If you are a pop music superstar from the era of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll and want to convert to Americana, then who do you turn to? The answer is easy – producer/performer extraordinaire T Bone Burnett.
And that is exactly what the world’s most famous drummer Ringo Starr did when he had a chance-meeting with Burnett at a function they were both attending. The pair had met several times over the years, so Starr felt confident to talk to him about his latest project.
“I’m making an E.P. If you have a song and you want to put some meat on it … send it to me. He said, ‘Ok, let me think about that,’” Starr told American Songwriter. “He sent me this beautiful country song. The music on it was great, and the sentiment was great.”
And there was more to come!
In a statement, Starr outlined the course of events: “I had been making E.P.’s at the time and so I thought we would do a country E.P. – 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 & 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.”
The promotional statement - issued to coincide with the release of a single late last year - included this response from Burnett: “I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can (or care to) remember. He changed the way every drummer after him played, with his inventive approach to the instrument. 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 (The Beatles). Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”
Starr’s album Look Up was finally released on January 10, with nine of the 11 songs either written or co-written by Burnett. And just to anoint it as an Americana release, the project features two of the best young pickers in the genre – Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle.
It is no surprise that Burnett has helped convert an old pop celeb to Americana music.
Nearly twenty years ago, he had the vision to unite a beautiful young bluegrass fiddler Alison Krauss with a crusty old rock-blues legend Robert Plant, of Led Zeppelin-fame. The result was a Grammy winning album, Raising Sand, and one of the best duos across all musical genres and one that is still performing at sell-out shows.
Burnett, of course, is no stranger to Grammys. He has won 13, including four alone for his masterpiece, the sound-track to the movie O Brother Where Art Thou – a collection of songs which indeed helped define the Americana genre when it was launched 25 years ago. And just to add clout to his solo performing, Burnett has a current Grammy nomination for The Other Side in the Best Americana Album category.
And by sheer coincidence, Starr is also up for a Grammy next month, along with his old band-mates John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. The Beatles are nominated in both Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance for “Now and Then,” released in late 2023 and the first Artificial-Intelligence-assisted track to get a Grammy nomination.
All the members of the Fab Four embarked on solo careers after the famous group disbanded in 1974. And though the two still alive – Starr and McCartney – are now octogenarians, both toured last year. Starr now has a set of dates scheduled to promote Look Up – his 20th studio album. And his 2025 schedule kicks off at the home of country music, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, on January 14 & 15.
Starr, of course, has long championed country music, going way back to 1965 when he sang lead on the Buck Owens’s classic “Act Naturally” which The Beatles included on Help. And Beaucoups of Blues, his second solo album in 1970, was actually recorded in Nashville. It would peak at No 35 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and draw comparisons to Nashville Skyline, Bob Dylan’s excursion into country
Fast forward 55 years and Starr is back into country, though, in these days of acutely-defined genres, it is probably more Americana. This is reinforced by the hired help he recruited for the project and, of course, Burnett’s overall production stewardship!
Tuttle, who is 50-odd years younger than Starr, provided the most profound reason for joining the recordings when she told Billboard: "I've been 'singing' with Ringo since Kindergarten when we would all sit on the carpet and our teacher would put on 'Octopus's Garden,' but this was next level."
Look Up opens with “Breathless,” a rockabilly composition by Burnett which features Strings on Guitar. This is followed by the album’s title track which sees Tuttle taking turn on guitar.
“Time On My Hands” is the standout track and, accordingly, one of the two promotional singles. It was co-written by Burnett, Daniel Tashian and Paul Kennerley and is nicely enhanced by pedal steel which smoothly synchronizes with Starr’s easy-listening vocal treatment of a love lost:
I thought it was forever
But she had other plans
Now these arms are empty
And I’ve got time on my hands
Tuttle, who has taken the bluegrass world by storm in the past couple of years, has a fully-fledged duet with Starr on “Can You Hear Me Call,” while there is more subtle harmonizing by Lucius on “Come Back” and the big-name roots-rockers Larkin Poe on the bumptious “Rosetta.”
And through all this Ringo keeps the beat with his very-distinctive and long-praised drumming.
Starr rightfully ends this easy-listening collection with the suitably-titled “Thankful,” which he wrote with engineer Bruce Sugar. Starr described the writing process as one of passing ideas back and forth until it all came together. Krauss herself makes an appearance on this final track and she helps elevate Starr’s seemingly ageless vocals as he preaches his long-held belief of peace on earth and goodwill to all.
“There’s always peace and love. There’s always a break in the clouds. There’s always light coming in. And you know, I’ve been like that for many years; it’s not new,” he told American Songwriter. “But it works a treat on country (music).”
It sure does!
Paul Cutler
Editor Crossroads – Americana Music Appreciation
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