Sir Ringo Starr said “I never really was excited about the original” Let It Be documentary, but he loves the new version.
The original film, directed by Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg, was first released in May 1970 in the wake of the Beatles break-up, but was restored and launched on Disney+ earlier this month and captures the group writing and recording their penultimate album.
The film was remastered using the same technology used for Peter Jackson’s epic 2021 docuseries The Beatles: Get Back.
“I thought the re-edit of Let It Be was great,” Sir Ringo said.
“The original one has just come out again that Michael Lindsay-Hogg did, and the edit – I love the edit.
“I never really was excited about the original documentary, but this one is great, because it’s just on the lads and the playing, and the music and the chat about the songs.
“It’s really good, and it’s only two hours long.”
The comments come as Sir Ringo is set to release a new EP titled Crooked Boy, featuring four new songs written and produced by Songwriters Hall Of Fame star Linda Perry.
The Beatles star said there is only one thing he “demands” from writers he works with.
“If you’re writing me a song… it can be a downer, but it’s got to have some up at the last verse, or in the middle, or wherever. I don’t want it to stay down,” the peace and love activist said.
Sir Ringo said he asked Perry to write him a rock song for the EP in which Nick Valensi from US band The Strokes played on the guitar, who was a “great vibe” and “plays really well”.
While fellow Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney also appears on the EP.
“It was great, it’s always great,” he said of working with Sir Paul.
“I love it because I’ve done about 10 fully-fledged CD’s in this room and Paul is on like four of them, if he’s in town I say bring your bass over, I’ve got a track.
“It’s better when we’re in the room, he’s an incredible bass player, incredible guy and he has a big heart – and now I’ve found out he’s had a camera all these years,” he said, of Sir Paul’s National Portrait Gallery exhibit which featured unseen photographs taken during the early days of The Beatles.
“We were so close together in 1964, really the only thing we could take photos of was each other.
“It’s always great to work with Paul, I love the man and he’s my friend,” Sir Ringo said.
The 83-year-old also spoke about an upcoming country music project with US producer T Bone Burnett, who he met by chance at Olivia Harrison’s reading of poems for her late husband, Beatles star George Harrison.
“I’ve loved country music since I was a lad, it was great loving country music in Liverpool because it’s a port and a lot of the guys in Liverpool – and I was nearly one of them – join the merchant navy to go and see places.
“All the lads would go to America and come back with records.
“…It was great when we finally became the Beatles the four of us, we’d all really been listening to the same stuff which was great, from Buddy Holly on.”
Sir Ringo also addressed the “fear” that surrounds artificial intelligence in music.
He said he doesn’t think about it that much, but “in many ways for us it’s helpful”, referencing using the technology to extract late bandmate John Lennon’s voice from an old demo used to create the group’s final song titled Now And Then.
“It’s helpful when we did Now And Then, John is there because of AI,” Sir Ringo said.
“Peter Jackson has a mad machine and from a cassette he brought John out of the cassette and gave his voice some strength.
“The first time we heard Now And Then was in 1996 I think, and (we thought) who is it, you were wondering a bit who is it…so we have to thank it for that.
“But I know there’s a lot of fear out there that it’ll steal your soul.”
Last year, the song Now And Then topped the official UK singles chart for the first time in 54 years.
Sir Ringo’s new EP Crooked Boy is out worldwide on May 31.