Ringo Starr

Item: Ringo Rama
Author: Steve Stockman

Ringo Rama

(2003)

Reviewed by Steve Stockman

Discogs Apple Music Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Koch RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

classic rock pop rock rock

Ringo Starr has, after 30 years, released a studio album worth reviewing...

What? A Ringo album worth reviewing, even worth buying at full price, and that is not only because of the gimmicky DVD (which, after the first ten minutes is quite intriguing)? No pop star has survived the wilderness recording years that Ringo Starr, solo artist had between 1976's Rotogravure and 1998's Vertical Man. There were some shockingly poor albums, but the Threetles reunion for the Anthology industry revived the cute little playboy drummer and Ringo Rama follows the promise of 1998's Vertical Man with a very fine collection of ditties.

It doesn't have to be said that there are limitations to Ringo's abilities as a singer and songwriter. But having said that, "Photograph" and "Sixteen," among others, gave the actor/drummer as many hits as the other solo Beatles in the first few years of the seventies. Ringo Rama is never going to garner stunning reviews or be hailed as anything other than an interesting new album by one of the two Beatles still alive. Arguably, the only two who could still be making intriguing albums are gone from us, yet this is probably Ringo's most interesting album in almost 30 years.

When you get Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Shawn Colvin, Dave Gilmour, Timothy B. Schmit and Charlie Haden as added guest players to an already more than competent band you know that the foundations are right. Mark Hudson's production is great and he is the architect of all that is musical here. The brickwork of the songs on top of that has been organically crafted with Ringo's input but depends heavily on the wordsmithery of Dean Grakal. Some work much better than others but there are enough good lines, humor and Beatles sounds and lyrical references to overcome the odd trudge and clumsy lyric.

Clapton sounds particularly like Starr's late mate George Harrison on the tribute song to the third Beatle, "Never Without You." It is a very clear biographical song referencing Beatlemania days very similarly to Harrison's own "When We Was Fab." Some may think that the endless Beatle referencing wears thin, but he is a Beatle after all. "Elizabeth Reigns" is an awful idea that could only have sounded plausible to an American but elsewhere, Ringo Rama rocks as it should on "Memphis On Your Mind" and "I Think Therefore I Rock N Roll." There are love songs ("What Love Wants To Be" and "Imagine Me There") that Barbara Bach will be thrilled with. "Tripping On My Tears" and the Willie Nelson duet "Write One For Me" also deserve mention and we are therefore mentioning more songs than one usually does on a Ringo album.

Delighted for him.