117 - Ringo Starr & The Beatles with Tom Doyle

117 - Ringo Starr & The Beatles with Tom Doyle

From Music Maps Podcast by Rock n Roll Book Club

May 24, 2026 · 56 min · Episode 117

About this episode

The episode explores Ringo Starr's early life, his journey to joining The Beatles, and their rise to fame.

So today we take a deep dive into the early life of Ringo Starr, how he joined the Beatles & their subsequent unprecedented success.  After overcoming various serious Illnesses as a child, a young Ringo first develops an interest in drumming while in hospital recovering.  His first arrives courtesy of stepfather Harry Graves & before long Ringo is drumming in skiffle bands around Liverpool before moving on to join Rory Storm & the Hurricanes where he comes known as Ringo for the first time. Having met the other Beatles briefly back in Liverpool, Ringo finds himself in Hamburg at the same time as them. After sitting in with the band for the increasingly unreliable Pete Best, Ringo is asked to join the band in 1962.    His first gig with the band takes place at Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight in August of that year. Back at The Cavern some fans take a dislike to Pete’a replacement & some dissent & altercations follow.  The Beatles debut album comes out in February of 1963 & features Ringo’s debut vocal performance with the band, Boys.  I Wanna Be Your Man follows on With The Beatles but by now the Starkey family home in The Dingle…

People in this episode

Host: Rock n Roll Book Club

Guest: Tom Doyle

Topics covered

  • Ringo Starr
  • The Beatles
  • music history
  • drumming
  • pop culture
  • 1960s music

Keywords

  • Ringo Starr
  • The Beatles
  • drumming
  • music history
  • 1960s
  • pop culture
  • Liverpool

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Beatles

Books & works: Boys, With The Beatles

Places: Liverpool, Hamburg, New York

More episodes of Music Maps Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Music Maps Podcast podcast page.