Ringo Starr (1972) Nashville Jam

A funky blues based jam with the some of Nashville's best musicians, there is occasional pedal steel licks fitting nicely into the compact beat driven by the Starr of the show. Ringo's rock steady beat and occasional fills and rolls are uncharacteristic of him but serve the heavy backbeat very well as everything from slide guitar, to acoustic and organ turn up in the mix. Ringo's foundation allows some fluid blues playing while the groove meanders into different portions naturally like when the piano takes the fore or when a country guitar interjects here and there with simple licks here and there. The fiddle works well with it's smooth soloing fitting in with the rest of this very funk infused Purdie-esque work out. This definitely stands out on the album, closing it with more weight and punch then the whole album of country standards could muster, the blend of funk rhythms with country twang is a delightful blues based extravaganza. While its hard to tell who plays what as there is credited a lot of musicians, such as two fiddle players, two pedal steel players and two guitarists, and two drummers so who even knows in the end who did what except its is inspired and natural. Interesting from a band so well known for song craft, writing and studio trickery that the best track on his second solo album is a vocal less jam: smooth and melodic.