Ringo Starr - Act Naturally

The new Country-Rock-Pop sound out of Nashville ("new" in the last 20 years) has a lot of fans.  Sometimes the Country station gets tuned in on the radio.

But not everyone likes that sound. Some people prefer the old school sound that you could only get from Country. Some people, like Ringo Starr.

Usually in these Saturday Redneck posts, I give some background on the artist, by way of introduction. It would be kind of silly to do that for Ringo. It's not for nothing that there's a dismissive saying about over-hyped bands, Bigger than the Beatles.

Ringo likes his Country music, enough so that the Beatles covered Buck Owen's 1960s hit, Act Naturally. When the Beatles came to America in 1965, they famously appeared on Ed Sullivan's wildly popular TV show, where they performed the Country song. In 1989, Ringo teamed up with Buck to release the song again. This was the only time that Ringo made it to the Country Music charts, but managed a very respectable top 30. Paul McCartney and Wings also recorded a Country song.

So what gives with the Beatles - likely the greatest rock band of all time - and Country music? Well, it wasn't Country-Rock-Pop, a sound that was blended to appeal to all sorts of markets. It was the attraction of a sound true to its roots, of a long and honest history of music about a particular state of mind. Good enough for the Beatles.

Ringo made a video of this song with Buck. It's pretty silly.



Act Naturally (Songwriter: Johnny Russell)

They're gonna put me in the movies
They're gonna make a big star out of me
We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
And all I have to do is act naturally

Well, I bet you I'm gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar you can never tell
The movie's gonna make me a big star,
'Cause I can play the part so well

Well, I hope you come and see me in the movie
Then I'll know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that ever hit the big time
And all I have to do is act naturally

We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
Begging down upon his bended knee
I'll play the part but I won't need rehearsing
All I have to do is act naturally