Ringo Starr

Blast From Your Past and Starr Struck contain all the necessary Ringo. Blast mines mainly his early records: his best single, the punchy "It Don't Come Easy"; the tolerably silly "You're Sixteen"; the plodding "Photograph"; Hoyt Axton's novelty number "No No Song"; and his reminiscence of the Beatles' demise, "Early 1970" (it's cute, not maudlin). Aside from reprising numbers from Beaucoups of Blues, the affable country album Ringo made with Nashville session legend Pete Drake, Starr Struck covers the later stuff, emphasizing McCartney's tuneful tidbits from Stop and Smell the Roses, and oldies off a Canadian LP, Old Wave (peppy takes on Doug Sahm's "She's About a Mover" and Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin'"). Trading on the clownish sweetness he'd developed in his Beatle role, Ringo's solo output is cheerful fluff, aided greatly by crack sidemen (Gary Brooker, Dr. John, Joe Walsh, not to mention John, Paul, and George). His drumming remains unspectacular but unerring (none of his own records demand the flashes of brilliance he'd displayed with the Beatles), and his vocalizing makes feckless hit-or-miss passes at singing. A collection of Tin Pan Alley standards dripping with strings, Sentimental Journey is Ringo's oddest album (and maybe his most interesting). Ringo made a comeback of sorts in 1990 with his All-Starr Band roadshow, recorded for posterity on the Rykodisc CD (Anthology and Tour 2003 feature updated, lesser incarnations of the band), and he was also in fine, upbeat form on VH1 Storytellers. Ringorama is a return to original material, as Ringo crafts lush, nostalgic pop songs that pay homage to George ("Never Without You"), John ("Imagine Me There"), and Paul ("English Garden"). (PAUL EVANS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide