TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Ringo Starr has released a new album of country songs called "Look Up." It's a collaboration with producer T Bone Burnett, who wrote many of the songs. And it features appearances by Alison Krauss and a new young bluegrass star, Billy Strings. Ringo recently taped a country special that will air on CBS in the spring, and in February, he'll make his debut at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Not bad for an 84-year-old ex-Beatle. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review of "Look Up."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOOK UP (FEAT. MOLLY TUTTLE)")
RINGO STARR: (Singing) It's a long way down and there's no bottom. You had the blues, but you forgot them. Look up. In the midnight hour, look up. Love is the higher power. Keep your eyes on the skies. Don't look down on the shadows town. Look up.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: Beatle fans have known of Ringo Starr's love of country music ever since he had The Fab Four cover the Buck Owens hit "Act Naturally" in 1965, singing a rare lead vocal. "Look Up" isn't even Ringo's first country album. That was way back in 1970. It was called "Beaucoup Of Blues" and was more self-conscious and lugubrious than the new one, which radiates the confidence and ease that an aging professional can bring to his material.
(SOUNDBITE OF "BREATHLESS (FEAT. BILLY STRINGS)")
STARR: (Singing) Every time I think about you, I never want to live without you. And every time you come around, I'm spellbound. I'm spellbound. Yeah. When I see you on the boulevard, my spirit flies and my heart beats hard with a love that's deathless and I'm breathless.
TUCKER: While producer T Bone Burnett has written most of the music here, he and Ringo have selected some clever new songs, including a couple by an old pro, Billy Swan. Swan will forever be known for one beautiful No. 1 hit, "I Can Help" from 1974. Swan's always charming songwriting yields this lovely interlude called "You Want Some."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOU WANT SOME")
STARR: (Singing) Well, I got love to give, baby, that's better than none. You want some? You want some? Deep down in my heart is where it all comes from. You want some? Oh, baby, you want some?
TUCKER: What makes Ringo such an effective country vocalist? Well, the rhythmic sense that made him a great rock drummer guides the way he phrases, giving a country lyric the air necessary to breathe life into the story it's telling. Freed from the demands of rock 'n' roll volume when singing with the Beatles, Ringo's crooning possesses the kind of relaxed authority that usually only a genius like Willie Nelson or Ray Charles can make sound so easy.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TIME ON MY HANDS")
STARR: (Singing) I used to have a true love, everything was fine, but now she's found a new love. She's no longer mine. I thought it was forever, but she had other plans. Now these arms are empty, and I've got time on my hands. I turned my collar up, kept my eyes turned down. I walked the empty streets, the blue side of town. When she was my baby, I was a busy man. But she slipped through my fingers, and I've got time on my hands.
TUCKER: Ringo spent a good chunk of his post-Beatle career fronting a series of what he calls his All-Starr bands with a rotating cast of rock stars. The 11 songs on "Look Up" feature less glitzy but no less strong support from Nashville vets like bassist Dennis Crouch, pedal steel player Paul Franklin and younger budding stars like guitarist singer Molly Tuttle and bluegrass guitar phenomenon Billy Strings. Strings' most recent album released late last year, "Highway Prayers," has brought him a larger audience than bluegrass usually attracts. The biggest guest star on this album is Alison Krauss, with whom Ringo hits an emotional peak on this collection called "Thankful."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THANKFUL")
STARR: (Singing) I needed a friend to help me along. I needed somebody here to help me sing my song. Now I have good days. I'm changing my ways, and it's a beautiful day here in California.
ALISON KRAUSS AND RINGO STARR: (Singing) And when you came along, my shelter from the storm, I put my life into your hands, and you made me a better man. And now I'm thankful for the love you've shown, your love for me I've never known. Thankful for the stars above, hoping for more peace and love.
TUCKER: The gratitude that Ringo expresses on "Thankful" is what has made him such a beloved figure. He always came across as the most modest Beatle, grateful he'd lucked into being a member of the most influential rock band in history. But his underrated talent, his quietly persistent hard work over the years, it's all contributed to the strength of this collection, in which Ringo Starr emphasizes the value of simple, straightforward sincerity.
GROSS: Ken Tucker reviewed Ringo Starr's new country album called "Look Up." Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, our guest will be Harvard professor and MacArthur Fellow Imani Perry. Her new book is called "Black In Blues: How A Color Tells The Story Of My People." Perry's last book, "South To America," won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2022. I hope you'll join us. Our cohost is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME BACK")
STARR: (Singing) When you go away, as night turns into day, I walk alone and feel you gone through streets of stone until the dawn.
(SOUNDBITE OF INCREDIBLE BONGO BAND'S "APACHE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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