Ringo Starr will release a new album early next year. Look Up is a country record consisting of 11 original songs, most of them cowritten by the album’s producer, T Bone Burnett.
The former Beatle cowrote one of the new songs in addition to playing drums and singing on the project. Alison Krauss, Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius and Molly Tuttle appear on the tracks.
“I’ve always loved country music,” Starr notes in a press release announcing the album. “And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song – but of course it was, and it was so beautiful.
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“I had been making EPs at the time and so I thought we would do a country EP – but when he brought me nine songs I knew we had to make an album. And I am so glad we did. I want to thank and send peace and love to T Bone and all the great musicians who helped make this record. It was a joy making it and I hope it is a joy to listen to.”
You can listen to the first song released from Look Up, “Time on My Hands,” below. The album will be released on Jan. 10.
Starr teased the project earlier this year when he mentioned that he was working on the album with Burnett in an interview. In a way, it marks a return to the genre that started Starr’s solo career in 1970, when he released his first LP, the country-leaning Beaucoup of Blues.
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Before that, several of the songs he sang on Beatles albums – including “Act Naturally,” “What Goes On” and “Don’t Pass Me By” – were country in origin.
Why Did Ringo Starr Make a Country Album?
Starr first met Burnett in the ’70s; they recently reconnected at an event in Los Angeles, and Starr asked Burnett to write a song for a new EP he was recording. Burnett handed him enough songs for a new album, his first since 2019.
“I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can remember,” Burnett says. “He changed the way every drummer after him played, with his inventive approach to the instrument. And he has always sung killer rockabilly, as well as being a heartbreaking ballad singer.
“To get to make this music with him was something like the realization of a 60-year dream I’ve been living. None of the work that I have done through a long life in music would have happened if not for him and his band. Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”
Starr will play two shows at Nashville’s famous Ryman Auditorium to promote the album on Jan. 14 and 15. Tickets go on sale Oct. 25.
You can see the track listing for Look Up below.
Ringo Starr, ‘Look Up’ Track ListingBreathless (featuring Billy Strings)Look Up (featuring Molly Tuttle)Time On My HandsNever Let Me Go (featuring Billy Strings)I Live For Your Love (featuring Molly Tuttle)Come Back (featuring Lucius)Can You Hear Me Call (featuring Molly Tuttle)Rosetta (featuring Billy Strings and Larkin Poe)You Want SomeString Theory (featuring Molly Tuttle)Thankful (featuring Alison Krauss)
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Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
