Over the weekend, Ringo Starr was reunited with a group of Beatles fans who appeared in a candid photo he took nearly 50 years ago, as the Fab Four were leaving JFK Airport in New York City to begin their first visit to the U.S. The pic, which shows six teenagers in a car excited to catching a glimpse of the famous band, is featured in Starr's new limited-edition coffee-table book, Photograph.
Speaking with ABC News Radio, Starr recalled snapping the picture that's been causing so much media buzz.
"I got lucky, really. I had the camera so I just clicked it, you know?" he said. "It was exciting. [The Beatles] were coming in for the first time in America — most exciting time of my life…and I just took that photo. Who knew now, [in] 2013, it would cause so much interest?"
The drummer had expressed interest in discovering the identities of the "kids in the car," as the fans have become known in the press. It turned out that five of the six — high-school students from New Jersey who skipped school to see the Beatles that day in 1964 — were still alive. Arrangements were made to have them meet Starr at the opening of a Las Vegas exhibit celebrating the publication of Photograph. The opening coincided with two concerts Ringo's All Starr Band had scheduled in Vegas.
According to USA Today, the fans got to attend Starr's sound check on Friday and then were reintroduced to the Beatles legend. They spent time chatting with Ringo and reminiscing about that day in February 1964, before getting their photo taken with the rocker. Starr then surprised the fans by giving each of them a signed copy of Photograph.
Starr told ABC News Radio there was a lot of luck involved in just finding the wide variety of rare images he took throughout his life that are featured in Photograph.
"That I had them was a mind-blower," he noted. "They're in drawers, they're in basements, they're in storage and that we found so much was just incredible."
Ringo added that he enjoyed poring over the pics while compiling the book because they helped bring back so many memories that he otherwise never would have thought about.
Meanwhile, Starr also commented briefly about the star-studded CBS TV special that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' historic first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
"I don't know what you can expect from that, because they're putting it together now," he admitted. "It'll be a lot of bands who love The Beatles, and a lot of good songs." The special, The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles, will air on February 9 at 8 p.m. ET. (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
