Beatles drummer Ringo Starr appeared at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Tuesday (Jan. 14) and was joined by special guests including Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Jack White, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Brenda Lee, Rodney Crowell, Mickey Guyton, Sarah Jarosz, Jamey Johnson, The War and Treaty and Larkin Poe, as reported by JamBase. Put together by producer T Bone Burnett, who worked with Starr on his new country album, Look Up, this was the first of two shows filmed for the forthcoming CBS concert special Ringo & Friends At The Ryman, where Starr swapped between playing drums and stepping up as frontman throughout the evening. Starr will be donating his proceeds from the two-night stand to those affected by the California wildfires via the American Red Cross.
The event began as Jack White led the band through through Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox,” a song The Beatles frequently covered in their early days. Starr’s solo hit “It Don’t Come Easy” followed, along with “Time On My Hands” from his latest album Look Up. Starr exited the stage to allow guests like Molly Tuttle, who led “Octopus’s Garden,” while White sang “Don’t Pass Me By,” another Beatles classic.
The house band, featuring Dennis Crouch on double bass, Jim Keltner on drums and Greg Leisz on pedal steel, became the backdrop for the special guests. Billy Strings joined Starr on stage for a performance of Carly Perkins’ “Honey Don’t,” before The War And Treaty performed a rendition of “Without Her” from Starr’s Beaucoups of Blues album. Sheryl Crow and Molly Tuttle then sang The Beatles’ classic “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party,” before Starr returned to his drum kit to perform “Boys.”
The second set began with Starr leading the house band through his solo hits “Have You Seen My Baby” and “You Don’t Know Me At All,” followed by a cover of The Beatles’ “Act Naturally” and “I Wanna Be Your Man.” Starr, Strings, and Tuttle came together for another Beatles hit, “What Goes On,” before Starr performed “Look Up.”
The show concluded with one of Starr’s most beloved songs, “Photograph,” before the finale. All of the guests of the night joined on stage to sing “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
