For Ringo Starr chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Okay, okay, so I know what you’re thinking: how could I have screwed the lyrics up so badly at the end of the song.  You see, when I say, “That’s the real thing, ain’t it?” it should actually be “That’s the real thing, i’n’t it.”

Hopefully you can see past my error…

Seriously though, I welcome you to the Monday night Laptop Session.  This is my first song choice in anticipation of a new music release this year — in this case, tomorrow’s release of Ringo Starr’s Y Not.  Based on the quality of Ringo’s past several albums, I can only imagine that this oddly titled release will be excellent.  There appear to be some promising collaborations with such artists as Van Dyke Parks, Ben Harper, Joss Stone, Richard Marx, and — most exciting — Paul McCartney.

I’ll be honest — the title does throw me off a bit.  After all, can there ever be a good justification for a man of Ringo Starr’s age and stature to use Instant Messenger shorthand in his album or song titles?  I certainly can’t think of one.  And this isn’t the first time that Ringo has utilized such abbreviations.  As you can tell, my song choice tonight was based on the fact that “R U Ready?” — from 2008’s Liverpool 8 — uses IM shorthand for “Are You.”  I can’t tell you why Ringo made this decision when writing the song, but I can tell you that it is indeed a great song.  It was fun and easy to play, and I got to break in my “D” harmonica.  Ever since I started exploring the different keys in my array of harps, I’ve been having more fun than ever breaking them out and playing them.

I’ll have to think of another harmonica-ready song for next week…

But, for now, I hope you’ll enjoy my cover version of “R U Ready?”  Then, consider taking a listen to the new Ringo Starr album Y Not, to be released tomorrow, Tuesday, January 12th, 2010.  He has truly been on a roll these past several years, releasing outstanding records in 2003, 2005, 2008, and now a mere two years later in 2010.  I know where I’ll be heading after school tomorrow — to my local Newbury Comics store for a copy of Y Not.

With Ringo’s recent track record, I ask you: y not?