The following article appeared in New Musical Express on July 15, 1966, page 3. Written by Alan Smith.
Fan of Show
"I luv that show!" he laughed. "He's always in a dream, that bloke, but everythin' seems to work out fine in the end."
Didn't Keep Lions
"I also used to have this eerie dream about bein' chased by a lion in my grandmother's house. I ask y'- I mean, it's not as if me grandmother kept lions. Not after the war, anyway.
Ringo Starr creased his face into a smile and sat slumped in an armchair, fingering the rings on his fingers as he stared intently at the flickering screen. "Get Smart" was on telly again.
Next to westerns, "Get Smart" is probably Ringo's favorite television programme. He is uninterruptable when it is on. He squats like the little yellow god of Katmandu, almost immobile apart from the occasional move as he lifts another coke to his lips.
On this particular evening I had called on him just as the programme was about to end, and within minutes he was his old personable self again as we sat talking in front of a glowing fire.
Chatting about the dozy, dreamy Maxwell Smart in the show got us on to the subject of sleep-dreams, which Ringo seems to have every time his head hits the pillow. The only thing is, there are so many he has trouble remembering them.
He told me: "They used to be real vivid when I was little ... well, and not little, you know; about 2ft. 9in.,BR>"I used to have one where I was always running alone this big cliff, and when I got to the end I used to dive off into the river! It was a fantastic jump.
"I CAN'T SWIM, YOU SEE" (HE STARTED LAUGHING), "AND IT WAS TERRIFYIN'. I NEVER HIT THE BOTTOM, THOUGH. THEY SAY THAT IF YOU HIT THE BOTTOM, YOU'RE DEAD, MATE. STILL, I WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT. WHO'S DOWN THERE TO TELL YOU?
"Still, you know that old fallacy about 'if you keep still, it won't touch you-well, I used to sort of lay quiet in one of the rooms, and the lion would walk past without realising. Then I'd run away ... but he'd find me and keep following me round the house.
"I don't know what it all means, mind you, but me mind must have been in a right tormoil. I'll have to get analysed about it one day.
HE LAUGHED EMBARRASSEDLY. "I 'AD A DREAM THE OTHER DAY, THOUGH, THAT WAS THE WEIRDEST EVER. IT WAS ABOUT A CANARY-ONLY IT HAD SPIDER'S LEGS. IT WAS A COLOURED YELLOW CANARY ONLY IT HAD SPIDER'S LEGS. WORK THAT ONE OUT!
"I often dream about ordinary, everyday things - goin' out, walking around the garden, 'avin' a meal and so on. But it's the weird ones that make me think. I also dream in colour, and about the films I show on my projector at home.
"I had a movie the other day, 'Lost City Of Atlantis,' and it's kept me going on dreams for the past week."
Whatever subconscious thoughts begin to stir, once Ringo falls asleep, few of them can have been brought on by exotic foods at suppertime. He hates anything spicy and he even has an aversion to onions.
He told me: "Whatever it is, I dream a lot. I don't remember them so much as I used to, but they're still there.
"ONE THING THAT DOESN'T NORMALLY COME TO ME WHEN I SLEEP, IS ANYTHING TO DO WITH MY WORK. I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER HAD A DREAM ABOUT THE CURTAIN DROPPIN' ON ME OR THE STICKS FLYING OUT OF ME HANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF A NUMBER.
Those kind of things happen in real life. There's no need to dream about them.