Ringo 2012 / UMe ‎Audio CD + DVD 2012

UPC 0602527937885

Special edition includes a bonus DVD. Ringo 2012 is the fabulous sound of a man you know and love working in the groove of a lifetime and making an album with nine songs that vividly reflect his life yesterday and today. "This album is me doing what I do here and now," says Ringo, "and nobody's more qualified to do that than I am!" in fact, one of the only things that didn't come easy for Ringo Starr making Ringo 2012 was the title. Ringo 2012 cannot help but recall the title of another classic album by Starr, 1973's Ringo - in fact, Ringo 2012 features a startlingly new and improved version of "Step Lightly' from the massively successful Ringo, as well as "Wings" from 1978's Ringo the 4th.

Ringo 2012 -- released January 31 on HIP-O/UMe Records finds Starr working with a little help from his musical friends including guitarist Joe Walsh and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Michael Bradford, Steve Dudas, Charlie Haden, Amy Keys, Kelly Moneymaker, Richard Page, Van Dyke Parks, Dave Stewart, Bruce Sugar, Benmont Tench, Don Was and Edgar Winter. But more than ever, the focus on Ringo 2012 is firmly on the man calling the shots - Ringo, who produced the album just as he did 2010's Y Not.

As Starr says with a smile, "I got out of bed in the morning, and thought who can produce this album? Then I looked in the mirror, and there he was. I do feel like I've found my best producer. We're back to making records in real time, and not wasting time. I like the pace I'm working at. It's the old pace, it's about where I come from, and it worked well then too. Now because of technology, I can do it at home -- I don't have to go to any studio. I can have a cup of tea with Barbara in the morning, and walk the dog, I can live and make a record and we get it done right. There's a lot of space on this record because when you have someone great like Benmont Tench playing his organ or piano, there's room for him to play. I'm not cluttering anything up on these last two albums. I like it very open and sparse, sort of old rock & roll-ish in its way. And in the end, it's all on the groove because I'm the drummer and I say so!"

Personnel per booklet.

• Ringo Starr – drums, percussion, vocals, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar
• Steve Dudas – guitar, bass
• Bruce Sugar – keyboards, piano, horn, arrangement, organ, synth horns
• Amy Keys – backing vocals
• Kelly Moneymaker – backing vocals
• Joe Walsh – guitar
• Benmont Tench – organ
• Charlie Haden – bass
• Richard Page – backing vocals
• Van Dyke Parks – keyboards, accordion, string arrangement
• Matt Cartsonis – mandolin
• Don Was – bass
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd – guitar
• Edgar Winter – sax, organ
• David A. Stewart – guitar, keyboards
• Michael Bradford – bass
• Ann Marie Calhoun – violin