Ringo Starr has always tended toward reanimating his storied past in song, but rarely has he hit on such a winning combination of whimsy and memory.
“Postcards From Paradise,” a charming moment of reverie from his forthcoming 18th studio solo effort, arrives on an album that elsewhere includes a song titled “Rory and the Hurricanes” — itself a nod to Ringo Starr’s pre-Beatles band. Earlier examples of this (some of them hits, some of them misses) include the title tune from 2008’s Liverpool 8, a remake of “Love Me Do” from 1998’s Vertical Man and 1973’s “I’m the Greatest,” with its winking Billy Shears reference.
The impulse, however, actually traces all the way back to the b-side of Ringo’s second solo single — a fun little aside called “Early 1970.” “Postcards from Paradise” mirrors the latter’s easy-going embrace of Ringo Starr’s outsized fame, leaving aside any tendency toward the mythological or mawkish.
Instead, he weaves familiar titles and lines from Beatles songs into every verse — some of them perfectly placed, others impishly offbeat — all behind this lithe, endlessly approachable groove. A favorite moment: When, after offering the line “I’ll love you when I’m 64,” the almost-75 year old Ringo adds a knowing chuckle.
“Postcards From Paradise” is one of 11 originals to be featured on the new Ringo Starr album, due on March 31, 2015 via Universal — including “Island in the Sun,” co-written with his long-running current All-Starr Band lineup of Steve Lukather, Todd Rundgren, Richard Page and Gregg Rolie. Rundgren co-wrote and sings backup on this new track.
Produced at Starr’s LA home studio, Postcards From Paradise also includes other drop-by musical guests like Joe Walsh, Dave Stewart, Benmont Tench, Richard Marx, Peter Frampton and Glen Ballard — all of whom have worked on previous Ringo Starr projects, either in the studio, on the road with the All-Starr Band, or both.
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