Ringo Starr - Ringo
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Artist: Ringo StarrBrand: STARR,RINGO
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1991-04-23
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
- I'm The Greatest
- Have You Seen My Baby?
- Photograph
- Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)
- You're Sixteen
- Oh My My
- Step Lightly
- Six O'clock
- Devil Woman
- You and Me (Babe)
- It Don't Come Easy
- Early 1970
- Down And Out
Music reviews of Ringo
Music Review: Ringo gets down to business on his first "original" LP
Rating: 4 Stars
Admittedly, Ringo Starr was a tad confused about how to go about his career once the Beatles disbanded. His first two solo albums were ones of covers, be they ones of standards for his parents (SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY) or of country classics (BEAUCOUPS OF BLUES, both 1970). When he did release new material, it was strictly on 45s, like "It Don't Come Easy" or "Back Off Boogaloo", which would not make their album debuts until the CD age. Songs like those helped make Ringo the most successful of the Beatles in terms of singles, with 6 out of his first 7 reaching the top 10. Finally, in 1973, Ringo set about getting his solo career officially started with his album RINGO.
Even Ringo claimed not to be the fine songwriter that his fellow Beatles were, and leaned on them to provide him with material to sing during the Beatles and in his early solo career. Not until the 1990s would Ringo make a conscious attempt at writing for himself, albeit in collaboration, and find himself to be quite good at it. In the mean time, he still had his famous friends to help him along, and they are instrumental in making RINGO his finest work for the next 25 years, showing how much of a hard act to follow it would be.
RINGO starts out with "I'm The Greatest", which John Lennon wrote when thinking back on the charmed life he led as a Beatle and thought, considering his childhood in Liverpool, he did very well for himself. The same thing can certainly be said about Ringo, who gets John to help him out on piano and harmonies. Even George Harrison chips in on guitar, making it a respectable threesome version of the Beatles, though it would have been wonderful to have Paul do something on it as well.
Before his 1990s renaissance, Ringo would record numerous covers alongside the original material, and that all begins with Randy Newman's "Have You Seen My Baby". With musicians like drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist Marc Bolan, bassist & Beatle mate Klaus Voorman (he also drew the lithographs accompanying the lyrics), and legendary New Orleans pianist James Booker, it makes for one hell of a good time that I am sure Randy had to have personally enjoyed as well.
Ringo only had 2 #1 solo hits, but what hits they were! "Photograph" was co-written by George, who also sings harmony & plays guitar. They were ones who actually admired Phil Spector's infamous orchestration of LET IT BE, so it is no surprise that they enlist Spector colleague Jack Nitzche to arrange the orchestra & chorus on this definition-of-melancholy number. Even though Ringo is one of the most upbeat fellows you could ever meet, he can still tear your heart out with a tearful vocal on here. A deserved chart-topper, for sure.
George sticks around for his own composition "Sunshine Life For Me [Sail Away Raymond]", a countryesque number that would not have been out of place on his albums with the Traveling Wilburys. With help from members of the Band & banjoist David Bromberg, the down home vibe is perpetuated, replete with mandolin, fiddles and accordion. Ringo's own lazy drawl of a vocal is another welcome addition to this rural delight.
Ringo's 2nd #1 hit after "Photograph" saw him returning to the rock of his youth with Johnny Burnette's "You're Sixteen". Nicky Hopkins' rolling piano boogie sets up the joyous enthusiasm right away with a now-33-year-old Ringo nevertheless convincingly singing of teenage romance. Beatle friend & fabulous artist in his own right Harry Nilsson sings backup, while Paul McCartney contributes what might be kazoo, but is listed on the album as "mouth sax".
Just when you thought the smiles could not get any brighter, along comes "Oh My My", which did well for itself peaking in the top 10. Disco was still in its infancy at the time, but while not intentionally created for the strobe lights, the instrumentation of this tribute to the seductive & healing power of dance comes pretty close to it. The pounding drums of Ringo & Jim Keltner, the brassy horns of Tom Scott & Jim Horn, and the soulful backing vocals of Martha Reeves, Merry Clayton (of Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" fame) & friends help guarantee this a definite foot-stomper.
Ringo may not have thought much of his own songwriting ability and, even now, is content to work in collaboration, but occasionally he can create something without any outside help. Ringo has "Step Lightly" in that category, with a jaunty jazz backdrop, clarinets and all. Those dancing feet are none other than those of Ringo himself, who would certainly have made Fred Astaire & Arthur Murray proud.
"Six O'Clock" comes straight from Paul's pen, and has him practically taking it over, playing keyboards, arranging the strings, and, with his late wife Linda, singing back-up. Another song that borders on the melancholy of "Photograph" (but certainly not surpassing it), with Ringo's marriage to Maureen breaking up around this time, perhaps he took the words of the song especially to heart.
The double drums of Ringo & Jim return on "Devil Woman", creating a jungle-like foundation for a song about the kind of woman Ringo would be happy to meet (i.e. a stark contrast to the innocent beauty of "You're Sixteen"). He would later admit not having been very faithful to Maureen toward the end of their marriage, so a song about a wild woman seems apropos. Maybe Adam Ant got the idea for his own jungle drum sound with this song.
RINGO closes out with "You & Me [Babe]", another George Harrison original, co-written with Beatles road manager Mal Evans. This is one song that does not quite measure up on an otherwise flawless album, and is basically Ringo and the band saying the show is over, and it is time to go. The "thank you" speech by Ringo at the end hints at this idea, and at 5 minutes, the song lumbers along just a bit, as if it did not know when to end.
When RINGO made it onto CD, it came with 3 bonus tracks, and they are all welcome additions, for the most part. "It Don't Come Easy" finally makes its album bow, and was Ringo's first solo hit, having been recorded during the SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY sessions, but discarded. The new version contains a blaring horn section & backing vocals by Apple recording artists Badfinger that border almost on White gospel. Ringo would reference this song on the opening track to his 2003 album RINGORAMA.
The accompanying B-side "Early 1970" looks at Ringo's life immediately after the disbanding of the Beatles, and shows that he is too much of a good guy to let the petty differences between his bandmates get him down. He immortalizes his 3 Beatlemates in lyric, especially John Lennon & his new wife Yoko Ono. Similar to the approach of "Sunshine Life For Me", the country-tinged number shows that Ringo harbors no ill will towards his bandmates, and rightly guesses that whenever he needs them to help him out on a tune, they will come running to him.
"Down & Out" was the B-side to "Photograph", but I can guess it was recorded around the same time as "It Don't Come Easy", and it is easy to see why it remained a B-side. The lyrics are not among Ringo's best even by his standards, and appears to be a song without much of a home. Not quite the indispensable inclusion of its two predecessors.
Ringo Starr would set a very high bar for himself with RINGO, trying in vain to even equal its stellarness on his subsequent works. Interestingly, it would not be until Ringo laid off the cover songs on his most recent albums & begin to take up a pen himself that he would do just that and, arguably I believe, outdo RINGO's greatness. It would be a fun, interesting ride along the way until then, though.
Description of Ringo
Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2008.Ringo Starr's various late-career All Star bands may have been somewhat shaggy, nostalgia-laden affairs, but they found a warm reception with audiences far and wide. But the concept of Starr gathering a roster of stellar musician friends in a comfortable, partylike atmosphere was hardly a new one. Until 1973's Ringo, Starr's solo work had been a strange mix of quirky exercises in nostalgia (Sentimental Journey), country & western (Beaucoups of Blues) and Beatles-esque top 10 hits ("It Don't Come Easy," "Back Off Boogaloo"). But under the big-budget aegis of producer Richard Perry, Starr gathered an impressive roster of musician friends (including all three fellow Beatles, the Band's Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson, and Harry Nilsson, Marc Bolan, Billy Preston and a dozen others) to record what remains the best album of his solo career. The Fabs contributions are warm and heartfelt, especially John Lennon's tongue-in-cheek romp, "I'm the Greatest," a track that outshines even George Harrison's upbeat sea-shanty "Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)" and Paul McCartney's pop-flavored "Six O'Clock." But Ringo also proved that Starr himself was no slouch in the hit-making department, cowriting the hits "Photograph" (with Harrison) and "Oh My My," while making the Johnny Burnette chestnut "Only Sixteen" all his own. --Jerry McCulley
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