The Surviving Members Of The Beatles Reunite For Ringo Starr’s Birthday

While yesterday was Ringo Starr’s 70^th birthday, it seems as if hardcore Beatles fans and obsessives were the ones who got the best present, as Ringo’s All Star Band – which was performing a birthday set (with Ringo on drums, natch) at Radio City Music Hall in New York City – was joined live and onstage by Paul McCartney for a roaring take on the Beatles’ “Birthday” (and since this is kind of cool and a bit of a big deal, I won’t make too much of a fuss about how “Birthday” is one of the worst Fab Four songs ever).

According to Spinner, the 70-year-old Beatle put on a mammoth show for someone on the far side of 50:

“This feat was the once-in-a-lifetime capper to a two-hour set of Starr-sung Beatles and solo favorites that concluded with many of Starr’s musical mates from the world of rock raising their voices for an equally appropriate singalong to ‘With a Little Help From My Friends,’ which segued into a chorus of ‘Give Peace a Chance.’ The helpful friends who assembled onstage included Yoko Ono, AC/DC’s Angus Young, Jeff Lynne, Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and Foreigner’s Mick Jones.”

Spinner also points out that Ono, who was present and sang on the original1968 recording of “Birthday,” did not join in to perform the song with McCartney and Ringo last night; however, seeing as how her famous yelp is now mercifully pitched at a level that only dogs can hear, that may not have been a bad thing.

One can’t help but be a little jealous of Starr, who essentially was able to have a Beatles reunion on his birthday (or rather, a reunion of the Beatles’ remainder), but I’ll try not to be.  After all, me and that weird guy named Pete who’s always sitting in the back of the karaoke bar down the block from my house spent my last birthday karaoking Night Ranger songs for about three hours, and that was pretty cool, too.  So I’ve got that going for me.

What do you think of the mini-Beatles reunion last night?  Should it happen again?