"I still call him Richard!" - Ringo's Mom

The following interview appeared the 1964 magazine The Beatles Are Back.

"I still call him Richard," says Mrs. Starkey, talking of her now-famous son-the one and only Ringo! "But I can understand how he came by his nickname. I gave him his first ring for his sixteenth birthday and he liked it. He collected two or three more, and, when he started wearing four at a time, he well and truly earned the name! I suppose I started it, but, as I said, to me he'll always be Richard, no matter what others say.
"He hasn't changed much from when he was a little boy. He was always a very determined person. For instance, he would always go to school on his own-he'd never let his father or me take him. I remember the first day he was at school. He came home at lunchtime and told me that the school had a holiday! Of course they hadn't, and that time I did take him back to school! But the was the last time.
"He'd always had a passion for drums. Ever since I can remember he's been tapping on things. He made his own set of drums often enough from old tin cans-until we took the hint and bought his first drums-and look what that led to!
"He really loved them and used to play them for hours in his room. The neighbors didn't like it, of course. But they're good neighbors. That's one of the reasons I don't want to move, even though Richard has offered time and time again to buy us a new house in the country. I wouldn't like to leave Admiral Grove now-even though the fans know the address and keep calling. There were once two hundred youngsters outside the house screaming for the boys. That was a terrible experience for me. I was ill for two or three days after it happened.
"But it's never been as bad as that since. The girls all want a little keepsake or something-some of them just want to sit in the chair that Richard uses. It's worst about four o'clock just when the school come out-and it's absolute chaos if the girls at the nearby school know if the boys are at home! Then they really show up in great, huge crowds.
"You just can't help liking the boys. They're such a friendly, happy bunch and I've liked them ever since I met them. Their hairstyle doesn't trouble me in the least! I've gotten used to that sort of thing with Richard. Don't forget, he used to have a shaggy beard-and I liked that!"

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