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Long before the Beatles landed on the American Sea , there
was a drummer who was very different in many ways. His name
was Ron Barrett. Now, why was this drummer so different? One
of the things that made him different was his hair. He was
a black man, with long hair. Would you believe he had bangs?
His hair was straight!
Courtesy of Star Revue
In fact, he was called by the nickname, "Ringo The
Cowboy!" Ron had a stage presence that was second to
none. He was a good drummer; a good singer, good arranger,
and to add to all that he was a stand-up comic!
Courtesy of Star Revue
It was 1961, when Ron first became popular in Southern California
and the nickname "Ringo" was based on the famous
Cowboy. But in 1964, when the Beatles came on the scene, Ringo
went from being a famous Cowboy to a famous Beatle. So, it
was only natura for Ron to be called "Ringo" because
of the popularity of Ringo Starr. In the early 1960’s,
Ron was playing with a group that was made up of 5 bandleaders.
This group was called "The Originals."
The Originals - Courtesy of Star Revue
"The Originals" consisted of Bobby
Angel, a piano vocalist, Al Bavarro, bassist, Arthur Reave,
guitarist/vocalist, and of course, Ron Ringo, the American
"Brown" Beatle.
How it All Began
Ron Barrett started his professional career
at 11 years of age playing with H.B. Barnum
in clubs and bars in downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
Entertaining was certainly not new to Ron.
Ron was born in St. Louis , Missouri . As far back as he can
remember, he and his sister, Fanita Barrett (now Fanita James)
were performing for family and friends, at family gatherings,
on the front porch in the evenings in Clayton Missouri, and
on the streets of Franklin Avenue in St. Louis . Their
biggest debut was in 1951 on the stage at Edison Junior High
School in Los Angeles , where Fanita and Ron brought the auditorium
down with a school song they wrote and performed. From then
on, Fanita and Ron both knew that performing was something
very special to them.
Fanita hooked up with an outstanding artist by the name
of Richard Berry, who was the creator of the song, "Louie
Louie." Fanita went on to form The
Blossoms, and Ron went on to further his talents with
The Robbins. Having the opportunity to sing lead on the performance
of Smoky Joe’s Café in a chain of San Francisco
and Southern California Paramount Theatres. Then, without
skipping a beat, HB Barnum got him into the group called Billy
Ward and the Dominos. In 1959, they performed at the Hawaii
State Fair at the old ballpark.
The Originals were Southern California ’s band in
demand. They had the ability to perform at a club that had
no audience and in a matter of a few short weeks, they would
have a standing room only crowd. Why was this? Because Bobby
Angel had the talent to sound just like James Brown, or Little
Richard, and Arthur Reave could sound like George Benson,
or T-Bone walker, and play just as well as any of them. The
Originals didn’t take a back seat to anyone. What other
band could be packed with that much talent? If playing in
this outstanding band was not enough, in 1954, Ron started
a record company, Star Revue, and their first
record was "Stick Shift" by the Duals. "Stick
Shift" made it to the top 40! |
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