Dave Stewart thinks he “works so well” with Sir Ringo Starr.
The 69-year-old musician – who is best known for being part of pop duo Eurythmics along with Annie Lennox – has teamed up with the Beatles legend, 81, to produce many of his solo albums and explained that the pair are usually on the same page when it comes to recording.
He said: “Ringo and I mess around playing together all the time. If I haven’t properly worked a song out yet, I’ll play on a 12-string guitar and record Ringo on my iPhone while he’s playing in the drum room in his house. We work so well together because we’ve got the same approach, that it’s about the dynamics.”
Ringo – who shot to fame in the 1960s alongside Sir Paul McCartney and the late John Lennon and George Harrison in the legendary Liverpool band – most recently teamed up with the ‘Sweet Dreams’ hitmaker to play the drums on Dave’s song ‘One Morning’, which is part of the upcoming stage musical, ‘Ebony McQueen’, and Dave went on to explain that Ringo knows how to be the “ideal accompaniment” on a track.
Speaking to Classic Pop Magazine, he added: “Ringo was already playing on the song from us working it out together. You can’t hear my strumming, just Ringo playing really loud. You can tell it’s Ringo straight away, because he knows how to be the ideal accompaniment. I’m so pleased it’s on that song, because it’s the most positive track I could write: ‘One morning, it’ll be better than it ever was.’ I really believe in the line: ‘One morning, you’ll give more than you’re receiving…”
Dave – who has also worked with the likes of Sir Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan, as well as up-and-coming artists, since his days with Eurhythmics – added that he is always “excited” to help other artists.
He said: “Helping other musicians is what excites me, whether it’s Mick Jagger or Otto, a 22-year-old brilliant singer who lives in a disused post office in Wales who I’ve signed to my record label, Bay Street. Everyone has a good time when musicians get excited.
“Ringo is still excited, and he’s a funny guy, too. Whenever he rings me, he always asks, ‘Is Mr Busy there?!”