Love Was Always There

 Love Was Always There 

By:  Robert Hilburn

The Toronto Star

February 18, 1981

    Two months after the death of John Lennon, drummer-actor Ringo Starr still finds it hard to talk publicly about what the loss of the fellow ex-Beatle means to him. Sitting in the den of his rented Beverly Hills house before leaving for recording in Montserrat and then a brief vacation, Starr replied to a question about Lennon by saying, "I lost a great friend, and the world lost a great human being, and the music industry lost a great musician, and that's really all I want to say."

     Like others touched by the Beatles, Starr, the only member of the Fab Four to visit Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, after the December 8 murder, has been appalled by the commercialism of the rock star's death. When someone brought in yet another Lennon tribute magazine during the interview, he snapped, "The whole thing drives me mad. They've got buttons and pins and dolls and badges. It's all bull."

     Part of his reluctance to talk about Lenon's death seems to be an instinctive desire not to contribute further to the circus of emotions. But the bearded musician also appeared sensitive about revealing such deeply personal feelings. The interview was scheduled to discuss Starr's new album, You Can't Fight Lightning and the movie Caveman, both due in April. The film a Lawrence Turnman- David Foster production directed by Carl Gottlieb is a prehistoric comedy which co stars Barbara Bach, who is Starr's fiance. It is the ex-Beatles' first starring role after bits and pieces in films such as Candy, Listozmania, and  That'll Be the Day.

     He's hopeful that it will finally establish him as a genuine actor, and not just a novelty marquis bait. The album, which will be released by Portrait Records, is  Starr's first in more than two years, and he believes that it is his best since Ringo in 1974.  He is joined on the LP by several friends who wrote and or produced individual tracks, besides Harry Nilsson, Steven Sills, and Ron Wood. The guests include two members of his old gang: Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Lennon, too, had agreed to contribute a song or two. The two, Starr said, had planned to go into the studio in January. One of the Lennon songs was  to have been a toast to the fact that they had both turned 40 last year. Its title, "Life Begins at 40."

     After talking at length about the film and the album, then posing for accompanying photographs, Starr settled into a chair for a more informal conversation. Inevitably, Lennon's name came up again, this time, a more relaxed Starr opened up a bit.

     Asked if the outpouring of emotion after his friend's death surprised him. Star said, "No, the four of us were well loved, but I think John was especially loved. He'd give his heart away. I think people sensed that about him, even though he had this reputation as a cynic and a rapier wit, a lot of people even seemed frightened of him. I could never understand that, because he was the kindest man I ever met. He wouldn't take any crap off you, but he was so gentle."

     Starr said that he and Bach spent the day after Thanksgiving in New York with the Lennons. "We had such a great day," he recalled. "John and Yoko came over to our hotel, and he was so up. He was running around asking, 'Where's the guitar? Where's the piano?' He was into doing the tracks for me, and we had such a great time.  It was one of those times when you really felt close. 

    "We didn't get together very often because he was in New York and I'm either out here or England or at Monte Carlo, but the love was always there. Forget all that stuff you read about the four of us fighting. It was just the classic line about brothers who call each other names, but don't you do it.  We had rows because we were four different people, but underneath it was always the great love."

     Although he hadn't seen Harrison and McCartney since Lennon's death, Starr said he has spoken to them. "We were all pretty down, as you can imagine. The first week, I wouldn't talk to anyone. I didn't even answer the phone. A lot of friends didn't even call because they knew everyone else would be calling. But you knew people were and felt for you. 

    "We were in the Bahamas when we learned that he had been shot. I just hired a plane and flew to New York. I knew there was nothing I could do. I just wanted to see Yoko. They were so close. They were like one person with two identities, in a way. So it was like she had lost half of her soul. I saw her, I said, 'Yoko, I know how you feel'. And she said, 'No, you don't.'  I knew it was true, and it made me so sad. 

    Does Starr, who is expected to go into the studio in Montserrat with McCartney, who is working there on his own album, regret that the four never got together after the 1970 breakup for a reunion album or concert?

     "No, I have no regrets about that," he said. "We always said we wouldn't do it. We never thought of it, even when we got together to help each other on our own projects. I played on George's albums and on John's early albums; they all came out for me when I did the first solo album, but that was because we were friends and friends help each other.

     "Now we'll probably keep hearing about the three of us getting together for a charity or benefit, a benefit in John's memory, or something, but I think our answer will be the same. We won't be pushed into it."