Ringo Starr drums up support for LI gig

"I'm fifth on Rolling Stone's list of [best] drummers of all time," he says, laughing. "I'm still trying to work my way up."

For the 13th edition of Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, he's added Steve Lukather of Toto and Greg Rolie, who has worked with Santana and Journey, to a band that already includes the great Todd Rundgren ("Who doesn't want to bang the drum all day?" asks Starr); Mr. Mister singer Richard Page; Gregg Bissonette, best known for his work with Santana; and musical director Mark Rivera from Billy Joel's band.

"We want to make sure it'll be a great show for the people who buy the tickets -- that they'll see a great cross-section of music," says Starr, calling before the tour opener in Niagara Falls last week. "I've been saying we're the best 1-800 live band there is."

It's hard work putting it together. The rehearsals are eight hours a day of torture so we can have two hours of incredible fun when we play. We all have to learn new songs. I used to think, "Well, I hope it works." But now I've done it often enough, and it's worked every time, so now I feel it will work.

I'll be playing two -- "Wings," which is the promotion track, and "Anthem," because I'm all about peace and love. But mainly I'll be doing the music I'm recognized for -- "Help," "A Hard Day's Night," "Yellow Submarine."

I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy playing wherever they put me. Jones Beach has a special aura to it, you know? I like the venue. It's always great atmosphere. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm not planning a big celebration. I'm gonna relax.