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RINGO STARR: "RINGORAMA"

By DAN AQUILANTE

March 25, 2003 --
RINGO STARR
"Ringorama"
Koch Records

Ringo - the cool Beatle - has dusted himself off and is back in the game after several years, with a new record that not only references his Beatle past, but taps into some of the best riffs of rock 'n' roll.

"Memphis in Your Mind" offers a nod to early rockers like Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley; with "Instant Amnesia," you can't help but think of the David Bowie/John Lennon collaboration on "Fame."

The masterpiece of the disc is "Never Without You," where Ringo honors the late George Harrison with lyrics that try to capture the fleeting excitement of Beatlemania.

This album is best as a whole on the first spin. The better you get to know it, some of the weaker numbers such as "Love First, Ask Questions Later" and "Elizabeth Reigns" emerge.

Even with these minor problems, this is Ringo's best album since The Beatles shattered.
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/71754.htm

McCartney takes another hit

30mar03

RINGO STARR has joined in the row over who should take credit for the Beatles' hits.

He attacked as "underhanded" and "wrong" the way Sir Paul McCartney chose to highlight his own contribution by reversing the traditional Lennon/McCartney credit on his latest album.
The move upset some Beatles fans as well as Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, but Sir Paul remains defiant.

"He's wanted to do it for years," Ringo said. "I thought he should have done it officially with Yoko."

Starr, 62, expresses his feelings on his new album, Ringorama, by using the credit: "Produced by Mark Hudson and Ringo Starr. Produced by Ringo Starr and Mark Hudson."

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6207035%255E2902,00.html

'Rama' Lama Ding Dong

For his latest solo album, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has recorded with a slew of guest artists, including Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Willie Nelson, and Eagles/Poco principal Timothy B. Schmit. Due this week from Koch, "Ringo Rama" also features guest turns by Shawn Colvin, Van Dyke Parks, and Charlie Haden.

Recorded largely at his home studio in England, "Ringo Rama" features "Never Without You," a tribute to late Beatles guitarist George Harrison. "It was my way to say how much George meant to me and how much he will be remembered," Ringo says. "I actually tried to get George, John Lennon, and Harry Nilsson all into that song. But it got too busy, so I thought I'm just going to do it for George."

Clapton, also a close friend of Harrison, adds the guitar solo to the song. "Eric's on two tracks on the album, but I really wanted him on this song because George loved Eric and Eric loved George," Starr added. "I wanted Eric to come and play that solo because I only wanted people on the track who George knew and loved."

Gilmour adds guitar to "I Think Therefore I Rock & Roll" and "Missouri Loves Company," while Nelson duets with Starr on the country-leaning "Write One for Me." Rounding out the album is the unlisted bonus track "I Really Love Her," which Starr recorded solo. "Just one time in my career, I wanted to do it all," he said. "I'm tired of all my other mates doing everything." Starr's summer tour with his All Starr Band kicks off July 24 in Toronto.

http://www.billboard.com/billboard/hotprod/index.jsp

http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=212800

3/27/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- Ringo Starr appeared Tuesday (March 25) on MTV's TRL show for the release of his latest album Ringo Rama. The program is geared towards young contemporary pop fans, and Starr compared the height of "Beatlemania" in the 1960s to the fan reaction for contemporary "boy bands" like *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.

Starr said the groups are very different, however. He said that starting out, the four Beatles were certainly "boys and we were a band," and also admitted that early on, the group also didn't write all of their own material. But then he commented that once John Lennon and Paul McCartney began writing songs--and George Harrison as well--"it became that the song was important, not our dancing."

Starr was making a bit of a joke, as the Beatles were never a dancing group.

Starr kicks off his 2003 All-Starr Band tour on July 24 in Rama, Ontario, Canada.

-- Darryl Morden, Los Angeles