What I'm Listening To: New Ringo Starr
I really like Ringo Starr's new record, "Y Not". It's an easy thing for a Beatles fan to say, but I didn't have that problem of wanting to really like the music for this sake, while having a nagging feeling that it isn't working for me.
Ringo Starr: Message of Peace, Love & Understanding
Yes, it's the closest thing to a Beatles reunion we're going to get in 2010. Paul McCartney joins Ringo on a couple of tunes. With Peace Dream, the Fab Four's rhythm section helps conjure John Lennon's legacy as a promoter for peace. Ringo sings about how we've got to "imagine" and "give peace a chance" -- he even states the man's name in a lyric.
Ringo gives a nod to another Beatle who's passed on, George Harrison, with some of the sounds in the title track Y Not. Starr gives a shout-out to teenage friends in The Other Side Of Liverpool.
Ringo has toured over the years with his All-Starr live band. And there are plenty of known names as guests on the record. A standout track is Walk With You, where McCartney shares on the chorus vocals. It's co-authored by Van Dyke Parks who has worked with Brian Wilson, and I really like the string arrangements Parks did with Joanna Newsom's "Y's".
Walk With You is a sweet song on a release that's beaming with positivity. In fact, "Y Not" is unrelenting in peace, love and understanding. It's truly a Ringo album. I have collected his work since the Beatles, and a tune like Can't Do It Wrong has a swing step that reminds me of those early 1970's albums.
It's 2010. It's Ringo. What you get is nice pop songcraft, an easy feel with a good message. I need that sometimes, and this record made my day.
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