Nine of the 11 songs on Look Up were written or co-written by Burnett, one by Billy Swan and the other co-written by Starr and Bruce Sugar. Starr sang and played drums on all the songs and co-wrote the album’s closer, “Thankful,” featuring Alison Krauss. Burnett enlisted some of Nashville’s finest and hottest talent for the record, including Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, Molly Tuttle and the aforementioned Krauss. The album’s debut track, “Time On My Hands,” written by Paul Kennerly, Daniel Tashian (who is a co-producer on the album along with Sugar) and Burnett, is out today.
Starr’s lifelong love of country music has been apparent and celebrated throughout his illustrious career. He performed and wrote numerous country and country-tinged songs throughout his years with The Beatles (i.e. “Act Naturally,” “What Goes On,” “Don’t Pass Me By”) as well as with the earlier Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, and recorded a country album, Beaucoups of Blues, in 1970 as his second solo album. His love of Country and the Blues led him to try and emigrate from London to Texas while still a teen, after reading that Lightnin’ Hopkins lived in Houston.
The artist’s new album comes after a chance meeting with Burnett at an event in Los Angeles in 2022 (the two had first met in the 1970s), where Starr asked Burnett to write a song for an EP he was recording. Taking the task to heart, Burnett returned with nine songs, all in a country vein, which happily put Starr on a path to record Look Up: his first country album in more than 50 years and his first full-length album since 2019.
“I’ve always loved country music. And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song – but of course it was, and it was so beautiful.” Ringo recalls. “I had been making EPs at the time and so I thought we would do a country EP -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.”
“I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can (or care to) remember,” says Burnett. “He changed the way every drummer after him played, with his inventive approach to the instrument. And, he has always sung killer rockabilly, as well as being a heartbreaking ballad singer. 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. Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”
Track List: Look Up
- Breathless (featuring Billy Strings) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Percussion, Lead Vocal; Billy Strings – Lead Acoustic Guitar, Harmony Vocal;
Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
- Look Up (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Molly Tuttle – Harmony Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Woodblock; T Bone Burnett – 6 String Bass, Electric Guitar
- Time On My Hands (Paul Kennerly, Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, 6 String Bass, Piano; Andy Cata – Piano; T Bone Burnett – 6 String Bass; David Mansfield – String Arrangement
- Never Let Me Go (featuring Billy Strings) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Billy Strings – Electric Guitar, Guitars, Harmony Vocal; Mickey Raphael – Harmonica; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Electric Guitar; T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
- I Live For Your Love (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Billy Swan, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Molly Tuttle – Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Harmony Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel; Mike Rojas – Piano; Dennis Crouch – Bass
- Come Back (featuring Lucius) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Whistling, Lead Vocal; Lucious (Jess Wolfe, Holly Laessig) – Background Vocals; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Colin Linden – Resonator Guitar; Stuart Duncan – Mandolin, Fiddle; Rory Hoffman, T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar
- Can You Hear Me Call (featuring Molly Tuttle) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Molly Tuttle – Acoustic Guitar, Duet Vocal; Dennis Crouch – Bass; T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
- Rosetta (featuring Billy Strings and Larkin Poe) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Billy Strings – Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocal; Rebecca Lovell – Mandolin, Background Vocals; Megan Lovell – Background Vocals; Joe Walsh – Slide Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
- You Want Some (Billy Swan)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Mike Rojas – Piano; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Rory Hoffman – Clarinet; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
- String Theory (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Harmony Vocals; Molly Tuttle – 12 String Guitar, Harmony Vocal; Rebecca Lovell, Megan Lovell – Background Vocals; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, 12 String Lead Guitar T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
- Thankful (featuring Alison Krauss) (Richard Starkey, Bruce Sugar)*
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Alison Krauss – Harmony Vocal; Daniel Tashian – Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Greg Leisz – Acoustic Guitar; T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
Produced by T Bone Burnett
Co-Produced by Daniel Tashian and Bruce Sugar
* “Thankful” Produced by Ringo Starr and Bruce Sugar with T Bone Burnett
