Ringo Starr - Liverpool 8
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Free Music Notes for Liverpool 8
Free Music Review: A-MA-ZING
Hit: 5 Stars
Liverpool 8 is one of the best cd's Ringo has put out. All of his songs have meaning and they truly are from the soul.Free Music Review: Love, Ringo
Hit: 4 Stars
Thirty five years ago, when Beatlemania was still fresh in the memories of record buyers, Ringo Starr topped the charts with "You're Sixteen," "Photograph" and "Oh My My" from an album simply entitled Ringo. He had a couple of more hits after that, but Ringo was indisputably the high point of the Fab Four drummer's solo career. In the last couple of decades, he's hit the road every so often to cheering crowds with his "All-Starr Band" but his occasional recordings have gone virtually unnoticed.
His just released CD, Liverpool 8, has been getting quite a bit of press however, and Capitol Records has put a big push behind it as "his first new album with Capitol/EMI since 1974." From the opening notes, it's obvious that Starr and "re-producer" Dave Stewart decided to aim backwards, painting the tunes with the same thick gloss that characterized his most popular `70s work. While the fat production overwhelms the simple, unpretentious material at times, it may well provide enough baby boomer familiarity to catch the ears of Ringo's natural constituency.
The title track kicks things off autobiographically, with aural references to Beatles studio tricks, symphonic orchestration and memories expressed straightforwardly: "In the USA, when we played Shea/We were number one, man it was fun/When I look back, it sure was cool/For those four boys from Liverpool." No, it's not great poetry, but when a "Born in the USA" guitar lick kicks in beneath a stadium full of fans shouting "Liverpool," it's also irresistible.
There's more than a touch of old-timeyness on "Harry's Song," evoking the music of his old buddy Harry Nilsson; "Pasodobles" gives a goofy nod to the music of Spain; "R U Ready" is a semi-gospel song that channels the singer's voice through a bullhorn over a country beat and plucked mandolin.
The lyrics never rise much above "Feel like I'm going under/my heart it beats like thunder/for love, for love, for love" and the melodies are rudimentary, but working within his vocal and compositional limitations has always been part of Ringo's charm. He is, after all, a nice guy--the easygoing, egoless Beatle who always seemed to enjoy just being along for the ride. Plus, how many albums do you come across these days where "love" appears in virtually every song?
Starr may have locked in to the tenor of the times with optimistic little pop songs like "Give It a Try," "If It's Love That You Want" and "Love Is." In this crucial election year, you could say he's the Barack Obama of rock: "You've got to love every breath you breathe/look at the sky and believe/Smile a little more if life goes by, with love in your eyes/Just give it a try."
Liverpool 8 is an unrepentant message of hope from the guy who laid down the backbeat for a generation that believed "All You Need is Love." It is a literal LOVE-fest. And there's nothing wrong with that.
originally published in Port Folio Weekly, 2/19/08
copyright © 2008 Jim Newsom/Port Folio Weekly. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Free Music Review: Ringo's latest album might just grow on you.
Hit: 4 Stars
Indeed, it is very rare these days for me to purchase an album of brand new material. I was always a Top 40 kind of guy and as such generally limit my purchases to the best available anthology of solo artists and groups from the 1940's through the 1980's. Thus, I really did surprise myself when I picked up a copy of Ringo Starr's latest release "Liverpool 8". At first I was not all that impressed. But after having played this disc four or five times I am really starting to enjoy it.
The album kicks off with the title track which is an autobiographical piece about Ringo's relationship with his hometown of Liverpool. "Liverpool 8" is one of only two tunes on the album that utilizes strings and I thought that the arrangement was superb. If you are a big fan of country music I suspect you might recognize the riffs in "Think About You" as being very similiar to the ones you would have heard in the Forrester Sisters 1991 smash "Men". Now way back in the day I seemed to have a knack for predicting what might become a hit record. My ears tell me that "Give It A Try" would have been a big pop hit back in Ringo's heyday in the 1970's. Perhaps my very favorite tune on "Liverpool 8" is a pleasant little ditty called "Harry's Song". I love the way Ringo chose to conclude this song by simply whistling for the final 45 seconds or so. Very nice! Furthermore, I can't seem to get this tune out of my head! Without a doubt, the most intriguing piece on this album is a song called "Pasodobles". Now "Pasodobles" is a Spanish term referring to the type of music played at bullfights when the bullfighters are introduced. The term also refers to a traditional Spanish ballroom dance much like the tango I suspect. Although I still have not quite figured out just what this haunting tune is all about I thought that the guitar work by Gary Burr on acoustic and most notably Steve Dudas on classical guitar was quite exceptional. See if you agree. Meanwhile, I also thoroughly enjoyed a pair of tunes towards the end of the album "If It's Love That You Want" and "Love Is". Finally, if you are a fan the mandolin you will likely love the albums final tune "R U Ready". As another reviewer aptly noted this raucus closing number might just remind you of a hoedown.
I must confess that I was quite surprised to discover that Ringo wrote all 12 of the tunes on "Liverpool 8". I had no idea that at this stage of his career he was still such a capable songwriter. As I indicated earlier "Liverpool 8" has really grown on me during the past week. It is considerably better than I expected. Ringo does a workmanlike job on the vocals and drums while the backup band led by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame is simply outstanding throughout. So as the song says "Give It A Try". Recommended.
Free Music Review: Sweetly nostalgic.
Hit: 4 Stars
"Liverpool 8" is the brand new album from legendary artist Ringo Starr, his first with EMI since the early 70s.
The CD features 12 new tracks, written and produced by Ringo Starr and Dave Stewart, recorded in England and in California, and refers to the section of the city and to the postal district of Liverpool 8, where Starr grew up.
It's also the title of the album's upbeat, vibrant lead track that the fab four's drummer recorded to help celebrate it being the European Capital of Culture 2008.
It is possibly the best thing he's done since Goodnight Vienna , and contains some of his best solo work in recent memory.
This may be due to the album's odd gestation. Begun with long-term Ringo cohort Mark Hudson, it almost derailed when Starr allegedly sacked Hudson for dropping out of a tour. Then Hudson was replaced by the sane man's Jeff Lynne, Dave Stewart, which certainly explains the album's increased pop sheen and may well be a lot to do with the fact that "Liverpool 8" sounds like it was made if not in, then at least near, the 21st century.
With former Eurythmic Dave Stewart lending his production skills, the album has melodic flair, rock punch and lots of lovingly crafted retro touches to amuse Beatles completists.
Every song has melody, wit and the galumphing charm that has marked Starr's best work. And, like the best work of anyone with a long pedigree, it often sounds like a compilation album from a parallel universe.
It's hard to say who would be crying out for a new Ringo Starr album these days, but anyone who buys records based on the abilities rather than the age of the artist should feel no shame owning "Liverpool 8".
As written above, the CD contains some of his best solo work in recent memory.
Well, he'll never be compared favourably to his former bandmates, but songs such as "Now That She's Gone Away" and "Tuff Love" are charming nonetheless.
"Liverpool 8", the title track, has been billed as something as a comeback. Its sentimental brooding on why Starr had to leave his beloved Liverpool is as heart-warming as watching a puppy with a squeaky toy, and at the very least, it'll ring true for Liverpudlians as they prepare for the Liverpool Capital Of Culture year.
The problem is that it is hard to imagine anyone else who would be interested.
My favourite tracks are: "Harry's Song", "Tuff Love", "Now That She's Gone Away" and "Liverpool 8".
Free Music Review: Features 2nd part of Ringo's Liverpool epic; 1st part on Y Not!
Hit: 4 Stars
This is yet another classic Ringo album, the highlight being the autobiographical title track. Actually, I prefer to fade it out by the end of the "LiverPOOL!" chants, and skip the 'When We Was Fab'-style addendum. Critics whine about the simplicity of the lyrics, but hey, Ringo is telling his own story and it just happens to have a fairy-tale-come-true quality. Bet the critics wish they could have been there in his place. Funny thing is, when Ringo was promoting the album in Liverpool, he was asked by an interviewer what he missed most about Liverpool. He made the mistake of answering truthfully: "Nothing, really." Result #1: angry Pudlian mobs armed with pitchforks, or an approximation thereof; Will the Pool ever forgive him? Result #2: Ringo decides to write another autobiographical song to explain that the Liverpool he knew as a kid was the poor part of Liverpool where survival was paramount, and for which later nostalgia would require a strenuous effort; instead he salutes the early pals who helped him survive. It's rather touching and makes a good prequel for 'Liverpool 8', a prequel since it goes back further into Ringo's childhood. Since the outro choruses of 'The Other Side of Liverpool' go on too long for a song that is heading into a part II, I cut a chunk of it just before the "You know it's true" ending. Mine is an acceptable but imperfect edit--someone less klutsy than myself would surely do better. (All you need is the simplest of music-editing software; if I can do it as a card-carrying techno-peasant, any idiot can do it.
To my ears, the title track is the only real Beatlesque/Beatleworthy song on this album, but there are also some real Ringo gems on here such as 'Harry's Song' (for Harry Nilsson) and 'R U Ready, a tongue-in-cheek (or not?) country-gospel ditty about contemplating the possibility of an afterlife. Several such songs go onto two Ringo bonus CD-Rs as outlined by the Amazon.com book 'Let's Put the Beatles Back Together Again 1970-2010: How to Assemble & Appreciate the 2nd Half of the Beatles' Legacy'. And of course a melded 'The Other Side of Liverpool/Liverpool 8' goes onto one of the main CD-R sets. Thanks to Beatle-ish resurgences by both Ringo and Paul over the past decade or so, John Lennon's famous lyric notwithstanding: it was never over.