Ringo Starr’s first band: Who were the Hurricanes?
While Ringo Starr is sometimes unfairly regarded as the least talented member of The Beatles—a claim that has been unequivocally debunked—there was a time when he was indisputably cooler than his future bandmates. Before joining the Fab Four, Ringo played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a group that was making waves well before John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and the early incarnation of their band began to garner attention.
Starr’s love for music began at a young age, fostered by his stepfather, Harry Graves, an avid fan of the big band genre. Later, in 1956, while working as an apprentice machinist at Henry Hunt and Son in Liverpool, Ringo befriended a colleague, Roy Trafford, with whom he shared a burgeoning interest in music. Trafford proved to be a pivotal influence, introducing Ringo to skiffle—a vibrant mix of American folk, jazz, country, and bluegrass that was gaining popularity and laying the groundwork for the impending rock ‘n’ roll explosion.
Naturally, as most young men with a shared interest in the same music do, Starr and Trafford began rehearsing together, using the manufacturing plant’s basement during their lunch. While they had a crude set-up, they were joined by another colleague and fellow music aficionado, Eddie Miles. They formed the Eddie Miles Band, which later became Eddie Clayton and the Clayton Squares, named after the local landmark.
At this point, Starr played a thimble on a washboard, but on Christmas Day, 1957, he was given the key to his future by Graves, who gifted him a second-hand drum kit that featured a makeshift cymbal fashioned from a metal bin lid. This allowed him to evolve his rhythmic prowess, and helped the Eddie Clayton band become a prominent skiffle group in the local scene.
In November 1958, Starr joined another group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, led by the charismatic Al Caldwell, better known by his stage name, Rory Storm. As a sign of the changing times, they had been a popular skiffle band in the area, but they needed a drummer with an actual kit so they could transition from skiffle to full-blown rock ‘n’ roll. It was joining this band that Richard ‘Ritchie’ Starkey adopted the name we all know him by: Ringo Starr. This was due to the rings he wore giving off a country and western vibe, and given his jocular nature, he thought this was a perfect fit.
So, who were The Hurricanes?
By the turn of the new decade, the Hurricanes were one of Liverpool’s most popular bands. This prominence in the locale saw them offered a three-month residency at a Butlins in Wales, a big deal for the era. While Starr was initially unsure of giving in his long-term apprenticeship as a machinist, which he was four years out of five into, he agreed. Unbeknownst to him, the promised land of global success was just around the corner.
The Hurricanes were pivotal in Starr’s development as a musician, providing him with regular opportunities to hone his craft. As the driving force behind their frenetic sound, he refined his musical skills and stage presence. Their Butlins residency also served as an excellent PR exercise despite leading to a dismal tour of US Air Force bases in France. However, their persistence paid off when they were offered something far more fitting: a residency in Hamburg, Germany’s bustling Hanseatic city.
Ironically, they initially turned it down before accepting, joining fellow Liverpudlians, The Beatles, at the Kaiserkeller on October 1st, 1960. Weirdly, this was the first time Starr met his future band, and given the Hurricanes’ prominence, they were given the top billing and better pay than them. However, the seeds were sown when Starr performed with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison on October 15th, 1960, recording the track ‘Summertime’ with Hurricanes singer Lu Walters. It was also during this stint in Hamburg that Starr was asked to leave the Hurricanes and join Tony Sheridan’s band.
Starr quit the Hurricanes in January 1962 and linked up with Sheridan back in Hamburg before he eventually rejoined his old outfit for a third stint at Butlins. Things moved quickly, though, and on August 14th, he was invited by Lennon to join The Beatles, who had just fired Pete Best. The rest is history.
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