Several of the tracks were written with previous collaborators based around comments Starr has made. "What's My Name", the title track and first single, was composed by Colin Hay, and comes from a chant Starr has used in concert.[2] Starr co-wrote "Gotta Get Up to Get Down" with his brother-in-law Joe Walsh after a comment Starr made at a dinner they had with Klaus Voormann, while Starr composed "Thank God for Music" with Sam Hollander, who then wrote "Better Days" on his own based on an interview Starr gave to Rolling Stone.[2] The song "Magic" is a collaboration with Steve Lukather, whom Starr has worked with on his two previous studio albums.[2]
The album was recorded in Los Angeles at Starr's home studio, Roccabella West,[5] with Starr saying that he did not "want to be in an old-fashioned recording studio anymore" and that he had "had enough of the big glass wall and the separation", saying recording at his home has been good for himself "and the music".[6] Starr decided to record a cover of John Lennon's "Grow Old with Me", a song recorded during the Bermuda sessions for Lennon's Double Fantasy (1980), after meeting producer Jack Douglas by chance. Douglas, who had produced Double Fantasy, asked Starr if he had listened to the Bermuda recording sessions, and supplied them to Starr when he mentioned he had not. Starr was impressed by the song, and decided to record his own version.[5] Starr asked Paul McCartney to perform on the track.[1] The song's string arrangement incorporates a motif from the George Harrison-penned song "Here Comes the Sun", giving all four Beatles a presence on the recording.[7] McCartney, Harrison, and Starr briefly considered recording "Grow Old With Me" as part of the mid-1990s Anthology reunion and archival projects; it was one of four songs included on a cassette tape given by Yoko Ono to McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. Starr's cover of "Money (That's What I Want)", recorded before the "Grow Old with Me" cover was envisioned, was an attempt to create a modern version different from the Motown original and the Beatles' 1963 cover.[5] The recording incorporates the use of autotune on Starr's voice.[8]
What's My Name was released on 25 October 2019.[12] It received mixed reviews upon its release. NME's Rhian Daly commented that the album "dares you to continue listening, to see if you can make it through its first song without spontaneously combusting from second-hand embarrassment, a spectral groan of “Grandaaad” escaping from your ashes as they sizzle and singe."[11]AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented that "the spirits are sunny and the songs tuneful, it's hard not to find What's My Name ingratiating, even though much of the album is so good-intentioned, it's silly."[10]
In a positive review, Mark Smotroff of Audiophile Review felt that What's My Name described the record as "a lot of fun to listen to, one of the hallmarks of the best Ringo records", praising the album's "celebratory party-like modern indie rock flavor".[8] Smotroff, similar to Rolling Stone reviewer Brenna Ehrlich, praised the record's ensemble of veteran performers "comfortab[ly] doing what they do together",[8] and being "the sound of a klatch of seasoned performers letting loose".[13] Ehrlich felt the fun nature of the album was essential to how a quality Ringo Starr record should be.[13] Several reviewers such as NME cited Starr's cover of "Grow Old with Me" to be the highlight of the record.[11][7][8]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 44.Týden 2019 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
