Mark Rivera was rehearsing the Beatles’ song “Birthday” with his band, but the bass player singing it kept coming in at the wrong time.

“I actually had to correct Paul twice,” Rivera says.

So the bass player told him Rivera should sing the song until he got his bass lines down, much to the surprise of Rivera and his bandmates. That’s because the bassist happened to be none other than the guy who wrote the song, Paul McCartney.

“So Paul McCartney was my bass player as I sang ‘Birthday,’” Rivera says with a laugh, noting the band he was working with was practicing for Ringo Starr’s birthday.

Rivera is a saxophone player, singer, guitarist and keyboardist who’s gotten used to playing with Beatles. He performed with John Lennon in the mid-1970s, and since 1995, the longtime Billy Joel and Foreigner band member has served as musical director for Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band.

It’s a job for which Rivera is well suited, given he also has worked with Elton John, Hall & Oates, Simon & Garfunkel, Joe Walsh and Sam & Dave. The latest installment of Ringo’s band includes Steve Lukather of Toto, Gregg Rolie of Santana and Journey, Richard Page of Mister Mister, Todd Rundgren, and Gregg Bissonette, who’s drummed for David Lee Roth and Joe Satriani.

It’s Rivera’s job to put together the classic rockers’ set list and get the band to work together as a team, he says. The All Starrs check their egos at the rehearsal room door, he says, noting everyone is encouraged to make musical suggestions.

“If you’re not involved in the process, once you make a comment, it’s perceived as a criticism,” he says. “If you’re involved in the process, it’s perceived as part of the solution.”

And Rivera has served up the solution to many a musician’s problems, including Peter Gabriel, who tapped him to do the horn arrangements for his 1986 No. 1 hit “Sledgehammer.”

“He said, ‘Just play the first thing that comes into your mind,’ and that’s what I played,” Rivera says with a chuckle, noting he had no idea how big the soul-rockin’ song would be. “I got lucky!”

He also hopes to get lucky with his debut album, “Common Bond,” set to be released this fall. The album’s songs include “Turn Me Loose,” an upbeat “Louie Louie” type soul rocker that showcases Rivera’s powerful voice, which more than rivals the pipes of a lot of better-known vocalists. The album features performances by Starr, Joel and Nils Lofgren, but Rivera says don’t expect to hear the “smooth jazz” type album so many saxophonists seem to put out.

“I’d rather have knitting needles put in my eyes than put out a smooth jazz record,” he says with a laugh.

Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band will play at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15 in McMenamins Edgefield, 2126 S.W. Halsey St., Troutdale. Tickets are $53, $93 in advance, $56, $98 day of show; all ages.

Info: 503-669-8610, mcmenamins.com.