Ringo Starr (real name: Richard Starkey), who became one of the world\'s most famous drummers by keeping the beat for the Beatles, has issued a new solo album today. Well, new: his latest musical effort, \'Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr\', is a compilation album. It\'s his first-ever career-spanning hits collection, boasting seven Top 10 pop hits released between 1970 and 2005 including Photograph, It Doesn\'t Come Easy, and You\'re Sixteen.\"Sometimes things just gel. I enjoy working with artists and bringing them together. That\'s the musician in me. Because I\'m a drummer, it\'s just difficult to, like, get up and say, \'Now I\'d like to do Photograph just on the kit.\'\"
Starr has also announced his next solo album, titled \'Liverpool 8\'. It is scheduled for global release by EMI Music in January 2008, via Capitol/EMI in North America and Parlophone in the United Kingdom.
Although he was first known around the world as The Beatles\' drummer, throughout more than 45 years as a global entertainment icon, Ringo Starr has enjoyed a successful and dynamic solo career as a singer, songwriter and drummer, an active musical collaborator, and as an actor. Drawing inspiration from classic blues, soul, country and rock \'n\' roll, Starr continues to play an important role in modern music with his solo recording and touring.
Asked how Starr did pick the songs for his new album, he answers:
\"Actually, we had a set of tracks we could use, going back to Capitol in the early days. What was great was Capitol/EMI expanded it, which they don\'t usually do. Usually the label only uses tunes from the label. They actually went and got tracks off 2005\'s \"Choose Love\" CD, off different labels. It\'s a great representation of the stuff I\'ve done in the last 400 years.\"
The ex-Beatle is 67 years old now. Speaking about his age, the drummer states:
\"I\'m in the game, I\'m still making records, I\'m still playing. (...) I haven\'t had a hit in a long time. It could be the next CD, who knows. We\'re in it to play.\"
Ringo Starr used to put a packet of cigarettes on your drum snare to muffle its sound, claiming the snare sound was too bright:
\"I\'ve always liked a deep sound on my snare drum, so I put my pack of cigarettes on it, to take it down a notch. Then I started putting tea towels on top of everything. Then I put towels on every drum. I gave it that deeper quality. But I don\'t do that anymore.\"
