Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is touring Canada and the U.S. this summer with his All Starr Band. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

In 1967, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote With a Little Help from My Friends for drummer Ringo Starr to sing on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Although he performed it in the guise of Pepper compere "Billy Shears," the track reinforced Starr's status as the most relatable member of the Fab Four. Here was a guy with insecurities like the rest of us: "What would you think if I sang out of tune / Would you stand up and walk out on me? / Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song / And I'll try not to sing out of key."

When the Beatles broke up in 1970, no one doubted that John, Paul and George would have viable solo careers. But Ringo? While he had just spent eight years keeping time in the biggest band ever, he possessed a distinctly limited vocal range. His songwriting skills – as evidenced, for example, on the nautical-themed Octopus's Garden – hadn't inspired much confidence that he could thrive alone. Yes, he would need some help from his friends.

And that's precisely what happened. With writing and production assistance from George Harrison, Starr notched a couple of sizable hits early on with It Don't Come Easy (1971) and Back Off Boogaloo (1972). For the album Ringo (1973), Starr enlisted a stellar lineup of guest musicians, many of whom contributed original songs on which he sang lead vocal. John, Paul and George, as well as Robbie Robertson, Marc Bolan (T. Rex), Harry Nilsson and Billy Preston, appear on the LP, which spawned the chart successes Photograph, Oh My My and You're Sixteen (which features a McCartney kazoo solo). All of a sudden, Ringo was outselling his former bandmates with his own brand of radio-friendly pop-rock.

Nearly 40 years later, Ringo is still playing the role of host and lead singer at a musical party – getting by with a little help from his friends has become a full-on career strategy. On the cusp of 70 (his birthday is July 7), he's back on the road with his All Starr Band, the rotating cast of supporting players he's been trotting out for summer tours every two or three years since 1989.

"It came about by accident, actually," Starr jauntily explains during a recent phone interview from Niagara Falls, Ont., the tour's launch point.

"A guy came to see me because Pepsi had gone to see him about putting a Ringo tour together. I'd never even thought about it. We talked about it and I thought that'd be cool, but I didn't have a band. And I just called Dr. John, Joe Walsh and Levon Helm to say, 'Look, I've been offered a tour for the summer, do you want to come with me?'

(Hip-O Records/Universal Music)

"I thought this would be a great way for me to be down in front on With a Little Help from My Friends, Yellow Submarine, whenever I'm just singing – and then to play drums with all these great players when they do their songs. So it's a win-win situation for me. It came about by accident, but thank God it did."

Watching an All Starr Band show is similar to tuning in to one of those retro rock stations – a few Beatles tunes interspersed with some other hits from an era when people actually listened to music on AM radio. This summer, Starr is joined by, among others, 1970s arena rock staples Edgar Winter (Free Ride), Gary Wright (Dream Weaver) and Rick Derringer (Rock and Roll, Hoochie-Koo).

Clearly, Ringo doesn't have to tour – his revenue streams from Cirque du Soleil's LOVE and The Beatles: Rock Band alone would keep him comfortable into his rock and roll dotage. But he craves musical companionship. "I've got the best phone book in the world, and I can just call people and say, 'I'm making a record, do you want to come down and play on it with me?' or 'I'm going on tour, would you like to be part of it?' so that's how it works. I just love to be part of a band."

Although he's no longer the chart force that he was in the mid-'70s, Starr still releases albums with high-profile cameos. His latest, Y Not, was released earlier this year, and features a collaboration with McCartney on a poignant track called Walk with You, about a long-term friendship. The album also contains a song called The Other Side of Liverpool.

Starr, second from left, celebrates the completion of 1967's Sgt. Pepper album with fellow Beatles Paul McCartney (left), John Lennon (centre) and George Harrison. (John Pratt/Keystone/Getty Images)

"It's autobiographical. Two years ago, I had the album Liverpool 8. I'm looking at my roots, really, from [working at a Liverpool] factory to [playing at New York's] Shea Stadium. I thought, Well, I'm going to get a bit real on Y Not, and I had the idea for this song: 'The other side of Liverpool is cold and damp / Only way out of there: drums, guitar and amp.' As musicians, that's how we'd think."

The Other Side of Liverpool is a bit darker than the standard Ringo fare, mentioning his father's departure from the family home when Starr was just three years old. He's been approached many times to write a memoir, but prefers to do it in musical form. "I thought, well, this is a really cool idea because I can make it very personal. I can say things on this track that only relate to me and my life, and that's my autobiography."

But because it's Ringo, that moptop sense of humour quickly reappears: "If I make another record, I'll do The Sunny Side of Liverpool."

Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band play Windsor, Ont., on July 23 and Calgary on July 28.

Greig Dymond writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.