Ringo Starr Couldn’t Remember the Name of a Paul McCartney Solo Song He Played On, but He Found It ‘Beautiful’
Ringo Starr worked with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison in the years after The Beatles broke up. They contributed songs to his solo albums. He, in turn, collaborated with them on their albums. Starr shared that he found one song he worked on with McCartney beautiful. He had a hard time remembering the name of it, though.
Ringo Starr collaborated with Paul McCartney on the song ‘Beautiful Night’
In 1997, McCartney released the album Flaming Pie. Starr joined him on a song to play drums and provide backing vocals. When asked about his work on the song, Starr said he was happy to work with McCartney. He just couldn’t remember what the song was called.
“He had this song he wanted me to play on,” Starr told Club Sandwich in 1997 (via The Paul McCartney Project). “And that’s what happened – I went down to his studio and we played on the track. What’s it called?”
His inability to remember the title didn’t mean he disliked the song, though.
“Yeah, I’m sorry! He invited me to play on ‘Beautiful Night,’ and I said ‘Sure,’” Starr said. “I think it’s a beautiful track, and while we did that we started jamming. He had a few ideas for a jam, playing his bass.”
Starr added that he greatly enjoyed working on the track.
“I love to play drums when Paul’s playing bass – he’s such a fine player, still the most melodic,” he said. “We were just jamming and he was shouting these words, and it turned into a song. Jeff Lynne was playing a little plunky guitar too – it was just the three of us and it turned out fine, just finding a pattern and playing it – it’s organic, it grows. It was a fun day and I like to hang out with Paul and Linda.”
Ringo Starr said he still enjoyed working with Paul McCartney years after The Beatles broke up
Starr joined McCartney on “Beautiful Night” nearly 30 years after The Beatles broke up. Even after all that time, Starr said he connected well with his former bandmate.
“I still feel really comfortable playing with Paul, yes,” he said. “We have all that history and it comes into play when we work together. You can’t just dismiss that. You’re never going to lose the closeness of those eight years we spent together. We played some great music and we were brothers; no matter what goes on up and down, we were very close. I don’t know of any other band who got that close.”
He shared that they still complemented each other well.
“He plays melodies within the melodies,” Starr explained. “He’s like the sea bed, or I’m the sea bed and he’s the bottom water, and everything goes up from there. Like bubbles.”
The former bandmates remain close friends
Over two decades after they worked together on “Beautiful Night,” Starr said he remains close with McCartney.
“Paul called me the other day … We’re close, close friends,” he told CNN. “We’re brothers and you know, for me it was great because I’m an only child and suddenly I had three brothers that I could love, I could rely on, I could help out. You know, it was a great moment for me.”
