Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
When everybody knows who you are it can be forgivable to question your own image of yourself, after all, we live in a world in which our online presence is deemed sacrosanct and can be embellished to show the happy side of life at all times, whilst our real life experiences are questioned and invariably sneered at, the watchful eye of others ready to step in and bring you down with a jolt just for questioning life and getting you to admit that you feel lost, that you are looking for meaning, and that you may have to ask, What’s My Name.
Ringo Starr may well be forever linked to one of the most significant bands to make popular music but it his solo output to which unfortunately never seems to get the coverage by the press, or the fans, when it is compared to the works of his three former band mates, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. This can either be attributed to an oversight, or to a kind of neglect, for surely there is no other reason to which such music is often ignored or seen to relate to other’s fears, joys or concerns.
We lose touch with those we may see as no longer having a message to which we believe no longer plays a part in our lives, and we do such an act without thinking of the hurt to our own lives that it will in doubt create, let alone the unsaid tales and unspoken thoughts that arise to which could be held dear if we weren’t so full of arrogance and dismissiveness of those around us.
Across songs such as It’s Not Love That You Want, Grow Old With Me, Thank God For Music, Send Love Spread Peace and the album’s title track, What’s My Name, Ringo Starr and his array of fellow musicians, including the great Joe Walsh, Dave Stewart, Steve Lukather, Warren Ham and fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr plays with the ideas of the emotional war that eats inside of us, even if we think ourselves as a spiritual creature, we still find the battle ever consuming; Ringo offers a release, a way to look at life without the fear of the inevitable, but also nourishing the soul enough to live a life of calm in the face of the exploding nature of age and reluctance.
An album that might have been lost in the forever cosmic vibe to which sees Ringo Starr regretfully always subdued by the other Beatles’ works but to which on its own merit is an enjoyable reflection of the pursuit and gain, of thoughts and ideals of one of Rock’s elder and respected gentlemen.
Ringo Starr’s What’s My Name is released on October 25th.
Ian D. Hall