Happy Birthday Ringo Starr

July 7, 1940, 79 years ago, the day Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) was born in a difficult neighborhood of Liverpool, England.

He grew up to become Ringo Starr, the drummer who in 1962 joined John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison on The Beatles, as McCartney explained to CBS News’ Anthony Mason.

“When Ringo joined, it was like a real rocket,” McCartney said. “Then it was like ‘whew’, wait a minute, that is, the appearance was fine, this is it.”

“Then we were a real band,” said Starr.

And what band they turned out to be.

First in England and then in the United States, the Beatles became rock superstars like no other band before or after, with the constant rhythm of Ringo.

“What I do is play the drums,” said Starr. “That’s God’s gift to me, and you know, I like to use it as much as I can.”

From live concerts to studio albums and movies, Ringo was a key part of everything the Beatles did, until their separation in 1970. A painful episode that explains in personal, non-musical terms.

“I always feel that the energy was not getting into that,” said Starr. “The energy of life, the energy of music was always present, if you listen to the songs, until the day we finish, the tracks themselves are really good, because once we had the count of one, two, three, four, everyone knew how to do it. ”

Since the break, Ringo has had success as a soloist, and as a leader of a rotating group of musicians known as Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band.

Already a member of the Beatles in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ringo won induction as an individual artist in 2015.

Not bad for a boy from Liverpool.