And in a marriage you can`t TRY and be married. You`re married or you`re not married... as far as I`m concerned.

So we went in and we did the album in twelve hours... because we did everything we`d been doing on the road for the last year or so, you know.

We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter.

So this is America. They must be out of their minds.

That`s all drugs and alcohol do, they cut off your emotions in the end.

The second side of Abbey Road is my favorite.

Well I`m getting happier all the time, which is very nice.

I don`t like talking. It`s how I`m built. Some people gab all day and some play it smogo. I don`t mind talking or smiling, it`s just I don`t do it very much. I haven`t got a smiling face or a talking mouth.

That`s when we decided to stop in `66. Everyone thought we toured for years, you know, but we didn`t. I joined in `62, and we`d finished touring in `66 to go into the studio where we could hear each other... and create any fantasy that came out of anybody`s brain.

I mean, I was born the day war broke out, but I don`t remember all the bombs though they did actually break up Liverpool, you know. I remember when I was a little older, there was big gaps in all the streets where houses used to be. We used to play over them.

I like Beethoven, especially the poems.

I mean, women are very important to me. I don`t know, they just drive me crazy.

I`m not sleeping with all the women I appear with.

[about his early drumming years with The Beatles] I started to be an engineer but I banged me thumb on the first day. I became a drummer because it was the only thing I could do. But whenever I hear another drummer I know I`m no good. [John Lennon] taught me the song I sing. I can only play on the off beat because John can`t keep up on the rhythm guitar. I`m no good on the technical things but I`m good with all the motions, swinging my head, like. That`s because I love to dance but you can`t do that on the drums. I figure we`re good for another four years. I don`t want to invest me money in stocks or anything. I just want to have it and draw 20 or 30 quid a week. The main thing is, I don`t ever want to go back to work.

And I came back and it was great, `cuz George had set up all these flowers all over the studio saying welcome home. So then we got it together again. I always felt it was better on the White one for me. We were more like a band, you know.

And so we went away to play, and we`d come back to Liverpool. And while we were doing this - `cuz we did it for two years. And then we`d go to Germany, and that`s where I met the Beatles.

I couldn`t put my finger on one reason why we broke up. It was time, and we were spreading out. They were spreading out more than I was. I would`ve stayed with the band.

People in Liverpool don`t move very far, you know.

And the White Album is important to me for different reasons. One - I had left the band on the White Album.

Everything government touches turns to crap.

We`ve got the children so we have to deal with each other because we have to deal with children`s problems, you know, and our own problems. But some days it`s fine, and then some days we just are at each other`s throat.

George was getting alot of independence for himself in those days. He was writing more, and wanted things to go his way - where, when we first started things basically went John and Paul`s way. You know, `cuz they were the writers.

Gene Autry was the most. It may sound like a joke - Go and have a look in my bedroom, It`s covered with Gene Autry posters. He was my first musical influence.

America: It`s like Britain, only with buttons.

about his early drumming years with The Beatles] I started to be an engineer but I banged me thumb on the first day. I became a drummer because it was the only thing I could do. But whenever I hear another drummer I know I`m no good. [John Lennon] taught me the song I sing. I can only play on the off beat because John can`t keep up on the rhythm guitar. I`m no good on the technical things but I`m good with all the motions, swinging my head, like. That`s because I love to dance but you can`t do that on the drums. I figure we`re good for another four years. I don`t want to invest me money in stocks or anything. I just want to have it and draw 20 or 30 quid a week. The main thing is, I don`t ever want to go back to work.

[on meeting Elvis Presley in 1965] The saddest part is that, years and years later, we found out that he tried to have us banished from America, because he was very big with the FBI. That`s very sad to me, that he felt so threatened that he thought, like a lot of people, that we were bad for American youth. This is Mr. Hips, the man, and he felt we were a danger. I think that the danger was mainly to him and his career.

I`d like to end up sort of unforgettable.

don`t like talking. It`s how I`m built. Some people gab all day and some play it smogo. I don`t mind talking or smiling, it`s just I don`t do it very much. I haven`t got a smiling face or a talking mouth.

[on is marriage to Maureen Cox] She`s just sort of ordinary, she`s from Liverpool. And the genuine fans wrote in saying, you know, "If you are going with her, good luck and I hope you`re happy".

I remember the day Zak was born. It was the first time I`d felt totally useless. There was Maureen having our baby. She kept on crying "Help!" and I kept asking "How?"

I`ve never been able to sit round on my own and play drums, practice in the back room, never been able to. I`ve always played with other musicians. It`s how I play, there`s no joy for me in playing on my own, bashing away. I need a bass, a piano, guitar, whatever, and then I can play.

I think the most exciting thing is that you expect people our age to know the music, but actually a lot of kids know the music, and if anything is left, we have left really good music, and that`s the important part, not the mop-tops or whatever.