Ringo Starr’s “Look Up” is a triumphant return to form with a twist of twang

Now holding forth during its sixth decade, Ringo Starr’s solo career has largely been an uneven affair in terms of studio albums. There are the 1970s-era highwater marks associated with the “Ringo” (1973) and “Goodnight Vienna” (1974) LPs, of course, and there is no denying the remarkable contributions to popular music that he regularly makes with his All-Starr Band, a moveable feast of hitmakers who never fail to entertain and enlighten.

Which brings us to “Look Up,” his twenty-first studio album and easily his finest record in decades. Produced by T. Bone Burnett, “Look Up” takes brilliant advantage of Ringo’s longstanding and well-honed country and western affectations. During his Beatles years, Starr provided lead vocals on such country-infused gems as cover versions of Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t” and the Buck Owens hit “Act Naturally,” as well as such original compositions as “The White Album” track “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Abbey Road”’s “Octopus’ Garden.” In the wake of the Fab Four’s disbandment, he recorded “Beaucoups of Blues” (1970) with Pete Drake handling production duties in Nashville.

For Starr, “Look Up” is a triumphant return to form. In Burnett’s able hands, the album is chockful of exciting and, at times, tender-hearted turns. In addition to production duties, Burnett composed (or co-wrote) the album’s songs, which were clearly arranged to accommodate Ringo’s unmistakable vocal stylings. In his eighty-fourth year, Ringo handles the vocals with impressive skill, modulating his drawl for maximum effect. 

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With “Look Up,” there are plenty of memorable songs to go around. Take “Time on My Hands,” for instance, in which Starr contributes a heartbreaking vocal about the fleeting nature of human experience, or “Come Back,” wherein Ringo contemplates loneliness with fiddle and mandolin accompaniment. In yet another standout track, “I Live for Your Love,” the veteran musician sings movingly about the brutal truths of living and finding a way to negotiate the realities of growing older. “I don’t live in the future / I don’t live in the past,” Ringo sings. “I live in the moment / I live in the now.”

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With Ringo’s steady drumbeat guiding the way, “Look Up” benefits from the contributions of a host of guest performers, including Alison Krauss and Billy Swann, as well as such country and western players as Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and the Larkin Poe duo. The result is a star-studded array of top-flight musicians working in support of one of popular music’s indisputable legends. And Ringo, who has proven time and time again that he does his best work in a community of top-notch players, wouldn’t have it any other way.