Ringo Starr: Long Long Road
- Jade Read
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Jade Read
President / Editor-In-Chief
April 26, 2026
In the 1950s, a young Ringo Starr, still known as Richard Starkey, wandered Liverpool as merchant navy workers brought records back from Texas. Those imports flooded the city with country music and shaped his early taste. Now, more than five decades after his first country release, Starr returns with Long Long Road, closing a 56-year gap.
When making this album, Ringo didn’t take shortcuts. He recorded much of it in Nashville and worked closely with the legendary T Bone Burnett, whose style leans into stripped-back, roots-driven production rather than anything overly polished.
Unlike a lot of modern country, Long Long Road pulls from the artists Ringo grew up on, especially Buck Owens and Hank Williams. That influence shows up right away. “Returning Without Tears” opens with a steel guitar-driven sound and focuses on the gamble of love, with Ringo reflecting on the weight of long-term decisions. “Baby Don’t Go” shifts into more of a New Orleans feel, loose and jam-like, giving off the sense of a room full of musicians playing it out live while he tries to hold onto someone who’s already halfway gone.
That same feeling carries into “I Don’t See Me in Your Eyes Anymore,” a Charlie Rich song that fits naturally into the album’s tone and its influences. “It’s Been Too Long” follows that thread, but with more of a sense of trying to fix something that’s already slipping, looking back on date nights, dreams, and even trust as things that have faded.
“Why” is one of the more different tracks, leaning into Ringo’s humor, similar to “No-No Song,” built around a simple question that doesn’t really need an answer but still works as a song.
“You and I (Wave of Love)” brings things back to a more emotional center, featuring Molly Tuttle. The duet plays off both perspectives, and her voice contrasts well with Ringo’s. Across the album, Burnett’s backing group, often referred to as “The Texans,” plays a big role in shaping the sound. Players like Rory Hoffman, Paul Franklin, and Dennis Crouch give exactly what the record needs, which lines up with the same approach that made Ringo one of the most recognizable drummers ever.
“My Baby Don’t Want Nothing” stands out as one of the stronger tracks, both lyrically and in how it’s put together. It strips things back and lets the idea carry the song without doing too much.
Reaching the end of the album, Ringo delivers three songs that contrast well with the rest. “Choose Love” leans into a Beatles-style sound, grounded in the message that has followed him for years. The lyrics feel personal, and the instrumentation pulls from that late-60s psychedelic influence.
“She’s Gone” feels like a follow-up to “Baby Don’t Go,” a bluesy country track centered on that same sense of longing. It carries that heavy yearning, with Molly Tuttle returning on backing vocals, adding another layer without taking away from the core of the song.
The title track, “Long Long Road,” acts as the foundation of the album. It holds up across lyrics, vocals, and instrumentation, and the spoken section brings it back to its core, letting Ringo say exactly what he’s thinking.
Overall, Long Long Road is a strong return to country for Ringo Starr. It feels direct and rooted in the music that shaped him as a kid in Liverpool hearing those American imports.
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