Ringo Starr has spoken about George Martin.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, he said: “He was great, and kind, and loving. And understanding of four punks from Liverpool. At the beginning he was the boss. It was so crazy, he was the only man who could press record.”

He was asked whether he had learnt any production tips from Martin, who died in March of this year, to which he replied: “Not really, but I suppose, subliminally, everything – you know what I mean? But I don’t think, ‘Oh, George would have done this,’ or ‘That’s how that goes.’ I just get on with it, really.”

Starr described Martin as “always being at a higher level” than the four and said he was a “great match” for them, adding: “We were lucky to get him.”

He also relayed an anecdote about Martin initially bringing the band songs from other writers for them to cover in the early years (given that being the norm of pop music at the time), but they convinced him to allow them to sing their own songs. “It was very ballsy of us as a new act to think, ‘No, no, we want to do Lennon and McCartney songs,’” he said.

Starr’s All-Starr Band has just kicked off their US summer tour.

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