It’s hard to believe that it has already been nearly two years since Ringo Starr’s last album, Y Not, hit the stores, but it has, and now he has another coming up that is due to be available at your favorite music retailers on January 30, 2012.

The album has the simplistic title Ringo 2012 and is expected to be the product of what Ringo told us in various press coverage since last April about preferring to make his music autobiographical in nature as opposed to publishing an autobiographical book, as he has been approached about doing several times. The album will be available on CD, vinyl and via direct download. Like, Y Not it will be distributed through Hip-O Records. I’ve included a link below if you would like to pre-order your copy through Amazon.

The album was produced by Ringo, and recorded in Los Angeles. It was mixed in England by Ringo and Bruce Sugar. Of the 9 tracks, two are covers, “Think It Over,” and “Rock Island Line”. Two others are new versions of his own songs, “Wings” and “Step Lightly.”

The track listing:
1. Anthem (Richard Starkey/Glen Ballard)
2. Wings (Richard Starkey/Vince Poncia)
3. Think It Over (Buddy Holly/Norman Perry)
4. Samba (Richard Starkey/Van Dyke Parks)
5. Rock Island Line (Arrangement by Richard Starkey)
6. Step Lightly (Richard Starkey)
7. Wonderful (Richard Starkey/Gary Nicholson)
8. In Liverpool (Richard Starkey/Dave Stewart)
9. Slow Down (Richard Starkey/Joe Walsh)

Joining Ringo in the studio for Ringo 2012 were musicians (in alphabetical order): Michael Bradford, Ann Marie Calhoun, Matt Cartsonis, Steve Dudas, Charlie Haden, Amy Keys, Kelly Moneymaker, Richard Page, Van Dyke Parks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Dave Stewart, Bruce Sugar, Benmont Tench, Joe Walsh , Don Was, Edgar Winter.

Ringo Starr

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, music related to this post:

1) Ringo 2012 – Ringo’s new album, pre-order only until Jan. 24, 2012

2) Y Not – Ringo’s last studio CD, released in January 2010, containing the hit “The Other Side Of Liverpool”.

3) The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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And after all these years, Ringo has remained very active in the music business and is on tour even as I write this.

This track titled Fill In The Blanks opens his latest album which came out last January called Y Not. The same two people that wrote the song are also the only two playing on the recording. Ringo plays drums, percussion, piano and sings, while his brother-in-law and long-time collaborator, Joe Walsh, plays guitar, bass and does some backing vocals. I’m not sure why I picked this particular song to post other than I like it, and it shows that his recent material is still fun to listen to. Of course, Ringo has had countless other good recordings on both record and at the box office, over the years. A good write-up of Ringo’s amazing career from a BBC source follows.

Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey was born on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool, England. The oldest Beatle (three months older than John) was born in a two-story house in the Dingle area to Richard and Elsie Starkey. His father was a Liverpool dock worker, and his mother worked in a bakery. Ringo’s parents met in this bakery, and later married. When little Richie was three years old, his parents broke up. Ringo’s mother later married Harry Graves, who Ringo called his “step ladder”.

Richard was a happy child despite the various hospital visits that filled much of his life. He entered the hospital for the first time at six years of age for a bout of appendicitis. Ringo became quite bored and even a bit lonely when he was in the hospital, so his parents brought him two toys to keep him entertained. One was a red bus, the other was a small drum…Ringo’s first drum! Ringo kept himself well occupied with the drum, but upon noticing the lonely boy in the bed next to him, Ringo decided to give up the pretty red bus. As little Richie leaned out of the bed to give his bus to the other boy, he fell…hitting his head and knocking himself into a coma.

Richard remained in the hospital for around another year, putting him behind in his education. When Ringo finally got out of the hospital, he was seriously behind in his schoolwork. He couldn’t read very well, and was put in a class with kids much younger than he was. Ringo became quite unhappy with his schooling situation. At 13, Ringo caught a cold which turned into pleurisy, putting Ringo back into the hospital and further behind in his schoolwork. Ringo also started smoking around this time, probably for something to do. By fifteen he could just barely read and write.

Like the other three Beatles, Ringo became interested with the Liverpool music known as skiffle. Ringo started his own group called the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group in 1957. In 1959, Ringo moved on to The Raving Texans, a quartet led by Rory Storm. Ringo became quite a good drummer with the added performance practice, even taking advantage of solos called “Starr Time”. Ringo got his nickname here because of the numerous rings he wore on his pinky and ring fingers. The name Starr was chosen by dropping the “key” from his last name. This gave him the catchy title we know him by today–Ringo Starr.

Rory Storm changed his band name to “The Hurricanes”, and they became a big success in Liverpool and Germany. It was in Hamburg in October of 1960 when Ringo first met his fellow Beatles. At the time, Rory Storm’s band was much more popular than the “Beetles with an A”. Nevertheless, the interest in Ringo Starr led to his joining the band in 1962. Rory Storm was quite unhappy to lose such a great drummer, and Pete Best, the Beatles original drummer, was less than happy to be replaced. Many Pete Best fans rejected Ringo, holding vigils outside Pete’s hous and rioting at the Cavern Club. The shout of “Pete Best forever! Ringo, never” were prevalent. Still, there was a wonderful connection between Ringo’s drumming style and the music of the Beatles. Ringo’s fun-loving attitude was appealing, giving the rest of the Beatles a head-start on their special humor.

Ringo’s health would continue to cause problems again later. In 1964 Ringo missed three quarters of the tour of Scandanavia, Holland, the Far East, and Australia, to have his tonsils out. Once this was resolved, the Beatles were underway. Ringo contributed many interesting quotes to the Beatles repertoire, some of which became song titles. “Eight Day’s A Week” was written after one of Ringo’s expressions. The Beatles’ first movie, originally called Beatlemania, was instead called A Hard Day’s Night after something Ringo said one evening after a particularly grueling session.

Because he seemed content to sit at the back, Ringo was sometimes considered to be the least important Beatle. He was not one of the main writers, nor was he a strong vocalist. Ringo was only given one song per album, but in my opinion Ringo used this valuable space well. Ringo became an integral part of The Beatles. Not only did his inventive drumming help provide The Beatles distinctive sound, but he fulfilled other very real needs. Ringo was the most down-to-earth member of the Fab Four. Ringo was the friendly Beatle. He received more fan mail than any of the others, and he became the mediator in many of the later arguments of the band.

The Beatles benefited from his sensitivity, his sense of humor, and his “peace and love” way of dealing with the world. His modesty and kind heart was as important to the Beatles as John and Paul’s musical talents. Ringo always seemed a bit overwhelmed by the success of the Beatles — as if he were pleasantly surprised by what was happening to him. Ringo really looked upon John, Paul, and George as his three brothers and continues to love them as such today. He gave of himself to them the best that he could with love and without ego. Ringo had his most important dreams come true with the Beatles. The only dream Ringo never fulfilled was to sit in the audience at a Beatles concert.

Ringo has been married twice. First to his long-time girlfriend Maureen Cox. Ringo met Maureen in the Cavern club when he was still with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Ringo and Maureen were married at Caxton Hall in Westminster on February 11, 1965. They had three children, Zak on September 13, 1965, Jason on August 19, 1967, and Lee on November 17, 1970. Ringo and Maureen were divorced in 1975, and sadly Maureen died December 30, 1994 of Leukemia despite a bone marrow transplant from her son Zak. Ringo married Barbara Bach, whom he met on the set of Caveman in 1983. They are still happily married today.

Ringo not only had a successful musical career with the Beatles, but also on his solo efforts and with his All-Starr Band. Ringo has had many great solo hits such as “Photograph”, “Back Off Boogaloo”, “You’re Sixteen”, and “It Don’t Come Easy”. Ringo has worked with many famous and wonderful artists such as Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Peter Frampton, Steven Tyler, Tom Petty, and even Ozzy Osbourne.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.

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Welcome to this week’s BROW.

Last Tuesday Ringo Starr’s new CD Y Not was released and after a few listens, I have to say it does not disappoint. Many people have a tendency to judge Ringo by his mediocre releases from the late 1970′s or, dare I say, to be a bit age-prejudiced towards the guy. But my take on this is that his recent output has been good and this CD is probably the best thing he’s put out since, at least, Time Takes Time from way back in 1992. Paul McCartney plays bass on one track (Peace Dream) and duets with Ringo on a tune called Walk With You, which I’ve featured here. Aside from Paul, there is a healthy host of other musicians I’m sure you’ve heard of too, including Edgar Winter, Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Joe Walsh, Billy Squier, Dave Stewart (the Eurythmics guy), Gary Wright, Richard Marx and a few more. And for the first time ever, Ringo has had a hand in the production of the album. He co-produced it with his keyboardist Bruce Sugar.

One of the tracks on the CD is newly-recorded, but not new. Back in 1992, Ringo released a CD single in Germany that was not released in the UK or the US of the song Don’t Go Where The Road Don’t Go (lifted from his Time Takes Time album). There was a B-side on the single virtually unheard of outside of Germany called Everyone Wins. The song never saw release in the US or UK, and now the German release is also well out of print. A German friend of mine sent me a copy of the CD a few years back and the title is mistakenly listed there as Everybody Wins on the back cover. The new version of this b-side on Y Not features Benmont Tench, Gary Wright and Edgar Winter and is more keyboard-oriented, unlike the original version, which is more guitar-oriented and featured here on this week’s BROW. If you would like to compare with the newer version, pick up a copy of the new CD – Y Not?!

Don't Go Where The Road Don't Go German CD single released in August 1992

An aside: Benmont Tench may have also played on this original version of Everyone Wins too but that is not confirmed. It is known that he played on some of the other songs in the Time Takes Time sessions.

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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In case you’re interested, I thought I’d give you a little preview of the upcoming CD release from Ringo Starr. He’s produced it himself this time and this track called Walk With You features Paul McCartney with him on vocals. Paul also plays bass on another of the album’s tracks called Peace Dream. The CD is called Y Not and will hit the stores next week on January 12th.

Cover art for Ringo's new "Y Not" CD (released on Jan. 12)

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Ringo is putting out a new album due on the shelves January 12th called Y Not. Paul McCartney will be playing bass on a track called Peace Dream and sharing vocals with Ringo on the album’s first singe called Walk With Me. Paul has not been on a Ringo record since 1998′s Vertical Man. This will also be the first time in Ringo’s career that he will also be involved with producing the album. Other guests on the album include Joe Walsh, Joss Stone, Van Dyke Parks, Ben Harper and Richard Marx.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

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