ALWAYSBACK

6681 - RINGO STARR - Choose Love (2005)

RINGO STARR
''CHOOSE LOVE''
JUNE 7 2005
44:35

1 /Fading in Fading Out
Gary Burr / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:57
2 /Give Me Back the Beat
Gary Burr / Steve Dudas / Dean Grakal / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:54
3 /Oh My Lord
Gary Burr / Steve Dudas / Dean Grakal / Mark Hudson / Ringo Star/5:32
feat: Billy Preston
4 /Hard to Be True
Gary Burr / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:27
5 /Some People
Gary Burr / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:18
6 /Wrong All the Time
Gary Burr / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:39
7 /Don't Hang Up
Gary Burr / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:27
feat: Chrissie Hynde
8 /Choose Love
Gary Burr / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:07
9 /Me and You
Steve Dudas / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/2:15
10 /Satisfied
Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:19
11 /The Turnaround
Gary Burr / Steve Dudas / Dean Grakal / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/3:54
12 /Free Drinks
Gary Burr / Steve Dudas / Dean Grakal / Mark Hudson / Ringo Starr/4:46

John Amato /Saxophone
Gary Burr /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Harmonica, Slide Guitar, Vocals (Background)
Jim Cox /Arranger, Horn Arrangements, Piano
Steve Dudas /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Harmonica, Vocals (Background)
Dean Grakal /Vocals (Background)
Gary Grant /Horn
Dan Higgins /Horn, Saxophone, Woodwind
Mark Hudson /Arranger, Bass, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Harmonica, Keyboards, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Chrissie Hynde /Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Vocals
Mark Mirando /Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background)
Billy Preston /Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Hammond B3, Organ (Hammond), Piano, Vocals (Background)
Robert Randolph /Guest Artist, Guitar
Rose Stone Choir /Vocals (Background)
Rose Stone Girls /Vocals (Background)
The Roundheads /Guest Artist
Barbara Starkey /Vocals, Voices
Ringo Starr /Drums, Loops, Organ, Percussion, Vocals
Rose Stone /Choir Arrangement

REVIEW
By Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There's nothing surprising, or even all that different, about Choose Love, Ringo Starr's 13th studio album: it's firmly in the tradition of his 1992 return to recording, Time Takes Time, which itself was an attempt to recreate the breezy, good-natured vibe of Starr's biggest and best album, 1973's Ringo. But where that album and the two records that followed it -- 1998's Vertical Man and 2003's Ringorama -- were star-studded affairs, the only guests here are Robert Randolph and Chrissie Hynde, who stops in for a duet on "Don't Hang Up." That means Ringo relies on his longtime collaborators Mark Hudson (who is also the record's co-producer), Gary Burr, and Steve Dudas, who form the core of his touring and recording band, as well as function as his co-writers, and by this point, they've been together nearly a decade. This is a relaxed, comfortable group, but that familiarity pays off here. Instead of sounding lazy, Starr sounds assured and confident, and he has a strong set of tunes that know how to make the best of his endearingly limited vocal range and lovable personality. The music here is well within his comfort zone -- partway between the amiable yet splashy Richard Perry productions of the early '70s and classic mid-period Beatles (the title track has plenty of direct allusions, from the "Taxman"-styled riff to a quote from "Dizzy Miss Lizzy") -- but it all works, largely because it never sounds like Ringo and the lads are straining to capture that vibe: it just seems to come naturally to them now. It also helps that Choose Love has a warm, rich sound that is far removed from the digital brightness of its two predecessors: it helps give the album a friendly aura that's hard to resist if you've ever loved Ringo. And if you've ever loved Ringo, take comfort that this album will be one of the few records of his that you can play without guilt and enjoy from start to finish. It's not just a good record for Ringo, it's just a flat-out good record.

BIOGRAPHY
By William Ruhlmann

Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey, was the drummer in the Beatles from 1962 to 1970 and thus became one of the most famous musicians of the '60s. Though the least prominent member of the quartet, he distinguished himself as an occasional singer of good-natured material and as an actor. Upon the group's split, Starr went solo with two novelty projects: the first, an album called Sentimental Journey, found him covering pre-rock standards, and the second, Beaucoups of Blues, was a country music collection. Starr then scored Top Ten hits with two non-album singles, "It Don't Come Easy" in 1971 and "Back Off Boogaloo" in 1972. He paired with producer Richard Perry one year later and, with assistance from the three other ex-Beatles, made Ringo, which featured two number one hits, "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen." "Oh My My," a Top Ten hit, was also included, and those three singles helped push the album to platinum certification. Almost as successful was the 1974 follow-up, Goodnight Vienna, which featured the hits "Only You" and "No No Song."

Starr continued to issue widely released albums through 1981, though with diminishing success. His 1983 effort, Old Wave, did not find a U.S. distributor. Starr was also suffering from the excesses of his lifestyle, but by the late '80s he had cleaned up his act and put together a new lineup, the "All-Starr Band," which toured in 1989. Featuring a rotating lineup of high-profile musicians -- Joe Walsh, Nils Lofgren, and Levon Helm among them -- the "All-Starr Band" went on to tour multiple times during the following two decades. Ringo Starr never forgot about his solo career, however, and in 1992 he signed to Private Music and released a new studio album, Time Takes Time. He also made something of a comeback with 1998's Vertical Man -- his first album for Mercury -- which was released after the surprising success of the Beatles' Anthology project. The world had seemingly rediscovered its love for the Beatles, and Vertical Man cracked the charts in Europe and America, making it Ringo's most commercially successful record since the 1970s. A live album culled from his performance on the VH1 Storytellers series was also released in 1998.

Starr's first seasonal effort, I Wanna Be Santa Claus, appeared in 1999. Two studio records appeared during the early 2000s: Ringorama from 2003 and Choose Love from 2005, both of them released by the Koch label. In 2006 he made a guest appearance on Jerry Lee Lewis' album Last Man Standing and toured with another edition of his All-Starr Band, this time featuring Sheila E. and Edgar Winter. The 2007 release PBS Soundstage Live featured a show recorded two years earlier in Chicago. Also released in 2007 was the definitive Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr.

Ringo toured with his tenth All-Starr ensemble in 2008, populating the lineup with past participants (Colin Hay, Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart, and Edgar Winter) and new additions (keyboardist Gary Wright and drummer Gregg Bissonette). A Surround Sound collection of tracks from Ringorama and Choose Love, 5.1: The Surround Sound Collection, appeared in 2008, as did his 14th studio album, Liverpool 8. Two years later, he returned with Y Not, whose lead single found Ringo duetting with former bandmate Paul McCartney. Ringo 2012, his 17th solo album, appeared in 2012, and featured guest spots from Charlie Haden, Van Dyke Parks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Dave Stewart, Benmont Tench, Joe Walsh, Don Was, and Edgar Winter, among others.