“That’s where it all started for me,” Starr, 70, said Thursday morning a few minutes after briefly sharing a stage with 17-year-old drummer and brain cancer survivor Alexx Kipp, whose long-held wish to meet the Beatle was granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and theHard Rock International restaurant chain. The event was the kickoff of a new partnership between the two organizations designed to help Make-A-Wish accommodate even more requests than the 14,000 it grants in the U.S. each year, about 900 of those involving celebrities.
“You like those drums?” Starr asked Kipp as they stood behind a gleaming black-and-white set of Ludwigs, the brand long associated with him.
“Hell, yeah!” beamed Kipp, who also has Tourette's syndrome and punctuated the dialogue with his musical hero with joyful birdlike chirps and whistles.
“They’re yours,” Starr told him.
It took several minutes, and a few prompts from his mother, father and sister, who had accompanied him to Hollywood from their home in Arlington, Va., before it set in for Alexx that the event not only included meeting his favorite drummer from his favorite band, but also a new set of drums to boot. Or to bash.
Alexx sat on one of two adjacent black stools set up behind the snare drum and laid down a steady rock beat, then Starr pulled up next to him to add some accents on a floor tom and one of the cymbals.
“We saw his doctor in November, and they consider him cured,” said Alexx’s mother, Sarah Pitkin. Playing drums since he was 8, along with Beatles recordings and in tandem with his father’s guitar strumming, has played a major role in Alexx’s ability to weather seven rounds of chemotherapy and one month of radiation treatment for his germinoma brain tumor, Pitkin said.
His parents said he’d expressed the desire to meet Starr for years, and the family logged his request with Make-A-Wish about a year ago.
“Alexx came to me one morning and he said, ‘Dad, I had a dream last night and I met Ringo,’ ” Charles Kipp said. “This was before we knew it was going to happen. About a week later we got the call. I told him, ‘It looks like your dream came true.’ ”
Make-A-Wish President and Chief Executive David Williams was on hand, noting that about 27,000 children in the U.S. from ages 2½ to 18 are diagnosed each year with life-threatening conditions, which makes them eligible for the foundation’s services. A little over half have wishes fulfilled by Make-A-Wish, which no longer limits participation to those with terminal illnesses as was the case early in its 31-year history, Williams said.
“Other organizations grant about 3,000 wishes,” he said, “so you see there are still a lot of people we don’t reach. Our goal is to be able to grant every wish.”
The partnership with Hard Rock International aims to help spread the word about the foundation’s mission. Hard Rock locations will carry new T-shirts with artwork created by Starr and carrying his pet phrase “Peace/Love” on the front, his signature on the back. Proceeds from sales will benefit his Lotus Foundation charity directly supporting Make-A-Wish.
Starr toured the Hollywood location with Alexx and his family, stopping at a wall holding a framed drum head, split down the center, that he had donated to the chain’s collection of rock-star memorabilia.
“It was right in the middle of a gig, and it just split. But you just keep going,” Starr told Alexx. "Never stop -- that’s the deal.”
A few minutes later, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, vegetarian slim in a black blazer over black T-shirt and jeans, spoke of the impact on him of taking part in the Make-A-Wish program, for which he had granted about half a dozen other requests before Thursday.
“It's huge," he said. "It puts you in your place. You think you’ve got a cold -- you’re all, ‘Oh, what about me?’ Then you help these kids….You think of the families. I’ve got children too, and it’s got to be hard.”
One 8-year-old girl he met through a European Make-A-Wish chapter -- 41 countries have them -- wanted to meet Starr after coming out of a coma.
“Somehow -- I don’t know how it happened -- but ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ was on TV and she fell in love with Ringo,” Starr said. “This is only a couple of years ago, so I was saying to the people who were setting it up, ‘You’d better give her a photo of me now -- things have changed!’ ” he said with a hearty laugh. “But she recognized me and we had a lot of fun.”
While recovering from his treatment, Alexx recently took part in a music school recital, where he played drums with the Lennon-McCartney song “In My Life,” and a school talent show at which he played Starr’s whimsical “Octopus’s Garden.”
Charles Kipp said Alexx’s next musical goal is to learn “I Am the Walrus.” From now on, he’ll be practicing on a drum set broken in by the man who played the original.
“I get the easy bit,” Starr said. “I come, I say hi, we hang out, we have a bit of fun….
“In the band I was in,” he added, “we knew when we’d done the take, because it just feels good. It’s like golf: When you hit that ball right, you know. You feel it -- you feel the connection. And connecting is good.”
-- Randy Lewis
Photo: Ringo Starr helps 17-year-old cancer survivor Alexx Kipp break in a new drum kit presented him Thursday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood on behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times.
Esta semana me di en meterme en cuanta página beatle hubiera en Facebook y me resultó de gran satisfacción por los resultados inesperados que obtuve.
Primero, me contacté con muchos beatlemaníacos alrededor del mundo igual o más locos por los Beatles que yo. Me llenó de mucha aleghría el ser admitido en círculos en Liverpool, México, Argentina, Estados Unidos y Francia en los cuales la vibra de los 4 Fantásticos inunda el ambiente, dejándome un sabor a años viejos, y la sensación de estar entre amigos conocidos muchos años atrás.
Segundo, me puse en contacto con personas muy cercanas a los propios genios: My Pang, esta japonesa vivió por un año con John Lennon sustituyendo a Yoko Ono en un período en el que el matrimonio de ellos estaba en las rocas. Decidieron separarse por ese período para darse su espacio y después tomar una decisión definitiva sobre si se divorciaban o no. Como John estaba muy acostumbrado a la cultura japonesa, a sugerencias de Yoko (siempre en control de la relación), aceptó la compañía de May quien en esos días era casi una adolescente. Los resultados son de todos conocidos: después del año, se reunieron de nuevo John y Yoko, renovaron sus votos y hasta encargaron un bebé, Sean Lennon, nacido en 1975. En lo que a May Pang respecta, John describió el año con ella como "un fin de semana perdido".
Tercero, conseguí la amistad de Sir Paul MacArtney. No estoy tan despistado como para creer que el bajista, poeta, pintor, músico, compositor, en fin genio miembro de la banda de rock más importante de la historia de la humanidad, fue quien tomó la decisión de aceptar mi amistad en FB, pero me causa una gran alegría la ilusión de ser su amigo, ya sea que algún asistente encargado de su publicidad decidiera que yo tenía el "profile" para ser aceptado, o que algún charlatán se haya tomado el abuso dee crear una página suplantando al genio, either way it's OK.
Quien no me queda duda que no es ella, es Jane Asher, quien fuera la novia de MacArtney en los años sesenta y lo cortó porque interfería en su carrera de actriz, por otra parte inspiradora de canciones inmortales como Yesterday. Ella aceptó mi amistad fracciones de segundos después que se la ofrecí. Yo hice como que estaba encantado por ser su amigo, pero fue paja. Asaber qué chulada de impostora no es la que lleva esa página, pero de todas maneras uso mi imaginación para creer que es Jane la que me aceptó. Qué importa, después de todo es solo el FB.
Lo que sí es genuino es haber encontrado tres tesoros en Border's aquí en San Rafael. Sucede que la célebre librer está liquidando, por cierre del negocio, su sucursal de esta linda ciudad, y vagando en sus alrededores se me ocurrió ir a echar un vistazo a ver si encontraba los libros "In his Own Write" de John Lennon, y" The Beatles", de Hunter Davies, el biografo de los genios más creíble, ya que anduvo con ellos viajando por todo el mundo en sus años de gloria y fue directamente allegado de todos los que fgormaban parte del círculo más estrecho de ellos, incluyendo gente de negocios, parientes y amigos. Ambos libros les he buscado como aguja en un pajar en todas partes del mundo incluyendo El Salvador, Bélgica, Francia, México, Estados Unidos, Londres, y hasta Liverpool, nada!
Pues ayer, en una librería en quiebra de un pueblito insignificante de Estados Unidos, estaban juntitos los dos libros que había buscado por más de treina años. Y no solo eso, a su lado estaba un Diario de presentaciones de los Beatles que arranca desde la fecha del nacimiento de Yoko Ono (la persona de más edad entre el círculo de influencias), hasta la de la última presentación de MacArtney en Sudamérica el próximo mes de mayo.
Mi semana beatle comprobó una vez más una constante que me ha seguido en toda mi vida para lograr lo que quiero: ESTAR EN EL LUGAR OPORTUNO, EN EL MOMENTO OPORTUNO. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE☼
A new 90-minute documentary about legendary Beatles record producer Sir George Martin will premiere on Britain's BBC-2 TV network over the Easter weekend. The film is titled "Produced by George Martin" and includes new footage with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
"Produced by George Martin" will air on BBC-2 on Saturday April 23rd, which by coincidence is celebrated in England (and many other European nations) as "St. George's Day," a day commemorated by several nations and cities of whom St. George is the patron saint.
The film documents the six-decade professional history of the 85-year-old knighted record producer who discovered and signed the Beatles in June 1962, and then produced them throughout their recording career, and who also produced several albums with Paul McCartney and Wings. The film features specially-shot new sequences with Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Other interviewees include vocalist Cilla Black and Monty Python's Michael Palin.
Londoners may see a sneak preview of the film when it is screened this coming Wednesday (April 13th) at the British Film Institute's flagship National Film Theatre on London's South Bank. Click here for more info on this special screening.
There are preliminary plans for the film to be televised in other countries including the USA in 2012. There are also discussions for the film to be screened at prestigious international film festivals.
In addition to chronicling his pioneering production work with the Beatles, the film looks at his extensive producing experience before and after the Beatles. This includes his early work with classical music - and with comedic performers such as Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, The Goons and Beyond The Fringe. And a focus on some of his wide-ranging post-Beatles work including film scores and album production for many major musicians.
Among the many artists produced by Sir George during his sixty-year career have been: friends and contemporaries of the Beatles such as Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Fourmost, Mary Hopkin; rock and pop artists such as Jeff Beck, Ultravox, Cheap Trick, John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Preston, Sinead O'Connor, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Elton John, Gary Brooker, Jimmy Webb, Neil Sedaka, Stevie Wonder and America; jazz artists such as: Ella Fitzgerald, Cleo Laine, Johnny Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton; and vocalists such as: Matt Monro, Kenny Rogers, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Celine Dion.
