Liverpool 8
Artist: Ringo Starr
Label: Capital
Length: 12 tracks

After years in the wilderness Ringo Starr is back. Last year’s retrospective Photograph raised a little bit of a long lost profile and now his first album for a major label in nearly thirty years is garnering much attention. It has of course helped that Ringo came from the post code Liverpool 8 and that his native city became European City of Culture in 08. No record company promotions department could have made it up or turned it down. So the album hits the shops two days after Ringo headlines the launch of the City of Culture festivities with the crowd chanting the Liverpool chorus to the title track like they are on the Kop End at Anfield. 

It is one thing to get Ringo back in the spotlight and a whole other thing to have him make a good album. If he hadn’t have been in the biggest rock band ever it is hard to believe he would have got his own record deal. Yet, we must remember that The Beatles became the Threetles and are now down to The Twotles so the importance of a Ringo release has never been more important for Beatle fans. And there is much evidence of an awareness of that fact on Liverpool 8. There are many little Beatle sounds, Revolveresque loops and sitar drones, and just as Paul McCartney used them on Memory Almost Full--they work. 

I have to say that when I first heard the title song I was far from encouraged. I found it trite, predictable and contrived. And yet, as I hear it more in the context of the wider work it becomes more satisfying than Macca’s "Dance Tonight!" The rest of the album is contains some of the strongest songs Ringo has had to work with for a long long time and there is some great playing and harmonies giving Ringo’s rather limited vocal, color and shade. There is also an eclectic mix of  is solid driving Beatleesque rock sound mixed with the variety of the Spanish guitar of "Pasodobles," the almost novelty "Liverpool 8" with its big climactic Liverpool chant, "Harry’s Song" echoing "Sentimental Journey," whistling and all, and the country gospel of "R U Ready" where all religions are tolerated in naïve Ringo style; he’s no theologian! Yet, there is a spirituality to admire even if it is so open minded that your soul could slip out! As the loveable Beatle he has always felt like the tolerant one, least affected one. It is like the summer of love in 1967 did something deeper in Ringo’s soul than change his hairstyles and fashions. It is like there is an indelible mark of the best philosophy that the Beatles had to share in his character and it flows out in songs that mention love per minute than anything you’ve ever heard; and it is a more quantifiable spiritual universal love rather than the silly love songs of romance 

It is a long time since Ringo Starr has released an album on a major label. When he last did it was in the wake of the biggest band in the world’s wave. Nearly forty years later it took something a little more than his brilliant name or even one launch night gig in Liverpool to regain the Capitol catalogue number. Liverpool 8 won’t be in the year end top tens and will not shake the world but it is the best Ringo album for decades and is very welcome indeed.   

Steve Stockman

Steve Stockman is the Presbyterian Chaplain at Queens University, Belfast, Ireland, where he lives in community with 88 students. He has written two books Walk On; The Spiritual Journey of U2 which he is currently updating and The Rock Cries Out; Discovering Eternal Truth in Unlikely Music. He dabbles in poetry and songwriting and he has a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Ulster (listen anytime of day or night @ www.bbc.co.uk/ni/religion/rhythmandsoul). He has his own web page--Rhythms of Redemption at http://stocki.ni.org . He also tries to spend some time with his wife Janice and daughters Caitlin and Jasmine.