How Ringo Starr said 'yes' to joining the Beatles

He had no idea he was about to become part of an unprecedented global phenomenon, which perhaps explains his nonchalance. In a week before his new band’s first single was to be released, this young drummer wrote to a friend and told them: “I got a phone call asking me would I join the Beatles and I said yes”.

The letter from Ringo Starr is one of two lots in a sale at Christie’s which capture the Beatles in an era of pre-fame naivety. A banjo played by John Lennon, which was present on the day he met Paul McCartney, will make its first appearance at a major auction house on July 10.

Jack Blackburn/thetimes.com