Tag Archives: Nils Lofgren

Music Monday: July 7, 2025

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today we celebrate birthday #85 for Sir Richard Starkey, better known by his professional name, Ringo Starr. He was born on July 7, 1940 in the place he & his three bandmates put on the map-Liverpool, England.

He joined The Beatles in 1962 & proved to be the missing piece that elevated the group from a quartet to a super band. During their eight years together, they released a string of revolutionary albums that altered the course of music history & pop culture in a decade that moved faster than any other before or since. Starr was known as “The Funny One” to the public and the peacemaker in the band. Today he continues to spread the message of peace & love, especially every year on his birthday when he asks the public to pause at noon in their time zone to think exclusively about those two things.

Top: The Beatles circa 1965 (L-R): John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Bottom: The band four years later in 1969 (L-R): Lennon, Harrison, McCartney and Starr. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

After The Beatles broke up in 1970, Starr continued making music and collaborating with other artists including all three of his old bandmates along with Billy Preston, Steve Cropper, Merry Clayton, Brian Wilson and many others.

In 1989 the former Beatle formed Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, a revolving group of musicians who previously included such esteemed members as Clarence Clemons, Nils Lofgren, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Todd Rundgren, to name a few. The current band just announced several U.S. concert dates for this fall.

Starr also tried his hand at acting and while that might not have been the most successful chapter of his career (not counting his wonderful turn as The Conductor in the “Thomas & Friends” children’s series), that foray did lead to his second marriage to actress & model Barbara Bach in 1981. They met on the set of the movie released the same year, “Caveman”.

Prior to that he was married to Maureen (nee Cox) Starkey from 1965-1975. Together they had three children: sons Zak (b 1965) and Jason (b 1967) and daughter Lee Parkin Starkey (b 1970). Starr is also stepfather to Bach’s two children, Francesca Gregorini (b 1968) and Gianni Gregorini (b 1972).

Happy birthday, Ringo! Peace & love to you always. Thank you for everything.

Top: Starr in 1964. Second: The musician circa 1969. Third: In concert in Wantagh, NY in 2012 (photo by me). Bottom: A recent picture of Starr from his website. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown except where noted.)

The Beatles: “I Wanna Be Your Man” (1964 (U.S. release), written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

The Beatles: “With A Little Help From My Friends” (1967, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).

The Beatles: “Don’t Pass Me By” (1968, written by Richard Starkey).

Ringo Starr: “It Don’t Come Easy” (1971, written by Richard Starkey).

Ringo Starr: “Photograph” (1973, written by George Harrison and Richard Starkey).

Stay safe & well.

Valentine’s Day Music Countdown: Song #1

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The #1 song on the countdown was called “the greatest love song of the past 50 years” when it was released in 1969 by none other than Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.  It also has the distinct honor of being the most covered Beatles song second only to “Yesterday”.  The top song on my list is…drum roll please…”Something” by the Beatles.

Inspired by James Taylor’s 1968 song “Something In The Way She Moves” and written by George Harrison for his first wife, Pattie Boyd, the song was the masterpiece of his career as a Beatle.  It was released on the album “Abbey Road” and issued with “Come Together” as a double single which hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1969.

That was the Beatles 18th chart topper, putting them one song ahead of Elvis Presley’s previous record of 17.  A video of the Beatles and their wives set to the song was also released that year to promote it and the album amid rumors that a break up of the Fab Four was imminent.

Harrison’s lyrics expressed  both his love for his wife while acknowledging the uncertainty that is the future:

“Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me

You’re asking me will my love grow
I don’t know, I don’t know
You stick around now it may show
I don’t know, I don’t know”

Legends including Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Elton John & Willie Nelson have covered “Something” either on record or live in concert.  Sadly Harrison’s marriage to Boyd did not grow, as she eventually left him for his best friend, Eric Clapton.  But that’s another song (“Layla” to be exact).

After the Beatles broke up, Harrison went on to have a successful solo career and hosted one of the first benefit concerts ever-1971’s Concert for Bangladesh.

The Beatles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988 by Mick Jagger and Harrison was inducted as a solo artist in 2004 by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, who were members of Harrison’s other band-the Traveling Wilburys .

As if the attacks of 9/11/01 were not devastating enough to the world that year, two months after those tragedies we lost George Harrison to cancer, which left only two of the four Beatles around to carry on the legacy of one of the greatest bands of all time.  Sigh 😦

There you have it, Vixens-my picks for the top 14 love songs.  Hope I included some of your favorites or helped you discover some new ones.

***BONUS:  One of my favorite songs is named “Valentine” and it is by E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren, with a little help from the Boss himself.

***BONUS TWO:  If you have never seen the Golden Girls episode entitled “Valentine’s Day“, take about 20 minutes out now to watch it.  I love all their episodes, but this one is in their top 10.

Enjoy!!!