Ringo Starr

The 69-year-old visitor to the downtown Grammy Museum strolled with fascination through its new exhibit of Alfred Wertheimer's celebrated 1956 photos of Elvis Presley at 21, just as the impossibly handsome young singer was on the threshold of stardom. Like most other visitors taking in the remarkably unguarded photos, this bearded gentleman exhibited affection and appreciation for the black-and-white portraits of Presley's quiet moments -- lunching at a diner; teasing, and being teased, by a female fan -- some of the last such moments he would enjoy before exploding as the biggest star in the pop music universe.

For nearly a decade, Sandra Acosta and Noe Ramirez made a monthly pilgrimage to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose Avenue in search of life wisdom. Enveloped in the aroma of incense and the gentle strains of meditative music, the Long Beach couple would explore books on martial arts, women's spirituality, Native American philosophy, Zen Buddhism and whatever else piqued their curiosity. But their visit Friday would be their last. The bookstore will close its doors at 5:30 p.m. Saturday after four decades of serving as a world-renowned spiritual mecca for seekers of all persuasions — including Gov. Jerry Brown, Beatle Ringo Starr and actress Shirley MacLaine, whose memoir chronicled how her metaphysical journey began at the Bodhi Tree in 1983.

It's easy to understand musician Dhani Harrison's antipathy toward the general concept of being in a rock band. After all, he got loads of priceless firsthand information from his father about the ups and downsides of making it to the absolute peak of pop music success during his tenure with the Beatles. FOR THE RECORD: Dhani Harrison: An article on musician Dhani Harrison in Tuesday's Calendar identified Activision as developer of The Beatles: Rock Band. The game was created by Harmonix, MTV Games and Apple Corps Ltd. — It was George Harrison who famously said, "The biggest break in my career was getting into the Beatles in 1962.

Join two L.A. music legends from different generations as they pool their talents for a special concert, backed by a chamber orchestra led by concert master Peter Kent. Van Dyke Parks is known for his work with the Beach Boys, U2, the Grateful Dead, Ringo Starr and the Byrds. Inara George is the lilting voice behind the indie-rock duo the Bird and the Bee. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. 7:30 p.m. Sat. Admission free with advance reservations. (310) 440-7300. http://www.getty.edu.

Ringo Starr joined Paul McCartney, the other surviving member of the Beatles, in permitting digital sales of his recordings. Starr, the band's drummer, also signed a new contract with EMI Group's Capitol label, EMI said. Starr's Capitol catalog of solo recordings will be available for downloads Aug. 28. The Beatles haven't given permission for sales of the band's music through online stores such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr "is delighted" to become the first member of the Fab Four to become a grandfather, a spokeswoman said Monday. The 45-year-old Starr, who rocketed to fame as one of the four mop-topped lads from Liverpool in the 1960s, became a grandfather over the weekend when his daughter-in-law gave birth to a healthy 7-pound, 2-ounce girl, marking a new milestone as the Beatles advance into middle age.

Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr won a permanent injunction today, blocking the release of an album he recorded for a Georgia record producer while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Clarence Cooper issued the injunction shortly before a trial on a suit over the album was to begin. Starr was scheduled to be the first witness in the case.

Friends and colleagues of former Beatle Ringo Starr said today they were stunned that he and his wife are being treated for alcoholism in a U.S. clinic. The Beatles' former spokesman, Derek Taylor, said on Sunday night that the drummer and his actress wife, Barbara Bach, had entered an unnamed clinic for treatment four weeks ago using Starr's real name, Richard Starkey.

Maureen Cox Tigrett, former wife of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, died Friday of complications after a bone marrow transplant, hospital officials said. Mrs. Tigrett, 47, who lived in Beverly Hills with her husband, music club entrepreneur Isaac Tigrett, had come to Seattle in October for treatment of a pre-leukemia condition, said a spokesman for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Mrs. Tigrett was married to Starr in the Beatles' heyday from 1965 to 1975.

No program that includes Ringo Starr narrating segments of the exceptional English animated series "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" can be bad. "Thomas" is the high point of the new PBS children's series "Shining Time Station," debuting today at 9 a.m. on Channel 28. There are no low moments, just ordinary ones, and that's surprising. So much talent has gone into the series that it reads like a who's who of children's programming.

"George Harrison: Living in the Material World," which premieres Wednesday and Thursday on HBO, is a long, lovely meditation on the Beatle sometimes called the Quiet One and the quiet one sometimes called a Beatle. Directed by Martin Scorsese at the invitation of widow Olivia Harrison, it is not especially informative in the way documentaries usually strive to be, a cataloging of causes and effects and significant facts and figures; nor has it been made as a brief for George's unsung genius.

Nearly a decade after Apple Inc. introduced iTunes, the digital downloading service finally has landed the Beatles. ITunes on Tuesday rolled out the Fab Four's music for legal downloading for the first time, offering 17 albums encompassing all 13 of the group's original studio albums, the double "Past Masters" collection of nonalbum tracks, two hits compilations and a box set including everything except the hits collections. Individual tracks are being sold for $1.29, single albums for $12.99, double albums for $19.99 and the box set is priced at $149.

You Never Give Me Your Money The Beatles After the Breakup Peter Doggett HarperStudio: 390 pp., $24.99 When exactly did the Beatles break up? For many years, conventional wisdom has offered two options: September 1969, when, on the way to his solo set at the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival festival, John Lennon told fellow performers Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann that he was planning to leave the Beatles, and April 1970, when, shortly before the release of what would become their final album, "Let It Be," Paul McCartney went public (after a fashion)

The 69-year-old visitor to the downtown Grammy Museum strolled with fascination through its new exhibit of Alfred Wertheimer's celebrated 1956 photos of Elvis Presley at 21, just as the impossibly handsome young singer was on the threshold of stardom. Like most other visitors taking in the remarkably unguarded photos, this bearded gentleman exhibited affection and appreciation for the black-and-white portraits of Presley's quiet moments -- lunching at a diner; teasing, and being teased, by a female fan -- some of the last such moments he would enjoy before exploding as the biggest star in the pop music universe.

It's easy to understand musician Dhani Harrison's antipathy toward the general concept of being in a rock band. After all, he got loads of priceless firsthand information from his father about the ups and downsides of making it to the absolute peak of pop music success during his tenure with the Beatles. FOR THE RECORD: Dhani Harrison: An article on musician Dhani Harrison in Tuesday's Calendar identified Activision as developer of The Beatles: Rock Band. The game was created by Harmonix, MTV Games and Apple Corps Ltd. — It was George Harrison who famously said, "The biggest break in my career was getting into the Beatles in 1962.

Robert Hilburn was pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times for 35 years, from the psychedelic era to the emergence of the iPod. He witnessed many of rock 'n' roll's seminal moments and interviewed virtually every major pop figure of the period. All of this is chronicled in his memoir, "Corn Flakes with John Lennon (and Other Tales From a Rock 'n' Roll Life)," to be published this month. In this abridged excerpt, Hilburn (below left with Lennon in 1980) explores his relationship with Lennon after the Beatles' breakup and explains the book's title.

Unlike the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney, who have new albums in the stores to coincide with their U.S. tours this fall, there wasn't any new music to accompany the recent tours involving two other links to classic British rock: the Who or Ringo Starr. Rhino Records, however, has released two CDs featuring music from those artists' past. The most significant is the orchestrated version of the Who's "Tommy" that was released in 1972 by Lou Adler's Ode Records. Not to be confused (please!

Former Beatle Ringo Starr, with a little help from his daughter, is in the driver's seat of Oldsmobile's new TV commercials. And so is "Mission Impossible" 's white-haired star, Peter Graves; Noel Blanc, son of the late Mel Blanc; and even Albert Einstein's great grandson, Edward. On Tuesday, Oldsmobile officials said the car maker will this weekend kick off the second year of its "New Generation of Olds" ad campaign.

They came from New York, the Midwest, the Southern states, a great exodus of young comics traveling west in search of a few minutes with Johnny Carson. That's all it took to begin the migration: In 1972, "The Tonight Show" moved from New York to Burbank, and stand-up comedy's center of gravity went with it. A shot with Carson could make a comic's career and lead to lucrative stand-up gigs, comedy albums and film roles. So they came to town by the hundreds, ambitious and penniless.

Dropping out: Sean Penn will not be one of "The Three Stooges" or join "Cartel." A spokeswoman for the Oscar winner said he is dropping out of the films; she didn't specify a reason. Suit settled: South Korean pop star and actor Rain has settled a civil suit over a canceled 2007 concert in Hawaii, South Korean news outlets reported Wednesday. No details on financial compensation were given. Walk of Stars: Russell Crowe, Emma Thompson, Adam Sandler, Ringo Starr, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Colin Firth are among the performers who will be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010.