The first musical influence for The Beatles legend Ringo Starr “sent shivers” down his spine.
According to the veteran rocker behind songs like Yellow Submarine, Back Off Boogaloo, and Dead Giveaway, his first inspiration in music was so large he covered his room in posters of the artist. Where the Fab Four would go on to become some of the most influential musicians of all time, The Beatles remained keen to share their love for artists which inspired them to begin making music. Starr shared as much in an interview given a few years after the band had broken up. The drummer would found Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, and would continue to release music as a solo artist.
He would from time to time collaborate with his former Beatles bandmates, and during an interview given in 1977, Starr shared who his main influence was when growing up in Liverpool. Starr said: “No. There were lots. Gene Autry was the most. It may sound like a joke– Go and have a look in my bedroom, it’s covered with Gene Autry posters.
“He was my first musical influence. He sent shivers down my spine when he put his leg over the horn on the saddle and sang, ‘South of the border, down Mexico way’ in a movie, right? It sticks in my brain. My first musical experience was that.”
Autry, whose Back in the Saddle Again song made him a hit, was nicknamed the Singing Cowboy and his influence on Starr seems to have lasted. Starr’s most recent album, Look Up, had the Beatles legend sporting a cowboy hat and performing a collection of country songs.
In an interview with Cult Following, Starr said he wanted to explore country music beyond its three main tropes. He said: “It’s emotional music when I started listening to it and I’m quite an emotional person myself. In the 50s, every country song was either ‘the wife left,’ ‘the dog’s dead,’ or ‘I need some money for the jukebox’.”
As for the cowboy hat on the cover of his latest album, it seems to have been an accident introduced to the shoot by Starr. Legendary photographer Dan Winters told Starr to bring just himself to the studio, and from there, the album cover was made.
Producer T Bone Turnett said: “Dan Winters, he’s the premier portrait photographer in the world today. I thought [the Look Up album cover] was soulful. I thought it was emotional. I kind of pitched for it, I must say. I’m fond of saying nobody has generated more goodwill in the world than Ringo Starr in my lifetime.
“I say that without hyperbole. So much of his work is very lighthearted, and yet when you start getting into it, getting up and spending the last couple of months listening to everything he’s recorded, and there’s a lot of very deep, serious stuff in there. Ringo has paid his dues.”
