Ringo Starr (Linocut Print)

A signed, hand carved, hand pressed Linocut print of Ringo Starr, limited to only 80 editions.

On this day, 7th July, The Beatles’ famous drummer, Ringo Starr, was born in Liverpool in 1940 (née Richard Starkey).

Ringo Starr was the only child of a loving but overprotective mother, and a frequently absent father. At the age of 6 he developed appendicitis which deteriorated into peritonitis, causing a coma for some days. Understandable, therefore, that his mother was overprotective... He missed a lot of school due to this, and by age 8 he was still illiterate, with little knowledge of maths. In 1953, he also developed tuberculosis and was confined to a sanatorium for 2 years, and it was during this time that he first experimented with percussion instruments and joined the hospital band.

In 1957, he co-founded his first proper band, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, before moving on to Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. In 1962, he replaced Pete Best in The Beatles, and it for this role that he is unquestionably best known - although younger fans may know him better as being the narrator in the Thomas the Tank Engine series!

Although Lennon and McCartney were most commonly the lead vocalists in The Beatles, George Harrison and Ringo Starr also occasionally contributed. Perhaps Starr’s best known vocals are in “Yellow Submarine”, “Octopus’ Garden” and “With A Little Help From My Friends”. After the split of The Beatles in 1970, Starr occasionally played drums for John Lennon, Yoko Ono and George Harrison, and he continues to release records to this day (most recently in 2020).

In 1979, Starr’s childhood illness of peritonitis came back to haunt him, causing intestinal issues and a life-threatening operation to remove several feet of his intestine. Later that same year, a fire in his Hollywood home sadly destroyed most of his Beatles memorabilia.

Although Starr’s untrained yet instinctive drumming technique has often laid him open to criticism, he has been massively influential on modern drumming styles. He said of himself: “I’m no good on the technical things... I’m your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills... because I’m really left-handed playing a right-handed kit. I can’t roll the drum because of that”. Beatles’ Producer George Martin said: “He’s got tremendous feel. He always helped us to hit the right tempo for a song”. In 1999, he was inducted into the ‘Modern Drummer’ Hall of Fame; in 2002 into the ‘Percussive Arts Society’ Hall of Fame; and in 2011 he was voted the fifth-best drummer of all time by ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine. In 2018, Prince William knighted him at Buckingham Palace for his services to music.

Happy 81st Birthday, Sir Ringo Starr - I salute you!

ITEM SPECIFICS:
This design is a signed, handprinted, limited edition of only 80 prints. As with all handmade items, each one will vary slightly, making it completely unique.
It is printed with water-based ink on Sunome Senaka, a fine 52gsm Japanese printmaking paper, measuring approximately 200x275mm in size. The image itself measures roughly 150x120mm.

NB. You are buying a signed, limited edition print, unframed only.