RINGO AND ALL STARR BAND IN CALIFORNIA

Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1. ar The Masonic, 1111 California St., S.F.

and headlining set at the Sonoma Music Festival on Saturday, Oct. 3.

 

Ringo started touring with the All-Starr band in 1989, shortly after he and his second wife, Barbara Bach (whom he’d met on the set of the 1981 film “Caveman”), successfully entered rehab together.

The original lineup — featuring Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons and guitarist Nils Lofgren, keyboardist Billy Preston, former Band bassist Rick Danko and drummer Levon Helm, piano great Dr. John, and drummer Jim Keltner — was significantly more impressive than the ones that have followed over the years, but the format remains the same.

Starr, flashing his signature peace-and-love signs, performs a handful of Beatles classics, songs from his recent albums, and a selection of his solo hits from his unexpectedly fruitful chart run between 1971 and 1975. He then backs his band members on three of their groups’ respective hits.

“I get to be an entertainer and a musician,” Starr says.

He’s currently touring with his longest running incarnation of the All-Starr Band, which includes Todd Rundgren, Journey’s Gregg Rolie, Toto’s Steve Lukather and Mr. Mister’s Richard Page. They’ve been together for three years, which is roughly two years longer than usual.

“I fire them every year,” Starr says. “And they browbeat me and I take them back.”

Starr keeps touring — regularly playing casinos, resorts, county fairs, anywhere — because it’s what he does.“I love to play,” he says. And he means it.

In December, Starr and Bach will auction off 800 of their personal items, including rare Beatles memorabilia like his first 1963 Ludwig Oyster black pearl three-piece drum kit and a Rickenbacker guitar that Lennon gave him, with proceeds going to the couple’s Lotus Children Foundation.

They also recently sold their country house in England and closed down their apartment in Monte Carlo. Like going through the storage units that yielded the negatives, it’s all part of a larger effort to pare down his life.

So what gets Ringo Starr out of the bed in the morning these days?

“Nothing I’m auctioning off,” he says. “I get up at 7:30 every morning because I love to be in the light. We’re in L.A., so there’s a lot of light. I have a trainer. We’re in L.A. I am a vegetarian. We’re in L.A. I keep myself together. I eat well. I stay fit. I go for walks. Any advice I can give is, keep moving.”