Not many 85-year-olds are as fit as Ringo Starr. The former Beatle has released yet another album. On it, he indulges his lifelong passion for country music – with some high-profile guests.

Working on his 2025 album Look Up with T Bone Burnett was so much fun that he is now following it up. The restless Brit has been back in the studio with the American country icon and has emerged with his 22nd studio album, Long Long Road.

The album title has something autobiographical about it, and, at 85, Starr is looking back.

“Yeah, well, we’re talking about that now because of Long Long Road. It’s like the road I’ve taken,” he says, pointing to the various stops in his life.

“We got out of Liverpool, and we went to London, and then we went to New York, and, you know, all of those are stop marks on your walk of life. It’s so far out.”

But despite its retrospective theme, Long Long Road is still a modern country album, thanks also to prominent guest musicians Burnett brought into the Nashville studio for the recordings – Sheryl Crow, Annie Clark aka St Vincent, Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz.

Source: scmp.com

Pattie Boyd got a reminder of her place in rock history this week. The former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton revealed on Instagram that she attended a recent intimate concert by Clapton and heard him perform two songs famously written about her: “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight.”

Perhaps no woman has inspired as many classic rock songs as Boyd. The former model and actress was the muse behind Harrison’s “I Need You,” “For You Blue” and “Something,” as well as Clapton’s “Bell Bottom Blues,” in addition to “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight.”

Clapton fell for her while she was married to his friend Harrison and wrote both “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Layla” out of his unrequited love for her. She and Harrison divorced in 1977, and she married Clapton in 1979, but their marriage was over by 1989.

Clearly, time has healed wounds. As Boyd revealed in an Instagram post this week, she took in one of Clapton’s two concerts at G Live in Guildford on Monday, April 20, held as warm-up shows for his 2026 tour. “Fabulous to see Eric in the relatively intimate G-Live venue in Guildford on Monday evening,” she wrote on Instagram. “Great to hear ‘Old Love,’ ‘Layla’ and ‘Wonderful Tonight’ (amongst others) live again.”

Boyd entered rock history in 1964 when she was cast as a schoolgirl in the Beatles’ debut film, A Hard Day’s Night. She and Harrison began dating as the cameras rolled and were married in 1966.

By then Harrison and Clapton were two years into a friendship that began in December 1964, when the Yardbirds — with whom Clapton was then performing — opened for the Beatles’ Christmas show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. The two men bonded over their shared love of guitar, leading to a close friendship that included Clapton playing on the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in 1968.

By 1970, however, Harrison and Boyd’s marriage was strained, and Clapton had become infatuated with her, much to Harrison’s displeasure. Boyd later recounted how the two eventually fought a guitar duel over her, noting that Clapton emerged as the victor.

Source: guitarplayer.com/Elizabeth Swann

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A public reunion of the world's best-loved songwriting duo nearly took place the night of April 24, 1976.

During a broadcast of the sketch comedy Saturday Night Live, executive producer Lorne Michaels delivered a plea to camera for a Beatles reunion. Lorne Michaels offering $3000 for a Beatles reunion.

"It's also been said that no one has yet to come up with enough money to satisfy you. Well, if it's money you want, there's no problem here," Michaels said.  "The National Broadcasting Company has authorised me to offer you this cheque to be on our show. A certified cheque for $3000."

The crowd laughed at what was a comically small sum.  "This cheque is made out to The Beatles," Michaels continued.

"You divide it anyway you want: if you want to give Ringo less, that's up to you."  Unbeknownst to Michaels, Lennon and McCartney were watching TV together a few blocks away.

The pair had buried the hatchet and had tuned in to what was at the time a new comedy program. Lennon later revealed they gave serious consideration to crashing the studio for a sudden cameo. "We were watching it and almost went down to the studio, just as a gag," he said.

"We nearly got into a cab, but we were actually too tired." The next day McCartney arrived unannounced at Lennon's door to hang out.

Lennon rebuked McCartney for not calling first, and the two went their separate ways, never to see each other again.

Source: 9news.com.au/Nick Pearson

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With “Long Long Road,” his twenty-second studio album, Ringo Starr has settled into one of his career’s finest grooves. While he will surely be remembered for his classic 1970s LPs “Ringo” (1973) and “Goodnight Vienna” (1974), his recent return to his country roots has been a genuine boon for music lovers everywhere.

Starr’s previous forays into country and western include the exquisite “Beaucoups of Blues” (1970), produced by Pete Drake, and last year’s “Look Up.” With T. Bone Burnett holding forth in the producer’s chair yet again, “Long Long Road” matches its predecessor’s penchant for warmhearted storytelling and well-played musical confections.

And like his frequent tours with his All-Starr Band, Starr’s backing band on “Long Long Road” features a selection of top-notch players and guest artists. Having written or co-written six of the album’s songs, Burnett has proven himself to be one of Starr’s most able and industrious collaborators. He also has a knack for teasing out some of Starr’s best performances in years.

Source: salon.com/Kenneth Womack

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Cover songs pop up in the most unexpected places. Even in the 80s, when everyone was trying to take music fearlessly into a new era, artists often made those futuristic moves with songs that were somewhat long in the tooth.

These four songs from 1988 all ascended to high levels on the US pop charts. And all were first performed in the 60s.
“Got My Mind Set On You” by George Harrison

Cloud Nine represented a return to the limelight for George Harrison after years of mostly steering clear of the machinery of the music scene. To make this grand return, Harrison chose “Got My Mind Set On You” as the LP’s first single. Aside from the modern drum sound, the song seemed as Beatlesque as Harrison had permitted himself to be on a recording in many years. That’s why people are often surprised to learn that Harrison sourced the song from a 1962 R&B single by James Ray. Harrison first heard it in 1963 while on a pre-Beatlemania visit to America. Those minimal lyrics, which emphasize the single-minded pursuit of the narrator, clearly stuck with Harrison. The song hit No. 1 in January of 1988, the last ever US chart-topper by a solo Beatle.
“A Groovy Kind Of Love” by Phil Collins

Collins enjoyed success with various cover songs throughout the 80s, including The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” and Stephen Bishop’s “Separate Lives”. With “A Groovy Kind Of Love”, he took the source material and found a way to update it for an 80s audience. The British band The Mindbenders made it to No. 2 on the charts in 1966 with the song. Collins dusted it off as a single on the soundtrack of Buster, a film in which he starred in 1988. He slowed the tempo down just a tad and added a dreamy instrumental section in the middle. Those changes gave the song a bit more emotional heft, which Collins played up with a strong vocal. This take on “A Groovy Kind Of Love” didn’t stop at No. 2, reaching the top spot instead.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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Released in 1967 as the final track on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles was accompanied by some of the band’s most iconic songs, from “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

But unlike the pop and rock influences present in the other songs on the album, the side two song took an experimental turn that ended up influencing the genre for decades to come.

It starts with a soft strumming guitar that’s quickly joined by piano, followed by John Lennon’s voice softly singing about reading the news, telling the story of a man’s tragic death as the drums kick in. The song then takes a turn with orchestral glissandos and tape effects, shifting the mood dramatically, before there’s an abrupt twist via an alarm clock sound. Paul McCartney then sings in an upbeat tone about waking up and starting his day, eventually explaining he “went into a dream.”

At that point, vocal harmonies jump in, moving the song back to Lennon’s dreamy soundscape, which once again gets interrupted by urgent strings that border on musical discord. A piano chord breaks through for around 30 seconds, softly fading out of the experimental pop song.

Source: yahoo.com/Gabriela Arevalo

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