Ringo 2012

What do you call somebody who hangs around with musicians? A drummer.

It's an old joke but it's one that inescapably comes to mind as you ponder the solo career of Ringo Starr, a man whose musical limitations were cruelly exposed by John Lennon when asked if he was the best drummer in the world: "Ringo? He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles!"

The title of Starr's 17th post-Beatles record references his 1973 album Ringo, his most successful solo offering, and shows few signs of musical progression since then. Its hoary mix of blues, honky-tonk and unreconstructed rock & roll sounds hopelessly dated.

He's also hardly pushed the boat out on new material. Short at nine songs, Ringo 2012 includes an old blues standard in Rock Island Line, a Buddy Holly cover in Think It Over, and two songs that have appeared on previous Starr albums. It's fair to say he is not overflowing with new ideas.

A flat-voiced Ringo casts a nostalgic eye back over his Fab Four days on In Liverpool ("Me and the band living our fantasies / Breaking the rules, acting like fools") but it's hard to imagine anybody but Beatles obsessives parting with hard cash for Ringo 2012. And frankly, even they might want to think twice…

Album Review by Ian Gittins