On the program this week, Look Upa beautiful country exercise, and the new mix of a George Harrison record released in 1973.
Ringo Starr, Look Up
Within the Beatles, their drummer had already gone to the microphone singing Act Naturallya song by American country singer Johnny Russell. That was in 1965. Five years later, when the Fab Four broke up, Starr’s first solo album, Beaucoup of Blueswas dedicated to the genre. It took him fifty-five years, and a string of uninteresting albums, to return to what he sings best: country music. Of course, the presence of T-Bone Burnett at the helm helps the album be a success. This close friend of Dylan, former collaborator of Costello and expert in traditional American music brings his expertise, his taste and his compositions to the building.
Thus directed, Ringo Starr is capable of giving the best of himself. “I thought we would do an EP, but when T-Bone brought me ten songs, I knew we had to do an album” explains the musician, now 84 years old. Ringo was never a great singer, but his nasal tone fits the mood of these songs perfectly. And the presence of some prestigious guests like singer Alison Krauss makes this record infinitely pleasant and unpretentious.
George Harrison, Living in the Material World, 50th Anniversary edition
Released three years after the copious All Things Must Passwhich was a triumph as artistic as it was commercial, Living in The Material World has long suffered from comparison with the latter. An injustice that this beautiful reissue repairs, undertaken to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of this “quiet Beatle” record. Long underestimated by Lennon and McCartney, George’s writing and composition skills are evident here.
Gimme Love, the title song of the album, Sue Me Sue You Blues et Try Some, Buy Some are very good tracks that would not have looked out of place on a Beatles album. George demonstrates his spectacular slide guitar playing, supported by a group in which we find the brilliant Jim Keltner but also Ringo himself, the only former Beatle present alongside George. The absence of Phil Spector from the production allows the songs to breathe much more than those of All Things Must Pass. In a better world, this album would be considered a classic in the career of an ex-Beatle. In reality, the record has continued to be re-evaluated for around ten years, even if it is true that it remains the last great album by its author before his spectacular comeback in 1987 with Cloud Nine.
