Ringo proves an old Beatle can learn new tricks
THE importance of Ringo Starr to The Beatles was reiterated by the 50th anniversary re-issue of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in May.
Remixed by Giles Martin, the son of the band’s original producer George, this new version placed greater emphasis on Ringo’s bright, soulful drumming — and a classic album sounded even better as a result.
The legacy of the Fab Four looms large over the drummer’s latest solo offering, too.
Give More Love features two bass-playing cameos by Paul McCartney and fresh takes on two songs co- written with George Harrison.
Ringo, as usual, gets by with a little help from his friends.
As well as McCartney, those popping into his home studio in L.A. include Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren, Dave Stewart, Jeff Lynne and two passing Eagles: Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit.
The upshot is an enjoyable album of homespun, if unadventurous, good ol’ boy rock numbers.
AS
A great-grandfather aged 77, Ringo isn’t going to start experimenting now, although he does find the time to collaborate with two younger American acts: Brooklyn rockers Alberta Cross and the Kentucky folk group Vandaveer.
This 19th solo effort ticks many of the boxes also checked on 2015’s Postcards From Paradise. There’s one song, Electricity, about his Liverpool roots and the obligatory sentimental ballad, Show Me The Way, about his 36-year marriage to actress Barbara Bach.
Less auspiciously, there’s also the token reggae track, the clunky King Of The Kingdom, on which he sings the praises of Bob Marley by borrowing extensively from the latter’s One Love.
The strongest tracks here keep things simple while making the most of Ringo’s relaxed, loose-swinging drumming.
We’re On The Road Again celebrates the joys of playing live with some driving bass runs from McCartney. Speed Of Sound finds Frampton revisiting the ‘talkbox’ effect that underpinned his 1976 hit Show Me The Way.
Give More Love closes with revamps of two early hits. Having found a demo recording of 1972’s Back Off Boogaloo during a recent house move, Ringo revisits the track by getting Jeff Lynne and Joe Walsh to layer new guitar parts over his original vocals.
Another song from the same era, 1973’s Photograph, gets a vibrant country-folk makeover with help from Vandaveer, showing that even an old Beatle can still learn new tricks.
LiKE Ringo, Dave Grohl was once the drummer in an era-defining band — in his case, Nirvana — before moving to the front of the stage when he formed The Foo Fighters in 1994.
Now one of the world’s biggest stadium acts, the six-piece headlined Glastonbury in June and this week return with their ninth album. Grohl has been talking up Concrete And Gold as a cross between Motorhead and Sgt. Pepper, and the inference is clear: this is a hard-rock band attempting to make classic pop.
To that end, he’s teamed up with a new producer in Greg Kurstin, who has worked with Adele and Sia, to bring a more sophisticated, tuneful edge to the Foos’ bruising rock.
With guest appearances by Justin Timberlake and — him again — Paul McCartney, the move is a qualified success. Summer single Run hinted at the change of tack, its chiming guitars adding a smoother veneer to the group’s muscular sound, although its lyrics — ‘the rats are on parade’ and ‘the hounds are on the chase’ — are steeped in stereotypical heavy rock images.
Much the same applies to Make it Right, with Grohl hitching a ride on ‘the train to nowhere, baby’.
Elsewhere, Arrows and La Dee Da suffer from a lack of potent melodies, but the album gets better as it develops.
The Sky is A Neighborhood is a reflective slow-burner in the style of Abbey Road’s i Want You. McCartney parades his drumming skills on the ballad Sunday Rain.
Best of all, the title track is distinguished by another unexpected collaboration that sees former grunge pioneer Grohl duetting with Shawn Stockman, of R&B trio Boyz ii Men.
FOO FIGHTERS play the O2 Arena, London, on Tuesday, axs.com.