Ben Kyle, right, with Sara Watkins and the Beatles' second drummer. / Via Instagram
Most of us were content coming back from the long Fourth of July holiday weekend with simple stories of hanging out with friends and family. Minneapolis music vet Ben Kyle of Romantica notoriety, however, came back with this whopper of a tale, which he has recounted to us via e-mail:
"I had played two interpretations of his songs to the crowd gathered on Vine Street outside Capitol Records, and I was standing there on stage next to Jim Keltner who was doing a drum roll and listening to David Lynch introduce the man himself when all of a sudden I felt an arm around my shoulder. I turned around, and it was Ringo hugging me and saying, 'Thank you brother!'"
Yep, he's referring to that Ringo, the one from Liverpool just across the Irish Sea from Kyle's native Belfast. The Romantica frontman was invited to perform at a public bash thrown outside the famed Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles in honor of the Beatles drummer's 79th birthday. In fact, it was Kyle's second birthday party gig of the week, as Romantica also played Jeremy Berg's 40th birthday bash in Minnetrista on Wednesday; but that one didn't get quite as much international coverage.
A video clip of Kyle singing the real-life Richard Starkey's 1973 solo hit "It Don't Come Easy" on Sunday in Los Angeles started making its way around Facebook come Monday. He was part of a musical crew that also included his pal Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek and I'm With Her, who played violin with him. As the L.A. Times noted in its write-up on the annual "Peace and Love" gathering, Kyle also performed "Act Naturally," "a nod to Starr's country roots."
"Gotta pay your dues if you want to sing the blues," Kyle cheekily quoted from the first song in a separate post that showed him and Watkins mugging it up for the cameras with Mr. Starr.
Here's the video clip posted via Ringo's own Facebook account. Romantica just finished an overseas tour to Spain and Ireland last month and will be back in action locally soon.
