Ringo Starr’s Rewind Forward, the fourth in his recent series of EPs, is now available worldwide on CD, 10” vinyl and digitally. It arrives on the day Ringo and his All Starr Band finish their latest tour in Thackerville, OK, after a run of shows that has been showered with praise by media and fans. It also features a song that came from one of his Facetiming catch-ups with Paul McCartney.
The title song, written by Starr with his engineer and frequent co-writer Bruce Sugar, came from the type of “Ringoism” he has been known for since Beatles days. “[It] was just one of those things I say and it made sense in the moment,”he explains. “Like ‘A Hard Day‘s Night’ – I thought, why don’t we just Rewind Forward? To make sense of it, sometimes it is good to go back and move forward from a place you left off, you don’t ever have to live in the past but it is good to check it occasionally.”
“Shadows on the Wall” is by All Starr Band member Steve Lukather and his Toto bandmate Joe Williams. Says Ringo: “I asked Luke for a song – him and Joe Williams – and they put meat on it, so I wasn’t just getting a basic track I have to add everything to. It has guitar and bass and all I have to do is add my vocals and drums. Of course I always do the drums and sing – it is my EP!”
McCartney’s writing contribution is “Feeling the Sunlight.” “We were Facetiming as we sometimes do,” says Ringo, “and I asked him if he had a song or would write one for this EP I am making. A week later he sent the track over and he’s all over it – which is great – playing EVERYthing, including the drums! So we had to take them off – I did the drums and the vocals.”
“Miss Jean” sees Ringo teaming with Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers. “We had played together on an Ian Hunter track (which was No.1 on the Heritage chart, whatever that chart is!) and I’d played on a Tom Petty track. But this was the first song Mike has ever written for me, which I loved. I put drums on it and sang it and he put everything else on it – that’s how it works.” Those extra ingredients included the work of another Heartbreaker, Ringo’s great friend Benmont Tench.
The EP also has contributions from Joe Walsh, Steve Dudas, Lance Morrison, Matt Bissonnette, Torrance Klein, Weston Wilson, Kip Lennon, and Marky Lennon. All four songs were recorded at Ringo’s home studio in Los Angeles, except for McCartney’s parts for “Feeling the Sunlight,” which he recorded in the U.K.
The band’s tour has drawn such praise as Soundcheck’s review of the Modesto, CA show, “a fabulous evening shared with some of the most impactful songs and talented artists that have left a footprint in musical history forever.” Detroit Metro noted that “Ringo and His All Starrs delighted the sing-along audience” and Chicago’s Global Traveler said “The crowd stood throughout the show and gave a tremendous ovation at the conclusion. A purveyor of peace and love, Ringo proved he can still rock a stage, especially with a little help from his friends.”
Buy or stream Ringo Starr’s Rewind Forward EP.