Happy Birthday, Ringo – Quite Simply, The Heart of The Beatles
A friend who had the misfortune of being born a bit too early to experience full frontal Beatlemania once said to me, "Ringo wasn't one of the more important members of the group, was he?" To a rubber-souled, revolver-raving, fanatical Abbey Roadster like myself, this was among the greatest blasphemies ever spoken. If you said that Chico wasn't important to the Marx Brothers, that Fredo wasn't important to the Corleones, that Donny wasn't important to The Big Lebowski, I'd simply overlook your lack of film savvy or question your taste. But to suggest that Ringo was less than essential is the ultimate fallacy. It is, in the jargon of the Brits, a complete load of BULLOCKS!