January 23, 2008 - Ringo Stars on TV, And Saves the Best for Latest

Ringo Starr, promoting his first all-new CD in decades, has returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater, the site of his live American TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show 44 years ago, and performed on Late Show with David Letterman. Dave saved Ringo for last, walked over and chatted with him for a few moments after the former Beatle and his band performed "Liverpool 8," and that was that.

Nice, but too brief.

Yesterday, Ringo was supposed to perform on Live! With Regis and Kelly, but reported disputes over the lengths of musical and interview segments led to Ringo passing at the last minute. He did show up on Rachael Ray, but I didn't watch that. No interest.

But the appearance Ringo and his band are making tomorrow night on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, another CBS talk show that, like the earlier Late Show, is owned by David Letterman, sounds too good to miss. In fact, I'm flying across the country just to see it taped.

After Ferguson's monologue and email segment, the rest of the 60-minute Late Late Show is devoted to an interview with, and music by, Ringo Starr. Performing a four-minute song, which was part of the issue on Live!, won't be any problem here. In fact, Ringo and his band are scheduled to perform four songs.

One, "Liverpool 8," is the bouncy, nostalgic leadoff song from his new CD. Two others are from the era of The Beatles: "Boys" (Ringo's hair-shaking cover version of a song recorded originally by The Shirelles) and Ringo's signature tune, "With a Little Help from My Friends."

The fourth song performed tomorrow night at 12:35 a.m. ET, from Ringo's eponymous solo album, is "Photograph," a song he co-wrote with George Harrison. Its lyrics are even more poignant now, and it's something I can't wait to see.

It should make for great TV, and I'm really looking forward to how Ferguson handles the interview. Most of all, though, I want to try to peek in on rehearsals, and maybe get a chance to say hello and thanks, without betraying how huge a fan I am.

But if you click to the FRESH AIR website and listen to my Sgt. Pepper anniversary salute, you know the odds of my handling myself with dignity are fairly slim. But wish me luck, just the same.