mostarkey

[mostarkey]

hiii i was wondering if you’re going to be active on this account again? it’s lovely and i love maureen and this account is great!! thank you for posting what you have <3

hello! sorry, this account has been in storage (hidden away on an account that is not my main account) since roughly april. i may come back to it soon though as i'm working on something maureen related right now 😁

#asks

[mostarkey]

The last known photograph of Maureen Starkey Tigrett, commissioned by her second husband Isaac Burton Tigrett, founder of the Hard Rock Café and House of Blues franchises. Photographer unknown.

On this day, 30 December, in 1994, Maureen Starkey passed away in Seattle, Washington, USA, at the age of 48 due to complications resulting from a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia. Her children, husband Isaac, ex-husband Ringo Starr, and mother Florence Cox were with her.

#maureen starkey #the beatles #ringo starr #isaac tigrett #zak starkey #jason starkey #lee starkey #augusta tigrett #florence cox

[mostarkey]

"Watching her tiny figure move down the hallway toward me, I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. She was her usual vision in black, dressed from throat to ankle in layers of velvet and lace. Her pale white skin contrasted starkly with her dark clothing, and for a moment I imagined I was watching a tiny, beautiful vampiress floating down the corridor toward me. Oh, she was so little, so fragile and vulnerable. And so alone. I was filled with sadness and shame, feeling her loneliness like a cold draft that filled the hallway, wishing I could turn back the pages of time."

– Chris O'Dell, Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved, p. 311

#maureen starkey #chris o'dell #the beatles #ringo starr #quotes about mo

[mostarkey]

Sources

Most of what is known about Maureen Starkey comes from the writings of others. Below is a collection of links to some books which contain a fair amount of information about her, written by people who actually knew her. All links lead to the Internet Archive, a free and safe to use online library.

1. Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved by Chris O'Dell

Chris O'Dell is an American woman who worked at Apple in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later went on to be George Harrison's personal assistant (and the inspiration for his song "Miss O'Dell"), and a tour manager for acts like Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, CSNY, Linda Ronstadt, and others. She has been called the "first" female tour manager, and was certainly among the first. She was a close friend with the Starkeys, and knew Mo from the end of the Beatles' career until Mo's death in 1994. Chris O'Dell also lent her voice to the "Hey Jude" chorus and was the Apple employee entrusted with the top-secret task of transporting Frank Sinatra's special recording of "The Lady is a Champ" for Maureen's 22nd birthday in 1968.

2. A Twist of Lennon and John by Cynthia Lennon

Cynthia Lennon, first wife of John Lennon, was the Beatle woman who knew Maureen Starkey the best. Though these sources (especially Twist) are not among the most reliable, due to Cynthia's occasional omissions and truth-bending (seemingly for her own protection), much of the information about Mo seems to be accurate since it can be corroborated by other sources. Cyn offers a fascinating account of her friend Maureen, and gives insight into the kind of person she was.

3. Magical Mystery Tours: My Life with the Beatles by Tony Bramwell

Tony Bramwell, like O'Dell, was an Apple employee; unlike O'Dell, however, Bramwell knew the Beatles from the beginning, just like Maureen, who he calls "Mitch." Tony remembers Mitch fondly as his friend from his teenage years, telling stories of watching the races from upper-story bedroom windows with her and his girlfriend, who was her best friend, and listening to her speak about her early concerns about her relationship with Ringo Starr, who they call "Richie." He also adds to the narrative the fact that Sinatra's "The Lady is a Champ," recorded as a gift for Maureen's 22nd birthday, was actually the very first Apple Records pressing, not "Hey Jude," as has been popularly reported in many Beatles biographies up until the publication of his book.

4. John, Paul, George, Ringo & Me: The Real Beatles Story by Tony Barrow

Tony Barrow was the Beatles' press officer from 1962 until 1968, in charge of maintaining the Beatles' media presence. In his book, he gives deeper background to many of the things previously reported about the Beatles, supplementing with his own background knowledge as someone who knew and worked with them. In particular, in regards to Maureen, he explains many of the things reported about her relationship with Ringo Starr, particularly about their hasty marriage, explaining that no one was surprised by their sudden marriage, and that the fact that she was pregnant at the time of the ceremony was not terribly uncommon in those days, though it wasn't something that could be openly discussed due to post-war English values.

5. The Beatles, Lennon, and Me: The Intimate Insider's Book, or John Lennon: In My Life, by Pete Shotton

These are essentially the same book; one is just a reprint. This book a joint biography and memoir, written by Peter "Pete" Shotton, who was lifelong friends with John Lennon. While this book does not give a lot of information about Maureen's life, or the things she said and did, it does offer a bit of deeper information about the role of the Beatles' women in their inner circle, and the women's relationships to one another and their men. It also paints a picture of Ringo and Mo as an almost inseparable duo, and corroborates the seemingly contradictory personas they maintained as both a traditional Northern couple and extravagant partiers.

6. The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies

Hunter Davies was the Beatles' official biographer. Though this book does primarily focus on the band, there is also a substantial amount of information about their home lives, their families, and their marriages. Davies sheds light on Mo's artistic side and the kinds of things she liked to do in her leisure times.

#maureen starkey #the beatles #books #links #chris o'dell #cynthia lennon #tony bramwell #tony barrow #pete shotton #hunter davies

[mostarkey]

"Paul was the first Beatle to appear [at the Beatles’ Rooftop Concert], followed by Ringo and Maureen. Maureen took the seat next to Ken [Mansfield] on the bench, huddling against the cold and keeping her eyes fixed on Ringo with barely a smile to acknowledge my presence. She was such an enigma to me because she always looked so tiny and vulnerable, yet she put up this protective wall that I felt I would never penetrate."

– Chris O'Dell, Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved, p. 76

#maureen starkey #ringo starr #paul mccartney #chris o'dell #the beatles #quotes about mo #get back #rooftop concert

[mostarkey]

"But now that I was with Leon [Russell], I reminded myself of poor Alice Ormsby-Gore, the waiflike girl-child sitting in the corner, not saying a word, not having a damn thing to do, just waiting for her man to finish his work so they could go home and be together. No wonder the Beatles’ wives so rarely came to the studio. It wasn’t that they were banned, I suddenly realized—they just didn’t want to sit around watching, waiting, and as Maureen [Starkey] would put it years later, acting like just another 'nodding appendage.'"

– Chris O'Dell, Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved, p. 112

#maureen starkey #chris o'dell #the beatles #ringo starr #quotes about mo

[mostarkey]

Maureen Starkey, 11 February 1987, High Court

Following her divorce from Ringo Starr, Maureen kept the name Starkey (his legal surname). She was always hopeful that one day she and Ringo could resume their relationship, and she liked the status afforded to her as a former Beatle wife.

Here, she is pictured outside the High Court, where she was suing the solicitors who had handled her divorce proceedings 12 years before for negligence. She would go on to lose this case.

This image was taken on what would have been Maureen and Ringo's 22nd wedding anniversary.

#maureen starkey #ringo starr #the beatles #1987

[mostarkey]

#maureen starkey #ringo starr #the beatles #henry grossman #1965