Ringo Starr presents the award for record of the year at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Richard Starkey, known the world over as Ringo Starr, is now 80 years old. How is it possible that so many decades have rushed by our collective door in a soft blur? How could the most well-known and beloved drummer in the world seemingly, like a wispy shadow shrouded in an evening mist, have drifted so far down the path of senior citizenship while I wasn’t looking? On a wall in the gallery of my mind hangs a pristine image of a hair-thrashing, tom-tom pounding, cymbal-crashing young Ringo in his 20’s sitting at his drum kit anchoring the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in history. For me, it is an image that is etched in eternity.

Looking through the lens of reality, most drummers are, at best, rather anonymous figures who are a part of a band simply to provide rhythm. That was never the case with the famed Beatles drummer. His musical viability can be heard clearly across every page in the Beatles song book. All one needs do is to listen closely to his drumming on classic Beatles songs like “A Day in the Life,” “I am the Walrus,” and of course, “Rain,” the Beatles single that, above all the others, showcased just how brilliant Ringo always was at his craft.

He was the last one to become a Beatle, long after the others were settled into their roles and had defined their public personas. What was always true was that finding his musical niche and personal persona was never a problem, as he simply acted as who he always was by contributing his unique musical skill set in a way that impressed his bandmates from the first day to the last day of the Beatles as a band.

So many drummers from across different musical genres are unanimous in voicing their collective view of always yearning to be as good as Ringo was, and still is today. In his subtle and understated way, he set the drumming bar very high by becoming, as I say, the standard to which all other drummers aspired. The sad reality is that, for reasons that still remain a mystery to me, it took the public at large a half a century to recognize and appreciate his creativity, innovation and understated brilliance. Competing with the creative genius of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison surely had to have been the most daunting challenge in the world for any musician. And yet, Ringo always proved himself to be more than up to accepting that daunting challenge.

In these times, for all intents and purposes, Covid-19 has shut down the “live audience” concert circuit across the world. However, this has not sidelined the former Beatle. The global isolation that has become a bi-product of the pandemic proved to be a creative incubator for Ringo to record “Zoom In,” a five song EP, in his home studio in Los Angeles. His former Beatles bandmate, Paul McCartney, heads-up a long list of music luminaries who contributed to the EP. They include Joe Walsh, Eagles guitarist and Ringo’s brother-in-law, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, country super star, Chris Stapleton, and Sheryl Crow. Diane Warren, one of the music industry’s most successful songwriters, lends her expertise as a co-writer.

A man who came of age in the 60’s, across the decades Ringo has maintained a public persona that is founded on the well-worn message of peace and love. “Zoom In” is no exception, as it carries on that theme. There is an amiable, cheerful and nostalgic feel to it from start to finish. The EP begins with the Warren-written, “Here’s to the Nights” that exudes a palpable feeling of good time camaraderie. Featuring lyrics like, “Here’s to the nights we won’t remember with the friends we won’t forget,” it is a song that sets the album’s overall tone by lauding the paramount importance of friendship. When you listen to it, you can’t help but see it as a musical response to the collective loneliness that has been spawned by the pandemic over the last year.

“Zoom In Zoom Out” is the second track, and it is a rocker to be sure. The song has legs to it as it features a strong vocal from Ringo that is coupled with nice guitar licks from Doors guitarist Robby Krieger. “Teach me to Tango,” reinforces just what a master drummer Starr still is today. Those who have followed Ringo Starr’s career across the years know that from his having reached the summit of music’s Mount Olympus as a member of the Beatles, and right on into a productive and successful solo artist in his post-Beatles life, he has always embraced Reggae music. His love of this genre shines through on the Reggae-influenced “Waiting for the Tide to Turn.” With its happy up-tempo island feel, it makes you want to get up and dance. For me, the driving beat and backing horns make this one of the album’s strongest tracks. The EP finishes up with “Not Enough Love in the World,” that once again amplifies Starr’s overarching message of peace and love. This closer also features a wonderful horn arrangement that is paired with blistering guitar riffs from Steve Lukather of the great 70’s band, Toto.

Overall, “Zoom In” is an ambitious undertaking. Ringo Starr, always the most underappreciated member of a band that will forever be Rock Royalty, has come up with an effort that, while it is clearly not the Beatles, for they are gone forever, it is an impressive collection that underscores the fact that at 80 years young, Ringo Starr is still an extraordinary musical artist.

Paul Collins is a freelance writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.

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