Ringo Starr

Whether with the Beatles, on his solo albums, or his revue-style All-Starr tours, Ringo Starr has often gotten by with a little help from his friends. Although the 69-year-old drummer/singer-songwriter produces himself for the first time on “Y Not,’’ he relies on a capable supporting cast for another round of the pop, country, R&B, and rock pastiches that are his solo stock in trade. The energetic opener, “Fill in the Blanks,’’ is a rocker co-written by Joe Walsh, who also offers piercing guitar.

May 31 Keith Lockhart and John Williams conduct "Presidents at Pops" with Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers at Symphony Hall. www.bostonpops.org June 3 World Oceans Day at the New England Aquarium. www.neaq.org June 9 José Mateo Ballet Theatre Presents the Dance for World Community Festival in Harvard Square. www.ballettheatre.org Victor Wooten at the Paradise Rock Club. www.ticketmaster.com June 10 Cirque du Soleil's "Totem" opens at Boston Marine Industrial Park.

London 2012 organizers say more than 4 billion people will watch the opening and closing ceremonies for next year's Olympics and Paralympics. About 20,000 people will perform in the four ceremonies but the local organizing committee has yet to announce the headline performers. British media have speculated that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr may perform. Advertising executive Martin Sorrell says the huge audience means the ceremonies are worth $3.2 billion in advertising to Britain.

ON WGBH Greater Boston 7 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) Bill Bratton, former Boston and New York police commissioner; RoseMarie Terenzio, former assistant to John F. Kennedy Jr. and author of "Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love and Loss. " ON CHRONICLE This Is Only a Test 7:30 p.m. WCVB-TV (Channel 5) Testing that goes into producing and improving products before they go to market. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS Woodsongs 5 a.m. WUMB-FM (91.9) The Little Willies (Norah Jones, Richard Julian, Lee Alexander)

Ringo Starr Liverpool 8 (Capitol) Even when he sang "I Wanna Be Your Man" at age 23, Ringo Starr had the fogeyish, fish-and-chips voice of an old lorry driver. So it makes sense that now, at 67, the ex-Beatle sounds his age, gamely giving it a go and surrounded, as always, by talented mates and musicians. On his 14th solo effort - which is one more album than the Beatles released - the crew is led by Eurythmics pal Dave Stewart, who hatched the idea for the title track, a sentimental slice of autobiography in the vein of George Harrison's "When We Was Fab. " Mightily as it tries, the...

TWINS (Encore on Comcast) A one-joke comedy - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito play the title roles. But it’s improbably charming thanks mostly to the sweet goofiness with which Schwarzenegger throws himself into his first comic role. (PG; runs through Nov. 19) CAVEMAN (Comcast Free Movies) Ringo Starr in a comedy that’s even more prehistoric than it wants to be. It consists mostly of grunts, slapstick, and Barbara Bach (Mrs.

Larry Bird leaned on Wayne Lebeaux back in the day. Now the longtime Framingham resident tends to Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr. It's a good thing Lebeaux isn't the star-struck type. From working for the Boston Celtics in the halcyon Bird era to his current job as road manager for the Boss and the former Beatle, Lebeaux insists: "I'm not awed by anybody, except when I met Robert De Niro. " It's that coolness, along with his reliability, that Lebeaux's clients rely on when they go on tour.

Local Bob Jordan The Country That Never Was Sal Magundi ESSENTIAL "Turnaround" A student of Zappa and Dylan and classmates with Michael Hurley, Eugene Chadbourne, and Bruce Hampton, native son Bob Jordan has been twisting up folk, rock, and freak-out music for nearly 40 years. His path through numerous lo-fi recordings and varied concert settings has led to "The Country That Never Was," Jordan's most assured and best-produced album yet. Jordan rides the rails of honky-tonk and Tex-Mex looking for something real among the...

May 31 Keith Lockhart and John Williams conduct "Presidents at Pops" with Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers at Symphony Hall. www.bostonpops.org June 3 World Oceans Day at the New England Aquarium. www.neaq.org June 9 José Mateo Ballet Theatre Presents the Dance for World Community Festival in Harvard Square. www.ballettheatre.org Victor Wooten at the Paradise Rock Club. www.ticketmaster.com June 10 Cirque du Soleil's "Totem" opens at Boston Marine Industrial Park.

Some ideas just can't work, no matter how much fun they sound. Take the current All-Starr Band. You've got two British Invaders (Ringo Starr and Rod Argent), a Texas-bluesman-turned-party-rocker (Edgar Winter), one arena rock stud from the dawn of MTV (Billy Squier), an auxiliary member of Prince's funk brigade (Sheila E), and an '80s corporate rocker who more recently penned a massive ballad for 'N Sync (Richard Marx). That's not a band, that's a dare. Still, there they were at the Bank of America Pavilion Wednesday, and Ringo and his traveling band of nostalgia -...

London 2012 organizers say more than 4 billion people will watch the opening and closing ceremonies for next year's Olympics and Paralympics. About 20,000 people will perform in the four ceremonies but the local organizing committee has yet to announce the headline performers. British media have speculated that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr may perform. Advertising executive Martin Sorrell says the huge audience means the ceremonies are worth $3.2 billion in advertising to Britain.

Larry Bird leaned on Wayne Lebeaux back in the day. Now the longtime Framingham resident tends to Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr. It's a good thing Lebeaux isn't the star-struck type. From working for the Boston Celtics in the halcyon Bird era to his current job as road manager for the Boss and the former Beatle, Lebeaux insists: "I'm not awed by anybody, except when I met Robert De Niro. " It's that coolness, along with his reliability, that Lebeaux's clients rely on when they go on tour.

LONDON - A hint of autumnal Beatlemania was in the air yesterday as Paul McCartney - for the second time in his life - climbed the steps of Old Marylebone Town Hall to get married. True, thousands of heartbroken female fans crowded the venerable registry office in 1969 when he married Linda Eastman and only a few hundred showed up yesterday as he wed American Nancy Shevell. But the feeling this time was not regret at the loss of a bachelor heartthrob. Instead there was joy that McCartney, regarded as a national treasure, seemed happy again.

Ringo Starr turns 70 next week. Nobody would fault him for staying home, playing with the grandkids, and bathing in his Beatles money. Instead, every other year or so, the world’s most famous replacement drummer dusts off his sticks and his droll humor and flips through his Rolodex to put together a lively party caravan. No one attends an All Starr Band show for surprises, but rather for a visit with a dear old friend who’ll tell the same great stories with the same good cheer.

Whether with the Beatles, on his solo albums, or his revue-style All-Starr tours, Ringo Starr has often gotten by with a little help from his friends. Although the 69-year-old drummer/singer-songwriter produces himself for the first time on “Y Not,’’ he relies on a capable supporting cast for another round of the pop, country, R&B, and rock pastiches that are his solo stock in trade. The energetic opener, “Fill in the Blanks,’’ is a rocker co-written by Joe Walsh, who also offers piercing guitar.

TWINS (Encore on Comcast) A one-joke comedy - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito play the title roles. But it’s improbably charming thanks mostly to the sweet goofiness with which Schwarzenegger throws himself into his first comic role. (PG; runs through Nov. 19) CAVEMAN (Comcast Free Movies) Ringo Starr in a comedy that’s even more prehistoric than it wants to be. It consists mostly of grunts, slapstick, and Barbara Bach (Mrs.

LONDON - A hint of autumnal Beatlemania was in the air yesterday as Paul McCartney - for the second time in his life - climbed the steps of Old Marylebone Town Hall to get married. True, thousands of heartbroken female fans crowded the venerable registry office in 1969 when he married Linda Eastman and only a few hundred showed up yesterday as he wed American Nancy Shevell. But the feeling this time was not regret at the loss of a bachelor heartthrob. Instead there was joy that McCartney, regarded as a national treasure, seemed happy again.

Ringo Starr turns 70 next week. Nobody would fault him for staying home, playing with the grandkids, and bathing in his Beatles money. Instead, every other year or so, the world’s most famous replacement drummer dusts off his sticks and his droll humor and flips through his Rolodex to put together a lively party caravan. No one attends an All Starr Band show for surprises, but rather for a visit with a dear old friend who’ll tell the same great stories with the same good cheer.

Local Bob Jordan The Country That Never Was Sal Magundi ESSENTIAL "Turnaround" A student of Zappa and Dylan and classmates with Michael Hurley, Eugene Chadbourne, and Bruce Hampton, native son Bob Jordan has been twisting up folk, rock, and freak-out music for nearly 40 years. His path through numerous lo-fi recordings and varied concert settings has led to "The Country That Never Was," Jordan's most assured and best-produced album yet. Jordan rides the rails of honky-tonk and Tex-Mex looking for something real among the artificial, and ultimately feels like an...

Ringo Starr Liverpool 8 (Capitol) Even when he sang "I Wanna Be Your Man" at age 23, Ringo Starr had the fogeyish, fish-and-chips voice of an old lorry driver. So it makes sense that now, at 67, the ex-Beatle sounds his age, gamely giving it a go and surrounded, as always, by talented mates and musicians. On his 14th solo effort - which is one more album than the Beatles released - the crew is led by Eurythmics pal Dave Stewart, who hatched the idea for the title track, a sentimental slice of autobiography in the vein of George Harrison's "When We Was Fab. " Mightily as it tries, the...