Move over, Beyoncé. Another musical giant has gone country. Ringo Starr is the latest artist to celebrate the genre … but when it comes to country music, this ain’t Ringo’s first rodeo.
Ringo Starr (singing “Thankful”): “And now I’m, thankful for the love you’ve shown, your love for me, I’ve never known.”
That’s just a little taste of what you’ll hear on “Look Up,” the new country release from Ringo Starr. The album came about by accident, after he ran into songwriter T-Bone Burnett.
Ringo Starr: “And I said, ‘Have you got any songs?’ He says, ‘Yeah, I got nine,’ so I thought, ‘Would you want to produce it for me?’ and he said, ‘Sure.'”
So T-Bone took the tunes down to Nashville and got them ready for Ringo back in L.A.
Ringo Starr: “And I did the drums, and sang it here, but it just came about.”
“Look Up” is filled with songs he can relate to.
Ringo Starr: “You know, you can put a lot of emotion in a country song.”
Ringo’s love of country was on display back when he was part of a band you may have heard of.
Ringo Starr: “With The Beatles of course, they’d give me one track a record, and some of them were country-ish.”
One of his big numbers in the Fab Four was “Act Naturally.”
Ringo Starr (singing “Act Naturally”): “We’ll make a film about a man that’s sad and lonely, and all I gotta do is, act naturally.”
There’s more. His second solo album was 1970’s totally country “Beaucoups of Blues.”
Ringo Starr (singing “Beaucoups of Blues”): “I see me a man, who’s lonely, wants only to lose, beaucoups of blues.”
“Look Up” wasn’t the former Beatle’s first choice for an album title.
Ringo Starr: “Once we were laughing, ‘what are you gonna call the album?’ I thought ‘B On Say.'”
[Ringo chuckles.]
Ringo Starr: “Nobody laughed.”
Note to Beyoncé and everyone else: “Look Up” drops next month.
And you can catch Ringo & His All-Starr Band at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood on June 20.
Ringo Starr: “Ringo and the All-Starrs gives me a great opportunity to play behind all those other guys and then to front it myself.”
For more information, or to purchase tickets to see Ringo & His All-Starr Band, click here.
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