Ringo Starr celebrated the impending release of his new EP, Crooked Boy, by taking part in an advance playback event on Thursday, April 18, at the Amoeba Music Hollywood record store in Los Angeles.
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At the event, Starr was joined by acclaimed songwriter Linda Perry, who wrote the EP’s four songs and produced the tracks. Starr and Perry expressed their mutual admiration of each other while being interviewed during the event by Chris Carter, a DJ on SiriusXM’s The Beatles Channel.
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“Linda put the whole thing together. I’ll tell you that first,” Starr said, then explained how he began working with her when he started recording and releasing a series of EPs a few years ago.
The former Beatles drummer noted that he “was determined to work with people I hadn’t worked with before [on the EPs], and Linda was one of them,” referring to her as “the great songwriter.”
[RELATED: Listen to Ringo Starr’s New Single, “February Sky,” Written by Linda Perry]
Prior to Crooked Boy, Perry had contributed an original song to two of the four EPs Starr has released since 2021.
“[W]e called her, and I asked her has she got a track, and she said, ‘yeah,’ and then I called her, and she said, ‘yeah,’” Starr explained. “And then she said, ‘Why don’t you let me do an EP on you?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ And she’s done a great job.”
Starr also revealed that Perry came up with the EP’s title and designed its cover.
Perry Loved Working on Starr’s EP
Perry then shared that while she’s gotten to do many “incredible things” in her career, including writing many songs for various artists and traveling to many places, there’s nothing like having the opportunity to work with one of her musical heroes.
“I was brought up with this incredible music of The Beatles,” she noted. “And I was brought up watching Ringo, and him always being my favorite, ’cause I thought he was the most charming and funniest one. And he is the most nice, charming, funny person, and filled with lots of love. A lot of love comes from this guy.”
She continued, “The ‘peace and love’ is not just a gimmick. It’s really true, it’s genuine, it’s authentic. So, to get this opportunity was pretty f—ing amazing.”
Perry added, “It was easy to write music for Ringo Starr.”
Perry Talked About Designing the Crooked Boy EP Cover
She then talked about how she wound up designing the EP’s cover, which features a photo of a young, shirtless Starr on a beach.
Calling herself a control freak, Perry explained that after she had written the EP’s four songs and produced the tracks, she simply asked the 83-year-old Beatles legend if she could do the cover too, and he said, “Sure.”
Perry said she envisioned a sexy picture of Starr on the beach or by a pool on the cover, so she Googled “Ringo Starr no shirt beach pool.”
“And then, that picture showed up,” Perry told the crowd. “And I’m like, the heavens came down. I’m like, ‘This is exactly what I thought.’” The photo was an image of Starr taken by photographer Harry Benson in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1964, during The Beatles’ first visit to the U.S.
“Then I put the album cover together,” Perry said. “I sent it to [Starr], and he’s like, ‘Oh, you make me look young.’”
Starr Mentioned Another Upcoming Recording Project
Before the end of the Q&A, Starr shared that was in the middle of making a new 10-track record, likely referring to the country album he mentioned in a recent video update posted on his YouTube channel.
More About the Crooked Boy Playback Event
As previously reported, attendees of the playback event also had the chance to purchase an exclusive seven-inch red-vinyl single featuring Crooked Boy’s lead single, “February Sky,” and another track from the EP, “Gonna Need Someone.” There also were special merch giveaways.
Crooked Boy Release Details
Crooked Boy will get its initial release as a limited-edition colored-vinyl disc this Saturday, April 20, as part of the 2024 Record Store Day event.
The EP will be available on black-and-white marble vinyl exclusively at independent record stores.
Crooked Boy then will be released digitally on April 26. After that, black-vinyl and CD versions of the EP will be issued on May 31.
Ringo and the All Starr Band’s 2024 Tour Plans
Starr and his All Starr Band kick off a 12-date spring tour leg on May 22 at The Venetian theater in Las Vegas. The trek runs through a June 9 concert in Austin, Texas. The Las Vegas gig is part of a six-show residency at The Venetian. The group also will be playing a couple of shows in California and June 5-6 stand in Mexico City during the outing.
Starr also has just announced a run of nine fall 2024 concerts. Those shows are mapped out from a September 12 performance in Omaha, Nebraska, through a September 25 concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Tickets for the shows are available now via various outlets, including StubHub.
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