Ringo Starr and Father McKenzie

Latest edition of the bimonthly Swedish “Rock’n’Roll Magazine”

The current issue of Sweden’s “Rock’n’Roll Magazine” features a recent phone interview with Ringo Starr, made by long time Swedish Beatles fan Staffan Olander, who also penned sleeve notes for some of the CD reissues of Ringo’s albums.

On the phone from Los Angeles during the Easter holiday, Ringo said that he felt that he replaced Pete Best in The Beatles because he was a much better drummer, but also because of his personality. “I was also the mediator in the group whenever there were problems, and we would meet up at my place several times to solve situations”.

Ringo also reveals that he was the one who wrote the line “Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no-one will hear, no-one comes near…” in the song Eleanor Rigby. “John and Paul must have been in a particularly good mood when they gave me credit for What Goes On, and not when I contributed on other occasions”.

The rest of the article is mainly summing up Ringo’s career, and finishes up with him talking about the new album, his upcoming tour and the then upcoming induction into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, Drum App Guru has posted a “Drummer’s Tribute to Ringo” video on Facebook, here’s a link to that – and here’s a YouTube version for you non-Facebookers.