One of Rock-n-Roll’s most iconic drummers, Ringo Starr, has continued to make music for many years after the final cymbal crash on stage with The Beatles. Joining The Fab Four in 1962 after being invited by John Lennon, Ringo became a fixture behind the kit for one of the most epic runs of success any Rock-n-Roll band has ever experienced. Known as fun-loving, Ringo was also featured on lead vocals for many of the Beatles’ favorites, including 1966’s “Yellow Submarine” and 1967’s “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
Now eighty-three years old, Ringo remains extremely active as a solo artist, releasing new music. A solo career began in 1970 with the album Sentimental Journey; since that time, he has released nineteen more full-length albums, as well as a list of EPs. Speaking of which, Ringo seems to enjoy the EP format quite a bit… because, in the last three years, he has put out four of them. First starting with Zoom In back in March of 2021, to follow would be Change the World in September of that same year. Next, he returned with EP3 in 2022 before announcing the fourth in this chapter of his career back in August of 2023.
Entitled Rewind Forward and released on October 13, 2023 through Universal Music Group, the new EP is an interesting follow-up complete with four new songs in total. Again, pairing with the likes of Toto’s Steve Lukather (who has played in Ringo’s All Starr band for many years) and Joseph Williams, Bruce Sugar, other collaborators include Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell along with Benmont Tench. Beyond this, and perhaps one of the most exciting notes for Beatles fans, Paul McCartney even wrote a track for Ringo this go-around. A true all-star team, this is nothing new for Ringo because he has worked many in recent years, including 4 Non-Blondes’ Linda Perry.
Thinking over all the exciting artists who went into writing and performing the songs that makeup Rewind Forward, it is important to mention that Ringo produced the EP himself from his home studio. So, you would imagine this is a pretty solid collection, right? The answer is yes; it is very high quality but also full of surprises. First and foremost, “Shadow on The Wall” is a great song for Ringo with a catchy sound that fits very well into the modern Rock world. This is while “Feeling the Sunlight” also works for Ringo very well. The latter, penned by McCartney, almost sounds like a Beatles track that could have easily worked nicely in 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Beyond this, the EP title track, co-written by Ringo, shows that he is also not slouch as a songwriter because it is a thoughtful, catchy tune. This leads to the finale, “Miss Jean,” which was worked on with Campbell and Tench, which comes at you with a very David Bowie sensibility.
In truth, it is really a blessing for fans that Ringo is still inspired to make new music. He could easily just lean on the past, but instead, he keeps creating good material at that! Furthermore, it was recently announced that his photography retrospective hardcover book Beats & Threads was available for pre-order. This is all while Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band – Steve Lukather, Edgar Winter, Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, and Gregg Bissonette – will be out playing 12 shows in the Spring of 2024. All very impressive; Cryptic Rock gives Rewind Forward 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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