Preview: How cool is Ringo? Here are some reminders

What a baby boomer's nightmare: Ringo Starr just turned 70.

But the former drummer for the Beatles, whose persona and musicianship were integral to the success of the world's greatest rock band, is doing us a favor (along with the other surviving Beatle, Paul McCartney) by aging with zest.

Ringo is celebrating his 70th with a new CD/DVD, "Live at the Greek Theatre 2008," and a tour that brings him to Chateau Ste. Michelle on Saturday with his ever-changing "All Starr" band that, in this edition, includes classic rockers Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer.

So let's mark the occasion by listing some of the reasons why Ringo (aka Richard Starkey) was and always will be a beloved rock icon:

1. All He Wanted for His Birthday Was Peace and Love. Maybe it's not fashionable, but Ringo continues to echo the old mantra of fellow Beatle John Lennon: "All we are saying is give peace a chance." So no presents, please. The guy has plenty of whatever you could buy him, and asked only for a moment of peace-full silence on July 7, his birth date. Or any day.

2. He Completed the Beatles. By 1962, the rising British band had worked with other drummers. But they sought Ringo, got him and the brotherhood was then complete — musically, temperamentally, imagistically. The cuddly, ebullient Ringo joining forces with the "cute" and hard-driving Paul, the moody John and the quiet George gave the Group four vivid artistic and psychological personalities — and four different idols for adolescent worship.

3. Those Lennon/McCartney Songs He Inspired. Paul and John liked Ringo's flatly unaffected vocal style and wanted it on every Beatles album — mostly on songs tailor-made for him — "Boys," "Act Naturally" (by other writers) and the timeless "With a Little Help From My Friends" (by them). Also, "Hard Day's Night" was inspired by a Ringoism — McCartney's term for the bon mots that were Ringo's equivalent of Yogi Berra's sage malapropisms — as was another song he didn't sing lead on, "Tomorrow Never Knows."

4. His Inventive Drumming. Ringo can surely rock solid, but he's been a more versatile drummer than a lot of his flashier peers. With an array of percussive instruments and styles he created rhythm hooks and fills that give the Beatles' sound extra textures, layers and vibrance.

5. All He Has to Do is "Act Naturally." Ringo never forgot his origins as a son of working-class Liverpool. He never dissed other Beatles — even during their nasty breakup — and has always displayed warmth and ready wit. No wonder his cheeky charm in the movie "Hard Day's Night" brought to mind silent-film clowns Chaplin and Keaton.

6. Who Else Could Have Introduced "Yellow Submarine" to the World? Nobody else.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com

This story was corrected on July 30, 2010. An earlier version said that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote "Boys," "Act Naturally" and "With a Little Help from My Friends" for Ringo Starr. Of those three songs, only "With a Little Help from My Friends" was written by Lennon and McCartney; the other two were written by other writers.