At their core, The Beatles were a band born out of nothing before a love of music. The Fab Four were united by a common passion for new sounds floating across the Atlantic to shake things up in the UK. Long after they helped revolutionise music, the members remained major fans and champions for new and exciting artists. As one of the two remaining members, Ringo Starr is still carrying that torch today, shouting about his favourite artists.
Starr was always a unique member of the band. Despite being one of the most famous drummers in the world, his view was always wider than just his instrument. While being dedicated and passionate about his playing, his true love lies with music as a whole, caring more about crafting an all-around good song rather than just a good drum fill.
That translates into his musical taste. “I didn’t buy a record for the drums. I bought a record for the record, and if the drums were good, that was great,” he told Apple’s Celebrity Playlist Podcast. One of those great records with great drums was Al Green’s ‘I’m A Ram’, picked purely for its hi-hats.
Similarly, he picked out Little Richard’s ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ for its early drum influence on him. “When I was 17 there was a show called the Alan Freed Show,” he said, “That’s where we heard everything and when Little Richard came on. It was one of those moments where you just stopped in your tracks like ‘my god! listen to this!’”
Along with those early influences, Starr holds close to the songs made by friends and peers. Naturally, his Beatles bandmate John Lennon makes the cut. Starr gets a little choked up as he explains, “John was just great. I was listening to this the other day, it came up on the radio, and I thought I’m going to put that down because people should hear him like this. He gave you everything he had that day, and this track does that for me.” The song he wants you to hear is ‘Scared’.
Another lost friend he honours is Marc Bolan by selecting ‘Get It On’, as well as tracks from Michael Jackson and James Brown.
Bob Dylan was always a major source of inspiration for the Beatles boys, and Starr struggled to select only a few of his tracks to spotlight as his favourites. He mentioned ‘Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream’ and ‘Maggie’s Farm’ but settled on ‘When The Deal Goes Down’ as his current top track. “I think it’s so emotional; deep down, I’m an emotional person,” he says. “I think what it says, ‘I’ll be without you when the deal goes down’, it’s a beautiful way and only Bob would say it that way.”
Expanding far beyond his own era, Starr remains an avid fan of new music. He selects more modern cuts from artists like The Books, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys and newer cuts from Chrissie Hynde.
He takes his global tastes by picking songs from vast and varied genres and countries. Starr highlights one Moroccan artist called Tinariwen as well as the reggae legend Burning Spear, calling his track ‘The Sun’, “one of the best reggae records.”
Proving himself to have an ever-growing eclectic taste, Starr said: “All the time, I’m trying to listen to new music and see what’s happening.” It’s nice to see a legend still so passionate about music and still seeking out new tracks to enjoy alongside his old faithfuls.
Ringo Starr’s favourite songs:
Burning Spear – ‘The Sun’
John Lennon – ‘Scared’
T. Rex – ‘Get It On’
Bob Dylan – ‘When The Deal Goes Down’
Little Richard – ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’
Sam Cooke – ‘Shake’
Ray Wylie Hubbard – ‘Snake Farm’
Delaney and Bonnie – ‘When The Battle Is Over’
The Books – ‘Cello Song’
Al Green – ‘I’m A Ram’
Peter Tosh – ‘Johnny B. Goode’
Tinariwen – ‘Assouf’
Michael Jackson – ‘Black Or White’
The Four Aces – ‘Love Is A Many Splendored Thing’
The Pretenders – ‘Love’s A Mystery’
James Brown – ‘Try Me’
