Tim meet Ringo Starr

A fan named Tim Wargo sent me this lovely story and photo of when he met the one and only Mr. Richard Starkey in person in February of 2003.   I love his story and he really wrote it so that you feel as if you are a part of it.   Thank you Tim for sharing your "Meet the Beatles for real" story with us all!   Congrats on meeting Ringo!!  

It was Feb. of  2003 and I decided to go to L.A. for my vacation from work.My sister had a place in Santa Monica where I stayed for part of the week.My friend Ken was scheduled to interview Ringo Starr later that week and I spent the last part of my trip at his apartment.I flew to L.A. with my brother Dan.          It was the day of the interview me and my brother were staying at our sister's apartment.Dan went out on a bike ride and before he left,he said to me"I have a good feeling about this."My friend Ken then went to pick me up.                   Until I was actually with Ringo in the same room,I was nervous about being allowed to sit in.We were waiting in the lobby of the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills.One of Ringo's people,a lady named Elizabeth,met us and we introduced ourselves.Ken stated that I was the engineer for the recording.Elizabeth said "Oh,that's fine" very cheerfully.Ken and I looked at each other grinning from ear to ear.As we were going up to the suite in the elevator she remarked "Ringo's in a good mood today."     Even having made it this far,I was nervous that I would have to leave and not meet Ringo.I heard that distinctive voice of his in the kitchen.Elizabeth said "OK guys come on in.Ken turned to me and said "Brace yourself,you're gonna meet one of The Beatles!"It's funny, but I often fantasized about meeting one of The Beatles.I always imagined I'd hear one of them first talking in another room before actually meeting him.We walked in and I introduced myself to Ringo and shook his hand saying "Hi Ringo, I'm Tim.I'm the engineer and I'm here to check the levels of the recording."He shook his finger at me and said "No,you just wanted to get out!"In a joking,friendly way.       It was astounding meeting one of these four legendary guys.You think about how they actually look in the flesh.John Lennon described himself as being just a hair under six feet tall,so John and I are pretty much the same height.I always knew Ringo was kind of short.Height wise, he came up to my eyes.So his height was no surprise.He looked to have no body fat whatsoever.I wouldn't be surprised if somebody told me he weighed one hundred and twenty pounds.During the interview I sat maybe three feet away from him and I was thinking "His nose doesn't look that big."Halfway through the interview, Mark Hudson walked in and joined the discussion.Meeting Mark was the icing on the cake that day.       I always said" Regular guys don't meet The Beatles" unless it was John Lennon before 1981.I was Starr-struck,as it were.I mean I thought I would pose with Ringo giving the peace sign and I'd be gushing non stop about Sgt. Pepper, etc.Ringo agreed to pose with us in a picture.In the first photo I'm bent over and I have a stupid "Lerch" from The Addams Family look on my face,which I now attribute to nerves.Another shot was taken of me,Ken and Ringo. Ken was like "Tim,stand up straight".Ringo said "Yeah Tim,stand up straight.Otherwise you'll hate it.There you go,that's better."In the photo we are arm in arm.I then shook Ringo's hand again and said "Thanks,Ringo,you're the greatest."    This was a dream come true.Ringo shook my hand twice and called me Tim.I couldn't help being star-struck,despite the fact that he was friendly,bubbly and down to earth, a really great guy.He gave a great interview and he couldn't been nicer to this nervous fan.