You’re Sixteen

Hey Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew just dropped the needle on this classic cut from Ringo Starr, the one and only "You’re Sixteen" off that 1973 album simply called Ringo, and man does it still swing with that easy rockin’ groove. Producer Richard Perry came to Ringo with the idea of covering this old fifties number, and it just fit like a worn-in leather jacket. Ringo himself later said if you’re open you try things, and it worked really well at the time. The song was penned by the Sherman Brothers, those same cats who cooked up Disney magic like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and It’s a Small World, so you know the melody sticks. They wrote it wanting to give listeners something fresh—a shuffle rhythm in the verse that hits a hard rock beat in the chorus—and it landed first with Johnny Burnette back in 1960, climbing to number eight on the US charts and number three over in the UK. Burnette’s brother Dorsey even sang the demo by pure coincidence, and the powers that be heard it and knew it was perfect for Johnny.

Ringo’s version turned it into his second number one single, riding the charts for fifteen weeks and topping the Billboard Hot 100 for one solid week. The whole Ringo album was a smash, and this track better embodies his spirit and personality than just about anything else on it, with that loose, joyful feel that always made him the heart of the band. Help from his friends poured in, like always—Harry Nilsson on the backing vocals, and Paul McCartney jumping in for what sounds like a kazoo solo. Turns out it wasn’t a real kazoo at all. Paul was singing it spontaneously as they played the track back, putting it through a fuzz thing to make it sound like a great big funky sax. Ringo laughed about it later, saying it’s a bit daft really, because it winds up sounding like a kazoo and he could have just done it on one. The ending even slips into a bit of Clarence “Frogman” Henry’s old hit before fading out on “What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor.” Far out stuff from those sessions in London, with Klaus Voormann on bass, Jim Keltner on drums, and the whole crew keeping it loose and alive.

Years down the road Ringo had a change of heart about performing the song live. He told the story in the notes for his Photograph compilation, saying he can’t do that song onstage anymore because he can’t stand there singing those lyrics about a girl being sixteen. He recalled a show down in Texas where part of the act was pointing at a woman in the crowd and singing “You’re Sixteen” then signaling like well maybe not. One woman stood up like she wanted to stab him, and he couldn’t look that direction the whole night. The old video is retro and a little psychedelic, which fits since they were a little psychedelic in those days, and it even featured a young Carrie Fisher playing the girl in his 1978 TV movie. It was all part of that nostalgic wave of the seventies, the same era when George Lucas used the original Burnette version in American Graffiti. Peace and love, but Ringo knew when to step back from certain tunes.

Now speaking of how this ring-wearing drummer got his start, Richard Starkey came into the world on July 7, 1940, in the Dingle neighborhood of Liverpool, a working-class area where life was tough from the jump. His parents worked in bakeries and split when he was just three. The kid was sickly as could be—at six he had an appendectomy that turned into peritonitis and a coma, then later tuberculosis that landed him in a sanatorium for two years around age thirteen. That’s where the drums first called to him. A health worker handed out instruments to keep the kids busy, and young Ritchie started banging on the cabinets next to his bed with a wooden mallet made from a cotton bobbin. He never wanted anything else from then on. After getting out he worked odd jobs, apprenticed as a joiner, and dove into the skiffle craze that swept Britain, co-founding the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group before joining Rory Storm and the Hurricanes in 1959.

He picked up the stage name Ringo Starr because he liked wearing rings on his fingers—sometimes two on each hand—and “Starr” came from Starkey with a nod to the country and western films he loved, like the singing cowboys. His drum solos got billed as “Starr Time.” The Hurricanes were a solid Liverpool outfit, and in 1960 they hit Hamburg around the same time as the upstart Beatles, sharing stages at the Kaiserkeller and getting to know each other. Ringo even sat in with John, Paul, and George a few times when Pete Best wasn’t around. By the summer of 1962 the Beatles wanted him full time. Brian Epstein called while Ringo was at Butlin’s holiday camp in Skegness with the Hurricanes. Epstein said the boys would like you to join, what do you say? Ringo said no, I’d love to, when? Epstein said oh, tonight. Ringo said I can’t, this was Wednesday, I’m in a band, I’ll come Saturday. He delayed so Rory could find a replacement, then on August 18, 1962, he officially stepped behind the kit with Paul, John, and George. George Martin had wanted a change, and the chemistry clicked right away on tracks like “What’d I Say.” Fans of Pete Best put up a fuss at first—“Pete forever, Ringo never!”—but the lovable one with the steady beat and the jokes won them over quick.

From there it was Beatlemania, the films, the hits, and Ringo singing lead on at least one song an album, from “Boys” to “Yellow Submarine” and writing “Octopus’s Garden.” After the split he was terrified about going solo, but he rolled right into hits like “It Don’t Come Easy,” “Back Off Boogaloo,” “Photograph,” and this very “You’re Sixteen.” He’s kept that peace and love spirit going with the All Starr Band and new records ever since. You can dig deeper into the man’s world over at his official website, catch the latest on Facebook, scroll the photos on Instagram, or follow the updates on X. There’s also a solid Ringo Starr Official Fanpage group where the longtime fans swap stories and keep the groove alive. And if you want more of this freeform rock spinning the deep cuts and the backstories, hang with the Zoo Crew right here at THE ZOO. Keep it rockin’, Zoo Freaks.