In night one of Ringo Starr & Friends, the Beatles drummer was joined on stage by Jack White, Emmylou Harris, Billy Strings, Brenda Lee, Sheryl Crow, Molly Tuttle and others last night at The Ryman. The show was the debut of his new country album, Look Up, produced by Nashville’s T Bone Burnett, who acted as stage director during the production last night and announced that the show was being filmed for a TV special that will air on CBS.
The stage direction was needed. Through the night there were many moving parts. Jack White, professed Beatles obsessive, came out on the opening song, a lively cover of Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox.” The 84-year-old Starr was lively on stage, bouncing around during his 1973 single “It Don’t Come Easy,” and then debuted “Time On My Hands” off his new album, his eyes locked on the screen that hung on the balcony holding the lyrics. After that, the friends took over. With Starr off stage, Tuttle sang “Octopus’s Garden,” White performed “Don’t Pass Me By” and The War & Treaty got a standing ovation for a powerful rendition of “Without Her.” There were gaps between songs as the production figured out who was going on and off the stage. Starr got behind the drum kit on a cover of The Shirelles’ 1960 song “Boys.”
“That concludes our first rehearsal,” Burnett said with a laugh as the show entered a 20 minute intermission. When they came back, Burnett introduced every act on and off the stage for the second act which included Janey Johnson, Rodney Crowell, Larkin Poe, Strings and Tuttle. Starr started and stopped his song “Look Up” after the first verse, getting a laugh from the crowd by making fun of himself. At the end of the show, Harris came out and made news by asking Starr if he would come back in February to make his Grand Ole Opry debut, to which he said yes.
The show concluded on a high note, after some miscommunication on stage marks and start ups, ending with everyone on stage, including Brenda Lee, to sing “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help From My Friends” to an audience that gladly sang along with them.
Night two of Ringo Starr & Friends will be tonight, Wednesday, Jan. 15, also taped for a CBS and Paramount+ special that will air in the spring. The special will benefit wildfire recovery in Los Angeles.
Tickets to tonight’s show here.
