Ringo Starr has managed to pull off a semi-Beatles reunion for his new album, called “What’s My Name,” coming on October 25th. He’s covered John Lennon’s great song, “Grow Old With Me,” with Paul McCartney playing bass and singing background. It should be a three handkerchief moment.
According to a press release:
For Ringo, the inspiration to record “Grow Old With Me” now came when he ran into noted record producer Jack Douglas who had produced John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy album, among other classic recordings.
“Jack asked if I ever heard The Bermuda Tapes, John’s demos from that time,” Ringo recalls. “And I had never heard all this. The idea that John was talking about me in that time before he died, well, I’m an emotional person. And I just loved this song. I sang it the best that I could. I do well up when I think of John this deeply. And I’ve done my best. We’ve done our best. The other good thing is that I really wanted Paul to play on it, and he said yes. Paul came over and he played bass and sings a little bit on this with me. So John’s on it in a way. I’m on it and Paul’s on it. It’s not a publicity stunt. This is just what I wanted. And the strings that Jack arranged for this track, if you really listen, they do one line from “Here Comes The Sun.” So in a way, it’s the four of us.”
Ringo’s other collaborators include brother in law Joe Walsh as well as Edgar Winter, Steve Lukather, Nathan East, and Colin Hay.
