Ringo Starr

Web posted on: Thursday, July 09, 1998 4:45:49 PM

From Correspondent Dennis Michael

HOLLYWOOD (CNN) -- With a little help from his friends, Ringo Starr feels he can do anything. For instance, when Starr decided to put together another album, he called friends old and new to help.

The result is "Vertical Man," which was created with the aid of fellow former Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, as well as Joe Walsh and Steve Tyler. Harrison says the album thrived with the help of an open-door policy at the studio where it was recorded.

"We were in this little studio, and we had this open door policy: if you came in the door, you were on the record," Starr says. "That's a lot of fun. It's not strictly true, but the likes of Alanis Morrisette came to visit, and we were doing a track that was, in my opinion, perfect to have her on. And we just said, 'Would you like to be on the record?'"

Ringo does "La De Da" 450k WAV audio file 2.3Mb QuickTime movie

'I feel like I have a purpose'

The fun atmosphere could have been a reflection of Starr's life. While times have been tough for his former bandmates, McCartney and Harrison -- Paul's wife, Linda, died of breast cancer earlier this year, and George appears to have won his battle with throat cancer for now -- Starr can't hide the enthusiasm he feels over the direction of his own life.

"I feel just good. I feel like I have a purpose," Starr says. "I am a player. I'm playing. I just made a really good record in my opinion, and I hope in everyone else's opinion out there.

"In our business sometimes it gets a little down, but when you're doing an album with love, and lots of friends around, you realize why you stay in the business," he says. "You know why I stay? Because this is what I do. I'm a drummer. This is my dream from 13. I wanted to be a drummer."

Ringo had an "open door policy" while recording the album. If people stopped by, they got to sing along

The 'Vertical Man'

Starr, of course, has been more than just "a drummer." He kept the beat for the most famous rock band of all time. The Beatles forever changed popular music, and Ringo Starr is remembered as perhaps the most charismatic of the Fab Four.

Fame in movies and music stuck with Starr following the Beatles break-up. And now he's leading the charge on "Vertical Man," an album title that came from a quote in a book.

"The whole quote was, 'Let's hear it for the vertical man, because so much praise is given to the horizontal one,'" Starr says.

Let no one refer to Ringo as the "horizontal one." He is alive and well. "Life is good. Life is grand, so I feel good," Starr says.