Beatle Ringo's New RINGO RAMA Album

[Guest guest]

KOCH Entertainment Proudly Announces the March 25 Release Of Ringo

Starr's Ringo Rama

 

January 30, 2003 10:48am

 

>Another standout on Ringo Rama is a love song of a different

sort, "Never Without You" - a luminous, deeply felt tribute to

Starr's friend and former bandmate George Harrison. "It was my way -

with the help of Gary and Mark - to say how much George meant to me

and how much he will be remembered," he says softly. "Gary Nicholson

started that song, and Mark brought it over and we realized we could

tailor it. George was really on my mind then. I actually tried to get

George, John Lennon and Harry Nilsson all into that song. But it got

too busy, so I thought I'm just going to do it for George." To play

the moving guitar solo for "Never Without You," Starr reached out to

another guitar great and close friend of Harrison. "I called Eric

Clapton up and it was great to have him," Starr says. "Eric's on two

tracks on the album, but I really wanted him on this song because

George loved Eric and Eric loved George. I wanted Eric to come and

play that solo because I only wanted people on the track who George

knew and loved."

 

 

NEW YORK, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The following release was written

by David Wild for KOCH Entertainment:

 

Ultimately what's most impressive about Ringo Starr isn't what he's

been, but rather who he is. And with his wonderfully infectious and

intimate new album, Ringo Rama, Starr and his close-knit team of

collaborators have created a characteristically charming reflection

of who Ringo Starr is in the present tense. The man's great heart and

soul, his wit and wisdom all come through loud and clear throughout

Ringo Rama.

 

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020312/KOCHLOGO )

 

"There is a lot of me in these songs," Starr says. "As time goes on,

my personality is coming out more and more in the music. That's just

what happens. On this album my drumming is more dynamic, I'm more to

the front, I think I'm singing better and I believe we're writing

better songs. All the touring helps because then you're keeping your

chops up. I suppose I had a long time off and now I've had a long

time on."

 

A grown-up thrill ride, Ringo Rama lovingly and at times movingly

celebrates yesterday and today. This is a song cycle that

appropriately acknowledges the former Beatle's illustrious past but

at the same time powerfully insists on the paramount importance of

living and loving here and now. Ringo Rama would be a fine album

without any of its back story. Yet coming from Starr, it feels in a

sense like the album of a lifetime. Ever since cleaning up his own

act at the end of the Eighties, Starr started touring with his

assorted All-Starr bands and recording a series of impressive albums

that at long last made good on the tremendous promise of his early

post-Beatles efforts. "I had a great cycle with Ringo [1973] and

Goodnight Vienna [1974] and then it all went downhill," Starr

admits. "And then from the time of Time Takes Time [1992], I started

climbing back up the hill. And since then they're all just getting

better."

 

The rock steady drummer is excited to find himself in such a healthy

and extended musical groove. "I've said this over and over again, but

I love being in a band," Starr explains. "And I love hanging out with

a crowd of musicians. And that's what we are and that's what we do.

We write them and we record them."

 

For Ringo Rama, the "we" of which Starr speaks of is a fine group of

fellow travelers that includes producer Mark Hudson, and

writer/players like Gary Burr, Dean Grakal, Steve Dudas, Jim Cox and

Gary Nicholson. There are also some notable guest appearances from

old friends like Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Willie Nelson, Shawn

Colvin, Timothy B. Schmidt, Van Dyke Parks and Charlie Haden.

 

The album was recorded largely at Starr's English studio, with a few

tracks cut at producer Hudson's tiny studio in Los Angeles. "I refuse

to go into a so-called 'real,' stuffy studio anymore," Starr says. "I

like to see us all sweat together and feel the music together." Starr

credits producer Hudson with helping to create an ideal atmosphere to

work and play. "Mainly we have a lot of laughs," he explains. "It's a

lot of fun working together. And we can shout at each other without

us getting really hurt and leaving the room. Sometimes it gets a bit

tense in the studio, but Mark brings a lot of love, a lot of musical

talent and a lot of diplomacy within the group in terms of holding us

together. We have a team and we hang out. And it just matters how

many of us are in the room how many write the song. It's whatever

comes up at that minute. It's not all so pre-planned."

 

The spontaneous, positive spirit at the heart of Starr's work since

his days with the Beatles is very much in evidence on Ringo Rama,

right from the aggressively peaceful first track "Eye To Eye" with

its opening allusions to Starr's own first solo smash, 1971's "It

Don't Come Easy." Like several other tracks on the album, "Eye To

Eye" represents an impassioned cry for peace and love in tense, even

traumatic times. "To me 'Eye To Eye' sounds like there's a war going

on and we're trying to make it a war of love," Starr offers. "I know

it's easy to say, but we're trying our best to see eye to eye because

then the world would be a better place. With me, the mission all the

time is the same - peace and love and four guys sitting around a room

writing songs of love."

 

Another standout on Ringo Rama is a love song of a different

sort, "Never Without You" - a luminous, deeply felt tribute to

Starr's friend and former bandmate George Harrison. "It was my way -

with the help of Gary and Mark - to say how much George meant to me

and how much he will be remembered," he says softly. "Gary Nicholson

started that song, and Mark brought it over and we realized we could

tailor it. George was really on my mind then. I actually tried to get

George, John Lennon and Harry Nilsson all into that song. But it got

too busy, so I thought I'm just going to do it for George." To play

the moving guitar solo for "Never Without You," Starr reached out to

another guitar great and close friend of Harrison. "I called Eric

Clapton up and it was great to have him," Starr says. "Eric's on two

tracks on the album, but I really wanted him on this song because

George loved Eric and Eric loved George. I wanted Eric to come and

play that solo because I only wanted people on the track who George

knew and loved."

 

Another major guitar player, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame,

appears on the wryly philosophical tune "I Think Therefore I Rock &

Roll" and "Missouri Loves Company." For the record, Starr points out

that both of these legendary players were not only inspired but also

convenient. "We had a funny joke over here," Starr recalls from his

home in England, "People would ask, 'So who's on the record?' And

we'd say, 'Just a couple of local guys. You know, like Eric Clapton

and Dave Gilmour.' Because they do both live just around the corner."

 

Certain Ringo Rama songs - like "English Garden" and "Elizabeth

Reigns" - reflect the album's British origins. "Elizabeth Reigns" was

because when we were recording here the Queen's Jubilee was going on,

and there was this big party where Paul played and lots of other

bands too. And it was so in your face. And our American 'cousins' who

were staying with me at the time - namely everyone in the band on the

record - were so excited about it all. Dean Grakal started the song.

And because I thought they've had their day in all honesty myself, I

had to put in that verse, 'Six hundred servants/Use her

detergent/Scrubbing the Palace floor.' Elizabeth was the last of the

great ones, and like the song says, 'we don't really need a king.'"

Even closer to home is "English Garden," which references Ringo's

beloved wife Barbara and even the family dog Buster.

 

As befits an album created by a bunch of Brits and Americans, Ringo

Rama also features songs with a decidedly American feel. A lifelong

country music lover - witness his classic cover with the Beatles of

Buck Owns "Act Naturally" and his 1970 Beaucoup of Blues album -

Starr shines on the country-tinged "Write One For Me" which features

a strong vocal assist from the one and only Willie Nelson. "That one

was done long-distance because I was in England and Willie was

touring in America," Starr explains. "But I've met Willie time and

time again, and he's a beautiful human being. He's a gentleman who's

open to everything - an incredible man."

 

The hilarious and lovely "Missouri Loves Company" is an excellent,

pun-filled road trip of a pop song. "We love the double entendre of

the thing," Starr says with a warm laugh. "For me I wanted it to be a

kind of travelogue around America. America is still very romantic to

me. Route 66 is very romantic to me too. That's sort of where I came

into this thing with Chuck Berry." And the King of Rock & Roll

himself is name checked in "Memphis in Your Mind."

 

"I Think Therefore I Rock & Roll" is another stirring testament to

the importance of music in Starr's life. "It's about rock & roll, the

blues, just music really," Starr explains. "I love music. I still

listen to it. I don't actually listen to that much of what's going

on, though you can't doubt Coldplay. I love bands, but I'm not into

all these bands from reality shows put together on TV. They haven't

put in the time and the energy for it. That stuff is all a bit

instant and it sounds a bit instant. In fact, you blink and you've

missed them. I do love Eminem. I love that groove he always has and

his writing has so much humor"

 

Finally, just between friends, there's a bonus track at the end of

Ringo Rama. "We used to have quite a bit of those little tags on the

Beatles albums," Starr remembers. "We'd throw a little something in.

So I suppose it's part of that." This time around, Starr's parting

shot of love and peace is the short but sweet "I Really Love Her,"

which he recorded all on his own. "Just one time in my career, I

wanted to do it all," he says, laughing. "I'm tired of all my other

mates doing everything. So I thought, 'Okay, I'm going to do it all.'

So that was a lot of fun for me."

 

The inspired fun of Ringo Rama is likely to spread this summer when

Starr takes the latest set of All-Starrs out on the road. "We're

going live again this year," Starr says. "And I promised our promoter

David Fishof that I'll play three new songs. So get ready."