Of all the ex-Beatles, it was drummer Ringo Starr who seemed to have the most fun with the period of artistic liberty inspired by the band's remarkable post-breakup afterglow. Initially covering an odd album of Tin Pan Alley standards (1970's Sentimental Journey), Starr next turned to his longtime love, country & western. Proving that those Buck Owens affectations on the Beatles' cover of "Act Naturally" were hardly tongue-in-cheek, Starr gathered a stellar group of Nashville musicians (including Jerry Reed, Pete Drake, and Charlie Daniels on guitar and Elvis Presley drummer D.J. Fontana) to cut an album of straightforward country ballads. While earnest and a bit laid-back, Starr's modest vocal efforts here sometimes can't match his obvious affection for the genre and material. Noble and obviously heartfelt, it's an album that might have benefited from a duet (or three) with some of country's more accomplished vocal stylists. --Jerry McCulley