A Starr Turn
There was a wonderful article this week in the Washington Post about Ringo Starr still touring at age 86. Not because he has to, of course, but because he absolutely loves it. The article is a pure joy, and you can read it here. It's fairly long, but I was surprised by that because it reads so fast, because it's such fun.
For as terrific as the article is, there was one passage near the end which stoof out for me.
"He has recorded and released more than 260 songs across nearly two dozen studio albums since 1970, but not one of them had been a duet with Paul McCartney, his surviving bandmate. But about two years after Starr had an impromptu jam session on drums in 2024 with producer Andrew Watt, McCartney heard the recording and believed it had to be a song. Starr started to record the choruses for 'Home to Us,' because, well, that’s what he had always done in the past. Not this time.
"When the single was released last May on McCartney’s album 'The Boys of Dungeon Lane,' it marked the first time the two living Beatles performed the full vocals on a song as a duo.
“[McCartney] said, ‘Oh, man, you’re sounding great. Why don’t you sing it all? We’ll do it as a double.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, okay, that’ll be a change!’” Starr says, guffawing. “With Paul and I, it’s never been like that before. It’s always been that he comes over and plays bass for me, like he has several times over the last 50 years.
“We still talk to each other, still say, ‘Love you, man,’ and we’re pals when we’re in the same country.” After reading that, I clicked on the link to hear the song. I had no idea it existed (I like the Beatles, and appreciate their invidivual work, though I was never remotely a Beatlemaniac, so I don't keep up with such things), but that isn't terribly surprising. After all, although the article says the song was released in May, it was specifically May 29, so it was virtually June, just four months ago. I listened. It's lighthearted, but very touching underneath...and extremely enjoyable. And all the more touching in hearing the two singers alternating lines through the song -- and then joining voices at particiually lrical moments. Here it is.
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