When Ringo Starr set out to record another country album half a century after “Beaucoups Of Blues”, he was suddenly back in step with the times. Beyoncé reinvigorated the genre with “Cowboy Carter.”
But “Look Up,” his collection of 11 new roots music-inspired songs, was inspired not by the country boom but by a chance meeting with the doyen of Americana, T Bone Burnett, Starr said. They met at a reading by Olivia, George Harrison’s widow. “I said, ‘I’m making these EPs, and if you have a song, why don’t you send it to me?’ And he sent me this beautiful country song,” Starr recalls.
Burnett, the genius producer behind the Grammy-winning soundtrack to “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, suggested that Starr record an entire album together and provided additional songs for “Look Up” – as well as bringing in a band Cracks like Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, who were supposed to accompany the Beatle. Starr co-wrote the song “Thankful,” which closes the album, and played drums throughout. “I play a little sloppy, but it still grooves, you know?” he says.
“But when I first started writing songs, I played them to the guys in the studio and they were on the floor laughing,”
How did you discover American country music as a child in England?
I was just a little boy when I saw one of Gene Autry’s films. He started singing, “South of the border/Down Mexico way,” and two other men on horses sang, “Aye yi yi yi.” It was a musical thrill for the child that I was. I got older and started listening to country music. Then there was the Pete Drake moment when George [den Pedal-Steel-Gitarristen] flew to England to play on his album and for some reason I sent my car to the airport to take him to the studio. He came in and said, “Hoss” – he liked to call me “Hoss” – “I see you like country music. Why don’t you come to Nashville and make a record?”
Now you’re playing with new stars like Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle.
Molly has a great voice and Billy is a fantastic guitarist. Someone told me that he used to play heavy metal. And just to confuse everyone in Nashville, how is Hank the Third? I liked the records he made. They have bite.
I didn’t think you were a Hank Williams III fan.
Well, you know, I started with Hank the First, then somehow moved past Hank the Second to the Third.
“We met Johnny Cash at the Beatles’ last gig in San Francisco. Johnny was there to see us off.”
You’ve said that your favorite singer is Kitty Wells. Who else impressed her in country?
Ernest Tubb. He had released an album that reached me in England, Midnight Jamboree. In the end, we all loved Waylon [Jennings] – he really was a rock-country star – and we all love Willie [Nelson] til today. We met Johnny Cash at the Beatles’ last performance in San Francisco at Candlestick Park. Johnny was there to see us off.
Were the guys open to you bringing in country songs?
I got to sing one track on each record because we had two great songwriters, and then George started writing. But when I first started writing songs, I played them for the guys in the studio and they were on the floor laughing because I didn’t realize I was just rewriting existing songs, like “Yesterday” as “Come and Play.”
“I have my iPhone mainly for taking photos.”
The All-Starr Band’s original lineup included Rick Danko and Levon Helm. Was this an attempt to give the show a bit of a country sound?
Should I make you happy and say yes? (Laughs.) No, when I agreed to go on tour, I called Joe Walsh and said, “Hey, Joe, they offered me this tour. Do you want to come with me?” And then Billy Preston, Dr. John and then Levon and Rick. How crazy was this band? It had three drummers: I was one, plus Levon and Jim Keltner, but it rocked.
The title track of the new album is about everything we can experience if we just “look up”. When you took this photo, were you thinking about people staring at their cell phones?
I’m not a dedicated iPhone user. I do have one, but mainly for photography. I take more photos with it than calls.
You wrote a song called “Thankful” for Look Up. What is Ringo Starr grateful for today?
I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for all the friends in my life, my children. We’re in LA and it’s a sunny day. In this song I sing: ““It’s a beautiful day here in California.” I’m here at home now and have lots of good friends.
Interview: Joseph Hudak