MAUREEN COX

 

Mary Cox was born August 4, 1946 in Liverpool, England. She was a hairdresser by the time she was 16 years old and, like many teenagers in Liverpool, was interested in the New Merseybeat sound. She was particularly interested in one band, The Beatles, who performed regularly at the Cavern Club, where Maureen frequented often. The Beatles had just recently got a new drummer, Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr), from rival group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. She was also a fan of the Hurricanes and dated the guitarist, Johnny Guitar. One day Maureen spotted Ringo on the street as he was getting out of his car and chased after him. She was able to get Starr's autograph and wrote his licence number on the back of her hairdressing exercise book so that he could memorise it for further use (Maureen was still able to remember the exact number up to her last days).

"(The girls) used to hang around the cavern all day long, just on the off chance of seeing them. they'd come out of the lunchtime session and just stand outside all afternoon, queuing up for the evening. Ritchie and I once went past at midnight and they were already queuing up for the next day. the object was to get as near the front row as possible so that they could see the Beatles, and be seen. i never joined the queue till about two or three hours before the Cavern opened. it frightned me. There would be fights and rows among the girls. When the doors opened the first ones would tear in, knocking each other over. they'd keep their rollers in and jeans on for the first groups. then when it got near the time for the Beatles to come on, if there was a gang of four, say, they would go off in turns to the lavatory with their little cases to get changed and made up. So when the Beatles came on they'd look smashing, as if they'd just arrived. i suppose it was partly sex and partly the music. that was the attraction. they were abviously dying to be noticed and get to know one of them... it was terrible, the mad screams when they came on..."

Maureen's life was at stake once some of the fans figured out she was dating Ringo. She ended up having to quit her beloved hairdressing at Ashley Du Pre's because fans found out where she worked and used to threaten her whilst she was doing their hair. She was almost killed once and regularly beaten up by the girls. "The other girls were not friendly at all. they wanted to stab me in the back".

Maureen and Ringo's relationship would end for some time, since the Beatles were about to become famous. maureen visited Ringo when his tonsils were taken out and after that they started dating again. At this point, maureen wasn't well known in the press. That was until they went on holiday with Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, Jane Asher. maureen, afraid her parents would object, went out on this holiday without her parents knowing, but when her name was all over the British tabloids, they knew where she was.

As the Beatles' fame grew, the fan mail started pouring in for them. As stated previously, Ringo fans hated Maureen. Despite that fact, Maureen answered many of Ringo's fan mail. Parents of the young letter writers would write back to Maureen saying how nice she was to write back. She said: " I like answering the letters. I've been doing it for five years now. I get some lovely replies back from the parents".

Maureen soon got pregnant, and therefore, the right thing to do was to marry Ringo. The 18-year-old married Ringo Starr on Febryary 11, 1965 at Caxton Hall, Westminster. John, Cynthia, George and Brian Epstein (best man) were in attendance, although John and George arrived late and drunk. They honeymooned in Austria, where the Beatles were filming "Help!".

Their first child, Zak, was born on September 13, 1965. Two more children would be born, Jason on August 19, 1967, at the height of Sgt. Pepper's and Lee on November 17, 1970. During this time, Maureen was still a part of Ringo's life, even though their marriage was strained. She sang backup vocals on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and was one of two Beatles wives (the other being Yoko Ono) at the roof top concert in 1969. Funnyly, at the end of the "Get Back" performance one can hear Paul thanking Maureen's great enthusiasm by saying "Thanks Mo". Ringo and Maureen's marriage survived only five years after the Beatles break up in 1970. Ringo's infidelities were increasing even more, his alcholism becoming more of a problem. To make matters worse, when Starrs invited George and Pattie Harrison over for dinner one evening, George said how much he loved Maureen. The two of them are reported to have had a brief affair, which was supposedly a factor in the end of Harrison's marriage. Yet with all of this, Maureen didn't want a divorce. However, Ringo persisted on a divorce, which Maureen unwillingly accepted. On July 17, 1975, the divorce was finalized on the grounds of Ringo's affair with an American model, Nancy Andrews.

"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", where she joined the backup vocals with Yoko. And she is also heard enthusiastically screaming at the end of the top roof concert.