http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aOpbZzVTQayg&refer=museMay 1 (Bloomberg) -- Ringo Starr has a ready explanation for the music explosion of the 1960s that produced, among other things, the Beatles.
``We were the first generation that didn't go into the army,'' he says on ``Ringo Starr: Off the Record,'' which airs May 2 on HBO at 11 p.m. New York time.
Because so many in his generation didn't serve in the military, they were able to march to their own drummers, including Ringo himself.
He's looking pretty good at 67, though his hair is much shorter and thinner than in his heyday and he long ago traded his colorful psychedelic regalia for an undertaker's basic black.
His pleasant 55-minute conversation with rocker Dave Stewart -- who looks as if he could be Ringo's brother -- will delight old Beatles fans and perhaps even viewers who hold rock music in less esteem.
Ringo never confused himself, or his musical peers, with Mozart. In the beginning, he tells Stewart and a studio audience in Los Angeles, some bands had members who could barely play an instrument.
Nor were they aware they were living in the Age of Aquarius. He tells of an early gig during which George Harrison got into a fistfight. George, he cracks, ``wasn't always a guru.''
Ringo, who continues to record, write and perform, reminds viewers he's a maestro of the self-deprecating riff. He points out he only knows three chords on the guitar and that when he'd present a song to his bandmates their usual response was laughter.
Octopus's Garden
He also tells an amusing story of how he came up with ``Octopus's Garden,'' one of his better-known tunes. While vacationing on Peter Sellers's yacht, he was baffled by a lunchtime entree. The captain explained that the mystery meat was octopus and further explained that the creatures make gardens on the sea floor for their apparent amusement.
Ringo admits his intense enthusiasm for the subject might have been fueled by ``medication,'' which we presume was not the type prescribed by a doctor.
He wasn't alone in seeing a great deal in the mundane and has considerable fun at the expense of those who saw genius in everything the Beatles did.
The over-analyzed cover of ``Abbey Road'' wasn't the result of deep thinking, he assures us. After considering shooting the cover in Egypt or another exotic location, someone in the band said, ``Let's just go out and walk across the road.''
Handling Drums
Ringo's drumming technique received similar analysis. Though he's left-handed, he plays a right-handed drum kit, which amazed some observers. The explanation, however, is simple: His grandmother made him learn to do everything as if he were right- handed, including playing the drums.
Ringo's reflections as one of rock's elder statesmen are sprinkled throughout the program. While many contemporary bands expect penthouse suites, limo service and other extravagant perks, he says the Beatles ``were lucky if we got a cup of tea.''
``Even after Shea Stadium we were sharing a room,'' he says.
He also wonders if extensive multitrack recording is a good thing. While ``Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' was made on a four-track recorder, new technology offers dozens of tracks and encourages a fragmented recording process. Instead of playing together as a band, Ringo notes, many musicians record ``one chord, then come back a week later and play another one.''
He closes with a new song, sung in a voice that, while hardly golden, is a very solid brass. ``I had to follow my heart and I never missed a beat,'' Ringo croons.
