The Ringo Starr Song That Was an Open Letter Asking The Beatles to Reconcile

In 1970, The Beatles publicly announced their break up, and Ringo Starr wrote a song about his former bandmates. In each verse, he sang about his bandmates and wondered about the likelihood of them playing music with him. By the end of the song, he expressed his earnest hope that they’d all collaborate again. The song functioned as an open letter to the ex-Beatles, but Starr never truly had much cause for concern. 

Ringo Starr wrote ‘Early 1970’ as a letter to his former Beatles bandmates

After The Beatles decided to break up, the former bandmates began working on their solo careers. Starr’s first solo single, “It Don’t Come Easy,” came out in 1971. The B-side of this single was the song “Early 1970.” In it, Starr addressed each of his bandmates in turn. 

“Lives on a farm, got plenty of charm, beep, beep/He’s got no cows but he’s sure got a whole lotta sheep/And brand new wife and a family,” he sang of Paul McCartney. 

Of John Lennon, he sang, “Laying in bed, watching tv, cookie!/With his mama by his side, she’s Japanese/They scream and they cried, now they’re free.”

Finally, he addressed George Harrison, singing, “He’s a long-haired, cross-legged guitar picker, um-um/With his long-legged lady in the garden picking daisies for his soup/A forty-acre house he doesn’t see.”

At the end of each verse, Starr speculated on the likelihood of his bandmates collaborating with him again. While he seemed certain that Lennon and Harrison would, he was less sure about McCartney, who was in the middle of suing the band. 

To conclude the song, Starr made self-deprecating comments about his own musical ability (“I play guitar, a – d – e/ I don’t play bass ’cause that’s too hard for me”) before expressing his desire to play with his bandmates again.

“And when I go to town I wanna see all three,” he repeated three times. 

The Beatles drummer didn’t have anything to worry about

The early 1970s were a particularly fraught time for the ex-Beatles. They were involved in a court case, they spoke badly about one another in the media, and the future of their band still felt uncertain. Starr was right to question whether or not McCartney, in particular, would ever want to collaborate with him again. Still, he had little to worry about. 

Even at the worst points in their relationship, McCartney regretted having to fight with Starr. He was the most affable member of the band and, as the song showed, Starr clearly wanted to maintain a relationship with his former bandmates. While McCartney was angry, he also felt lonely and abandoned by the others. On some level, he likely appreciated Starr’s attempt at reconciliation.

Ringo Starr would work with each of the Beatles on future songs

Starr didn’t have to wait long to see if his bandmates would collaborate with him. All four Beatles worked on Starr’s 1973 album Ringo. He would go on to collaborate with each of them multiple times over the years. 

Perhaps using “Early 1970” as an open letter to his bandmates helped convince them to work with him again.