10 Songs That Prove Ringo Star’s Solo Career Is Better Than You Think
2. Liverpool 8
In a less than positive review for The Times, rock critic Peter Paphides wrote of Ringo’s Liverpool 8 album, “It’s hard not to boggle at Liverpool’s susceptibility to flattery.” There are certainly few places that have immortalised so often in song, from The Pacemakers’ Ferry Across The Mersey to The Mighty Wah!’s Heart As Big As Liverpool.
As well as celebrating his his home city, Liverpool 8 indulges Starr’s penchant for lyrical autobiography, recalling his upbringing and time as one of Liverpool’s biggest exports, The Beatles.
The album was his first in years to feature a ‘name’ producer, former Eurthymic Dave Stewart, and the release was timed to coincide with Liverpool’s coronation as European city of culture. It was also his first album for EMI since The Beatles. If the whole thing was calibrated to provide Ringo with an elusive hit it didn’t work.
Still, the title track is jaunty and engaging, building to a rousing crescendo. In other hands this song may have collapsed under the weight of its own cynicism but Ringo, prior to his controversial political punditry, had enough goodwill and charm to pull it off.