Review: Ringo Starr Releases Country Album ‘Look Up’ – Produced By T Bone Burnett – Where’s My Cowboy Hat…

“Hoping for more Peace and Love…” – Ringo Starr, “Thankful

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has released a new album, his first since 2019’s What’s My Name, entitled Look Up. He hasn’t been dormant for those six years, he’s released a series of EPs over the last several years. The new album is being cast as a country album and is produced by legendary producer/guitarist T. Bone Burnett. I have to say, I’m surprised at how much I like this album.

I’m surprised for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I despise country music. I don’t remember who said it first but I’ve always lived by the adage, “I only hate two types of music… country and western.” I guess I should qualify that a bit. I despise contemporary country…it’s all old Bob Seger rewarmed in the microwave to be more “twangy” with thrown in references to “bourbon and the bible.” Spare me. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and Merle Haggard. Old country was really great. And let’s face it, I’m on record as digging country rock – rock stars singing country-ish tunes – so much so that I even posted a playlist of country rock songs. The Stones have been doing country since the 60s. And if I’m being honest, Ringo always was the Beatles member who was most into country music. He did all those great country covers like “Matchbox” and “Honey Don’t,” both written by rockabilly legend Carl Perkins and also “Act Naturally” by the one and only Buck Owens, founder of the Bakersfield Sound. Even Ringo’s penned “Don’t Pass Me By” had a country vibe…filtered through some LSD. Seeing Ringo in a cowboy hat shouldn’t come as any surprise. And this music that T. Bone and Ringo have fashioned has more in common with old country than say Luke Bryan. Or is it Luke Bryant? I don’t really know or care.

Another reason I’m surprised by how much I like Look Up is that while I’m a huge fan of Ringo as a person – I dig that whole “Peace And Love,” hippy vibe he’s got going on – I’ve never been a huge fan of his solo music. There are songs like “Photograph” or “It Don’t Come Easy” that I like. I think my brother had several Ringo solo albums from Ringo up through Stop And Smell The Roses but I never investigated any of Ringo’s albums for more than a cursory listen. I’ll be the first to admit that Ringo’s solo career has got along “With A Little Help From (His) Friends.” That said, while no one will ever confuse Ringo’s singing voice with say, Sam Cooke’s voice, Ringo does sing with a certain charisma and charm that is hard to resist. And it always seemed like everyone is having a splendid time. And it’s my understanding that Ringo’s late career has seen a bit of a pop-rock renaissance of late.

I guess the thing that really drew me in on Look Up was the fact this thing is produced by T. Bone Burnett. He’s done so much great work over the years. He always brings a rootsy, old school style with him. I love what he’s done with Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Raising Sand and Raise the Roof), John Mellencamp (LIfe, Death, Love, Freedom and especially No Better Than This). I have really liked that he takes older artists who have either faded away or had a slump and gives them a serious, well written, well produced album late in their career… much like the B&V Mission Statement, I might add. He did that for Roy Orbison way back in the 90s (Mystery Girl) and more recently produced stunning, late career LPs from B.B. King (One Kind Favor) and Gregg Allman (Low Country Blues). He even produced that wonderful Elton John/Leon Russell duo album (The Union). Seeing him take Ringo back to some rootsy countrified music seems like a great idea. Produce the artist in a style that they’ve always loved… count me in!

Apparently they ran into each other at a charity event last year. Ringo asked T. Bone if he had any songs as Ringo was planning on doing another EP. Burnett came back with 10 songs. Ringo said, “I guess we’re doing a whole album.” And indeed, they did. Ten of the songs, as mentioned, were written (or co-written) by T. Bone with the final track co-written by Ringo. As usual with Ringo, we have some cameos. The aforementioned Alison Krauss shows up to sing a harmony vocal on a track. Blue grass phenom Billy Strings is all over this album on guitar (along with T. Bone’s fine guitar playing). There are a number of female back up singers (Larkin Poe, Lucius) and country singer Mary Tuttle does a lot of harmony vocals and one full fledged duet. Even old Ringo pal Joe Walsh (James Gang, Eagles) shows up to offer a fiery guitar solo.

As I said at the top of this thing, I like this album. First and foremost, you’re either charmed by Ringo’s voice or not, I am. And, like Beyonce’s album last year, this album has some country songs on it but there’s also a lot of rootsy rock n roll, the perfect backdrop for Ringo. The record starts off with “Breathless” with Ringo driving things on drums with some exquisite acoustic guitar playing by Billy Strings. It’s catchy as hell. “I’m spellbound…” indeed. That track just grabbed me. He follows it up with a very Ringo vibe on the title track. “Look Up” is one of those, “When things get tough, keep your chin up” bursts of optimism that we expect from Ringo. It’s a laid back rocker.

There’s more of that rootsy rock n roll later on the album as well. “Rosetta” is the track with Joe Walsh’s guitar solo. It’s a dirgey rocker and I dig it. “String Theory” keeps the roots rock rollin’ and is another laid back rocker that suggests that everything in the universe is connected (spoiler alert: it is). “Never Let Me Go” features some lovely harmonica and might be my favorite rocker of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll never mistake anything on this album for the latest Smashing Pumpkins’ album, it’s more laid back, but it fits Ringo perfectly.

As advertised there’s a lot of old style country music on this album. The first blast of country we get is on “Time On My Hands.” It’s an old style, “my woman left, and took the dog and I miss him,” kind of country weeper complete with pedal steel that Ringo just nails. “I Live For Your Love” follows in that pedal steel soaked, plaintive love song style. And again, Ringo keeps me riveted. “Come Back” is a “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds” kinda old school country song that makes me think of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Ringo even whistles. You might hate that kind of old country but it made me smile. Ringo doing a “baby, come back” tune, oh yes, I’m in. “Can You Hear Me Call” is another country tune that’s actually a full on duet with Mary Tuttle. I like her voice but I’d have loved to hear Alison Krauss tackle this duet. Just imagine the possibilities of a Starr/Krauss collab vs the Plant/Krauss we have now? “You Want Some” is a jaunty, toe-tapper of a track that almost brings to mind a country waltz.

“Thankful,” co-written by Ringo is the perfect countrified tune to end this album on. It’s so… for lack of a better word… Ringo. It finds our hero down on his luck, “I had it all, Then I started to fall, I turned away from all the things that mattered…” But like so many of us, myself included, our hero is saved by, yes, love. “And now I’m thankful for the love you’ve shown.” It’s a track I could have written for the Rock Chick, not to get too sentimental.

Overall, this is a great, little album by an artist that who despite being on a bit of a career renaissance, I’d been kind of ignoring. T. Bone does such a great job in the production, songwriting and guitar playing and of putting together the perfect environment for Ringo to shine. I used to think only Beatles die-hard fans bought Ringo albums but now he and T. Bone have proved me wrong. This is the first great album of 2025! Enjoy this one with a glass of something strong, especially on some of those country weepers. Where is my cowboy hat, indeed.

Cheers!