This 1964 One-Hit Wonder Predated The Beatles, but the Fab Four Are Why It Remained Popular

Lorne Greene of Bonanza and Battlestar Galactica fame might not have had The Beatles on his mind when he released his 1964 one-hit wonder, “Ringo”. But the craze surrounding the Fab Four certainly helped bolster the success of Greene’s track, nonetheless.

The actor and singer released his country ballad about an outlaw named Ringo in October 1964, six months after The Beatles made their American television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. Greene’s song followed a typical Western ballad format, recounting the tale of a man saving Ringo’s life after someone shot him in the desert. The man nursed him back to life, and the two eventually fell at odds after the savior became a lawman and Ringo an outlaw.

Although the song was written by Don Robertson and Hal Blair, it could have just as easily been written by the likes of Marty Robbins or Johnny Cash. “Ringo” was a commercial success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 by December 1964.

And indeed, this feat was likely more possible by everyone’s favorite mop-top, goofy drummer from Liverpool.

The Beatles Inadvertently Helped Boost the Popularity of “Ringo”

By the time “Ringo” by Lorne Greene topped the charts in December 1964, The Beatles were well on their way to becoming the biggest rock band in the world. For some teenage fans, they already were. Greene’s target audience skewed older, catering to fans of Bonanza and Western country music. Still, there were countless young listeners who bought Greene’s record specifically because they thought it had some sort of affiliation with Ringo Starr.

In reality, Greene said the song was based on Johnny Ringo. This Ringo was an actual Old West outlaw who was active in Arizona Territory in the late 1800s. He was out west at the same time as other notable gunfighters, like Doc Holliday, with whom Ringo had an infamous confrontation in 1882. On July 14 of that year, a teamster hauling wood found Ringo’s body in West Turkey Creek Valley. The outlaw had a gunshot wound to the head that coroners determined to be a suicide, though rumors of Ringo meeting his end by another gunman swirled following the news of his death.

The story of Johnny Ringo couldn’t be more different than Ringo Starr. Still, the timing of Greene’s single and The Beatles’ ascending star inevitably conflated the two in many people’s minds. Considering Greene’s “Ringo” topped the charts in the States, his native Canada, and New Zealand, one could hardly call that accidental combination a bad thing.

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