Introducing Ringo Starr: The Ultimate Music Guide

Our latest mag goes on sale July 12

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A telephone line crackles. “Hello,” says a voice, “it’s Ringo here.” My sole encounter with Ringo – to date – is a phoner interview. 30 minutes, on the button, for Uncut’s An Audience With… feature. Even so, despite these unpromising circumstances, the interview itself was great fun. Conducted while Ringo was holed up in an LA hotel doing press for his then-current album, Postcards From Paradise, here was a man of not inconsiderable wit and charisma, whose opening line went, “I was just in the car coming here, ‘Eight Days A Week’ was on the radio and it rocked.” Fair enough, you might think.

Ringo’s mood – playful, generous – was perhaps encouraged by the fact that the questions – submitted by readers as well as fans and contemporaries including Paul Weller, Marianne Faithfull and Jeff Lynne – were not restricted to those magical eight years in the Fabs. Starr gamely fielded questions about Twitter, Butlins, Peter Sellers, Harry Nilsson and Frank Zappa. He also provided some amusing insight into the early ’60s rivalry between the era’s top tier. Did you have any good nicknames for other bands?, went one question. “Bastards,” he deadpanned without missing a beat.

If anything, the interview proved Ringo was a man of many accomplishments – both with and outside of The Beatles. As our latest Ultimate Music illustrates, Ringo wore many hats – Beatle, solo artist, actor and latterly band leader with his All-Starr Band collective, now in its 30th year.

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You’ll find all these different elements brought vividly to life in archive interviews from Melody Maker and NME, brand new in-depth reviews of every Ringo album, Ringo on film, rarities, comps, lives and much more. It’s in shops from this Friday — but you can buy it right now from our online store.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

The August 2019 issue of Uncut is on sale from June 13, and available to order online now – with Bruce Springsteen on the cover. Inside, you’ll find The Rolling Stones, The Raconteurs, Woodstock, Black Sabbath, Beak>, Doves, Jimmy Cliff, Billy Childish, the Flamingo Club and more. Our 15-track CD also showcases the best of the month’s new music, including The Black Keys, 75 Dollar Bill, House And Land, Trash Kit, Mega Bog and more.

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