Ritchie Stark's Ringo Star

Ringo Starr born, Ritchie Starkey, named after his father, on 7 July 1940, to Ritchie and Elsie Starkey in Liverpool, England (Lewisohn 27). Starkey’s family had lived in an area of Liverpool known as Dingle, near the port of Liverpool and infamous for its “petroleum stores, gas works, factories, chimneys and a hundred different manufacturing eyesores, swiftly accompanied by block after block of narrow streets and alleys packed tight with cramped terraced houses built to poor specifications” (Lewisohn 23). His parents divorced, while Starkey was a toddler and he lived with his mother, Elsie, who tried her best to provide for him, but he grew up in a relatively poor household, compared with the other Beatles (Lewisohn 29). Growing up, Starkey
was very sickly and was often cared for by his grandparents, who taught him to use his right hand, although he was left handed, believing he was “possessed” (Lewisohn 33). By the age of 15, Starkey had dropped out of school with a minimal education and was working odd jobs to help pay the bills (Lewisohn 76-77). Ritchie Starkey was a sickly child, which kept him out of school for long stretches of time, and although, a smart boy, Starkey was never able to keep up with his peers and this may have been a reason the Beatles chose to portray Ringo Starr as childlike and naïf persona.
In 1960, Ritchie Stark was the drummer for a band called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, in which he was the only member without a stage name (Spitz 324).
Rory Storm, the leader of the band, insisted that Starkey assume a stage name and would introduce Starkey on stage as “Rings” or “Johnny Ringo” until, eventually he would proclaim, “All right folks – it’s Ringo Star-Time!” (Spitz 324). Thus, was born the Ringo Starr name, looking back Starr recalled, “It had a nice theatricality – not too tricky, not too serious. It synchronized awkwardly with Starkey, but ‘Starr was natural,’ … It rolled right off the tongue. What’s more, it looked great emblazoned on his bass drum” (Spitz 324). By 1962, “of all the drummers in Liverpool, where the pecking order was so clearly established, bands ranked Ringo as the best” (Spitz 325). At this time, the Beatles were in need of a new drummer having realized that Pete Best was a weak link in their ensemble (Spitz 330). On August 15, 1962, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, knocked on the door of the trailer, where Ringo was staying, and told him, “Pete Best is leaving [the band] and we want Ringo to join” (Spitz 328). After much debate, Ringo agreed to join the Beatles and “forevermore, the Beatles would be John, Paul, George, and Ringo” (Spitz
328-329).