First bands: 1957–1961

See also: Rory Storm

Soon after Trafford piqued Starkey's interest in skiffle, the two began rehearsing songs in the manufacturing plant's cellar during their lunch breaks. Trafford recalled: "I played a guitar, and [Ritchie] just made a noise on a box ... Sometimes, he just slapped a biscuit tin with some keys, or banged on the backs of chairs."^[31] The pair were joined by Starkey's neighbour and co-worker, the guitarist Eddie Miles, forming the Eddie Miles Band, later renamed Eddie Clayton and the Clayton Squares after a Liverpool landmark.^[32] The band performed popular skiffle songs such as "Rock Island Line" and "Walking Cane", with Starkey raking a thimble across a washboard, creating primitive, driving rhythms.^[33] Starkey enjoyed dancing as his parents had years earlier, and he and Trafford briefly took dance lessons at two schools. Though the lessons were short-lived, they provided Starkey and Trafford with an introduction that allowed them to dance competently while enjoying nights out on the town.^[33]

On Christmas Day 1957, Graves gave Starkey a second-hand drum kit consisting of a snare drum, bass drum and a makeshift cymbal fashioned from an old rubbish bin lid. Although basic and crude, the kit facilitated his progression as a musician while increasing the commercial potential of the Eddie Clayton band, who went on to book several prestigious local gigs before the skiffle craze faded in early 1958 as American rock and roll became popular in the UK.^[34]

In November 1959, Starkey joined Al Caldwell's Texans, a skiffle group who were looking for someone with a proper drum kit so that the group could transition from one of Liverpool's best-known skiffle acts to a full-fledged rock and roll band.^{[35][nb 2]} They had begun playing local clubs as the Raging Texans, then Jet Storm and the Raging Texans before settling on Rory Storm and the Hurricanes soon before recruiting Starkey.^[37] About this time he adopted the stage name Ringo Starr; derived from the rings he wore and also because it implied a country western influence. His drum solos were billed as Starr Time.^[38]

By early 1960 the Hurricanes had become one of Liverpool's leading bands.^[39] In May, they were offered a three-month residency at a Butlins holiday camp in Wales.^[40] Although initially reluctant to accept the residency and end his five-year machinist apprenticeship that he had begun four years earlier, Starr eventually agreed to the arrangement.^[41] The Butlins gig led to other opportunities for the band, including an unpleasant tour of US Air Forcebases in France about which Starr commented: "The French don't like the British; at least I didn't like them."^[42] The Hurricanes became so successful that when initially offered a highly coveted residency in Hamburg, they turned it down due to their prior commitment with Butlins.^[43] They eventually accepted, joining the Beatles at Bruno Koschmider's Kaiserkeller on 1 October 1960, where Starr first met the band.^[44] Storm's Hurricanes were given top-billing over the Beatles, who also received less pay.^[45] Starr performed with the Beatles during a few stand-in engagements while in Hamburg. On 15 October 1960, he drummed with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, recording with them for the first time while backing Hurricanes singer Lu Walters on the George Gershwin aria "Summertime".^{[46][nb 3]} During Starr's first stay in Hamburg he also met Tony Sheridan, who valued his drumming abilities to the point of asking Starr to leave the Hurricanes and join his band.^[48]