No one could have guessed that Ringo Starr would still be performing and recording at age 70, let alone releasing one of the best albums of his 40-year solo career. For “Y Not,” his 15th solo album, Starr has chosen to collaborate with a wide range of artists, and the results are mostly successful. Calling in favors from his numerous All Starr Band tours was a wise choice and clearly energizes this enduring legend.
“Y Not” is Starr’s highest charting album since 1976 and his first shot in the producer’s chair. It’s obvious that producing himself adds a personal touch to the material, but the real strength of the album lies with the well-chosen guest slots. Opening with “Fill In The Blanks,” a guitar-driven song co-written with his new brother-in-law Joe Walsh, the upbeat optimism of the track sets the tone for the rest of the CD.
Gary Wright, Edgar Winter, Ben Harper and Richard Marx also make appearances on “Y Not,” but it’s the collaboration with the soulful Joss Stone that may raise the most eyebrows. It’s a bit creepy to hear Starr ask a girl nearly 50 years his junior “Who’s Your Daddy,” but the call-and-response vocals and rockabilly rhythms are pure fun.
The autobiographical “The Other Side of Liverpool” finds Ringo on the analyst’s couch, singing about a surprisingly tough childhood on the gritty end of Liverpool. “The other side of Liverpool is cold and damp / The only way out of there / Drums guitar and amp.” It’s the only downbeat moment on “Y Not” and is quickly dispelled with the nostalgia of “Time” and the hippie visions of “Peace Dream.”
For the most part, Starr avoids his saccharine AM radio past (“You’re Sixteen,” “Photograph”), but old habits die hard. With Paul McCartney providing background vocals on “Walk With You,” the song has too much of McCartney’s pop fizz to be satisfying. It’s easy to expect fireworks from the collaboration of the two remaining Beatles, but it sounds as if they weren’t even in the same studio to record this one. Luckily, the song is a minor misstep.
It may seem odd to be listening to a CD by a senior citizen pushing his seventh decade, but in the case of Ringo Starr, you just have to ask: “Y Not?”
Rating: W W W W
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