"Just a postcard sent through the mail, from John Lennon to Ringo, and it arrives. I don't know if it would arrive today, you know what I mean? Because everybody's collecting everything," reflects Starr.
The Beatles traveled the globe together. And they traveled apart. But the bond remained.
Some of the postcards are ordinary, like anyone would send.
"But we are anyone. You know? We are John, Paul, George and Ringo. We are great mates."
One said, "Who would have thought it would come to this? Love, John and Yoko."
"Well, that's sort of the end of the Beatles," Starr says. "We were breaking up, and you know, as the old song goes, breaking up is hard to do. And you know, it got a little nasty, and it got a little angry, but we were still sending postcards. Everyone thinks it was, like, really dire. It was hard. But we hadn't forgotten each other. We had a row. You know, it's a family row here. We'd been that close for all these years. And it was ending, you know, and it didn't end great. And that's just the truth of it."
It was seven short years from the time the Beatles first captivated America to when the band broke up. After that, to everyone's surprise, it was Starr who had the most initial success. Then his star faded. Drugs and alcohol overtook him in the '80s. But he came back in the '90s, with new bands, and new success.
For the past 15 years, he's been on tour with a revolving group of musician friends, Ringo and the All-Starr Band, playing each other's music.
He continues to make music with another band of friends, the Roundheads.
His last CD, "Ringo-Rama," included a tribute to George Harrison.
"George had just died, and he was a dear friend of mine. It was a great way of me saying 'I love you, George, and see you later.' "
Ringo's new CD, "Choose Love," was just released this month. It includes a duet with friend, Chrissy Hynde, called "Don't Hang Up."
Where does Ringo go from here? He turns 65 next month. Still playing in his new band. Still living with his old one.
Starr says people still ask why the Beatles broke up.
"I always feel that the energy wasn't going into it, the life energy. The music energy was always into it. If you listen to the tracks, though, to the day we broke up, the tracks themselves are really good. Because once we had the counting - one, two, three, four - we all knew how to do it," he says.
"We all appreciated each other. We all supported each other. So there was never anything wrong with the music. It was just it was the time and space. That's how I look at it."
He says he can get tired of talking about his time with the Beatles. "But I am comfortable with it. Everybody wants to go back all the time, you know? People can't help themselves. They want to talk about these boys."
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