and was forced to replace
live music with a juke box.

            The
Hurricanes and the Beatles went to Harold’s café for breakfast and were
followed by Koschmider’s doormen with coshes and beat them as punishment.

            During
his stint in Hamburg, Ringo joined his band mate Lou Walters and the Beatles’
John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison at Akoustik Studios for a
recording session arranged by Williams. Pete Best, the Beatles’ drummer, was
away in town buying drumsticks, so Ringo played drums. This was the very first
time that Paul, John, George and Ringo recorded together for the songs
Fever,
Summertime
and
September Song.

            After
their stint in Hamburg, and a stint playing US air bases in France, Rory Storm
and the Hurricanes returned to Liverpool. During Ringo’s 21
^st
birthday party, his family’s house at 10 Admiral Glove was bursting with guests
and members of the leading groups of the time.

            By
1961, Ringo was growing tired of having to play for Rory Storm and the
Hurricanes whose career had began to stagnate. But he continued to play with
them when they were invited for another season at the Butlins camp in Skegness
in Lincolnshire. After that stint, Ringo was determined to immigrate to Texas and
find a factory job in Houston, but the complicated immigration forms discouraged
him.

The Hurricanes at St. Luke’s Hall,
October 1961

            In
December 1961, Sam Leach, a Liverpool promoter, arranged a series of dance
nights at the Palais Ballroom in Aldershot. The Beatles played on the first
Saturday in front of only 18 people because the local newspaper forgot to run
the advertisement. The second Saturday, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
performed, this time to 210 people who saw the advertisement and paid to get
in.

            For
a while, Ringo considered leaving the Hurricanes for Derry and the Seniors but
in the end accepted a job to play drums for fellow musician Tony Sheridan at
the Top Ten Club in Hamburg on December 30, 1961. Sheridan had offered more
money, a flat and a car, which Ringo found hard to refuse. But Ringo didn’t
stay long with Sheridan because of the latter’s habit of changing the set list
without informing his backing group beforehand.

            Back
in Liverpool, Ringo played
live
on stage for the first time with the
Beatles on February 5, 1962. During that day, Pete Best, the Beatles’ drummer,
was ill and the band had to play a lunchtime concert at the Cavern and an
evening concert at the Kingsway club in Southport. Ringo then rejoined with the
Hurricanes and they went to Butlins in Skegness for their third summer season.

            In
August 1962, John and Paul of the Beatles drove to Skegness to ask Ringo to
join their band. Before that, Ringo had agreed to join Kingsize Taylor in
Hamburg after Taylor offered £20 a week. But John and Paul offered £25 a week,
which Ringo accepted. John and Paul also offered Storm to swap drummers but
Pete Best rejected the idea. Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, wrote in his
autobiography that Rory Storm “was very annoyed when Ringo left and he
complained to me. I apologized, and Rory, with immense good humor said, ‘Okay.
Forget it. The best of luck to the lot of you.’”