With a Little Help from His Friends, Ringo Rocks Humphreys

Author

By Daniel Knighton

Publish Date

Aug. 9, 2012

I, like most people, only got to experience the Beatles on TV or watching clips on YouTube. Having been a Beatles fan all my life, getting to photograph Ringo Starr was one of my bucket-list items, for sure. And it was everything I expected it to be and more. Of course, Ringo's sense of humor was front and center as he told the crowd of 100 or so boaters anchored next to the venue, "Hey, you tight bastards, you can afford a boat but you won't buy a ticket?"

The All-Starr Band consisted of Todd Rundgren (Utopia and acclaimed producer), Gregg Rollie (Santana/Journey), Steve Lukather (Toto), Richard Page (Mr. Mister), and veteran road musicians Mark Rivera and Gregg Bissonette. Each member played a few of the tunes they are best known for: Rollie played songs by Santana (“Evil Ways,” “Black Magic Woman”), Rundgren played songs from his solo career and Utopia (“I Saw the Light,” “Bang the Drum All Day,” “Love Is the Answer”), Lukather played Toto (“Rosanna,” “Africa,” “Hold the Line”), Page played Mr. Mister (“Kyrie,” “Broken Wings,” “You Are Mine”), and, of course, Ringo played a mix of his solo tunes (“It Don't Come Easy,” “Photograph,” and “Act Naturally”) as well as Beatles hits (“Matchbox,” “Don't Pass Me By, Boys,” “Yellow Submarine,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “Give Peace a Chance”).

It was a memorable evening and quite possibly the best "sing-along" I've ever been a part of, along with 1900 of my friends.