Ringo (album)

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This article is about the Ringo Starr album. For the Itzy album, see Ringo (Itzy album).

Ringo
Studio album by
Ringo Starr
Released2 November 1973 (1973-11-2)
Recorded5 March – 26 July 1973
Studio
GenreRock, pop[1]
Length37:07
LabelApple
ProducerRichard Perry
Ringo Starr chronology
Beaucoups of Blues
(1970) 		Ringo
(1973) 		Goodnight Vienna
(1974)
Singles from Ringo
  1. "Photograph"
    Released: 24 September 1973 (US); 19 October 1973 (UK)
  2. "You're Sixteen"
    Released: 3 December 1973 (US); 8 February 1974 (UK)
  3. "Oh My My"
    Released: 18 February 1974 (US only)

Ringo is the third studio album by English musician

RIAA. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM
national albums chart.

Ringo is notable as it is one of two solo albums by a former Beatle to feature the participation of all four former Beatles, and for its numerous guest stars, something which would later become the norm for Starr on many of his subsequent albums and tours.

Background

Starr released the standards tribute Sentimental Journey and the country and western Beaucoups of Blues in 1970. He issued the singles "It Don't Come Easy" and "Back Off Boogaloo"[2] over 1971–72, both produced by and co-written with his former Beatles bandmate George Harrison.[3] Both of these singles were big successes and would ordinarily have inspired albums to support them, but Starr declined to follow through, preferring to concentrate on acting during this period.[4] In early 1973, Starr decided that the time was right to begin his first rock solo album. He had already used Richard Perry to arrange one of the tracks on Sentimental Journey, so he asked him to produce the sessions.[5]

Recording

Recording started on 5 March 1973[6] upon Starr's arrival in Los Angeles[7] at Sunset Sound Recorders.[8][9] Sessions were produced by Richard Perry.[7] Starr sent word to his musician friends to help him in his new venture and they all responded positively. Taking part in the sessions were Marc Bolan, four members of The Band (except Richard Manuel),[5] Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, Harry Nilsson, Jim Keltner and James Booker.[8] Additionally, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison all appeared on and composed material for Ringo.[6]

"Photograph" had been written on 15 May 1971 while on a sailing holiday with his wife Maureen, Harrison and Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd, and Cilla Black. Starr and Harrison wrote the song with input from the others.[8] The song was first recorded in late 1972 with Harrison as producer, during the sessions for Harrison's Living in the Material World album.[10] The song was remade five months later, produced by Perry for its appearance on Ringo.[10] Harrison and Mal Evans were sharing a living space in Los Angeles when they wrote "You and Me (Babe)" after Evans asked Harrison to add music to a song which he was working on.[10]

Just like that; no planning. The three ex-Beatles recorded one of John's songs. Everyone in the room was just gleaming… it's such a universal gleam with The Beatles.[8]

– Richard Perry, recalling the session for "I'm the Greatest"

Harrison dropped by on the sessions on 10 March to see what kind of material Starr had recorded up to that point,[8][9] saying that he was "knocked out by what you've done".[8] He returned on 12 March and laid down backing vocals.[8][9] Starr, John Lennon, and Harrison appear together on Lennon's "I'm the Greatest",[2] which was recorded on 13 March.[nb 1][8][12] Ten takes of the song were recorded in a session lasting approximately 18 minutes.[8] Both Lennon and Harrison were in Los Angeles for business matters with Capitol Records.[7] Lennon returned to New York on 14 March.[8]

British music magazine Melody Maker reported on 17 March that the session was a Beatles reunion. "Rumours flashed through Los Angeles this week that three of the Beatles have teamed up for recording purposes. John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are all in Los Angeles with Klaus Voormann, the bassist rumoured to replace Paul McCartney after his departure from the group."

Apple Studio in London to record "Six O'Clock" with Paul McCartney[14] and his wife Linda,[8] as drug arrests kept McCartney from entering the US.[12] McCartney played synthesizer and piano and sang backing vocals on the track.[5][15]

After finishing "Six O'Clock", Starr asked his chauffeur to buy some tap dancing shoes which Starr would use on "Step Lightly".[8] He then recorded "You're Sixteen" and "Step Lightly" with Nilsson;[12] McCartney also appears imitating a kazoo on "You're Sixteen".[8] This second block of recording sessions lasted until 30 April, and overdubs were added at Sunset Sound Recorders throughout July.[8] The album was mixed at Sunset Sound on 24 July.[8][9]

Release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Essential Rock Discography
7/10[18]
MusicHound3.5/5[19]
Music Story[citation needed]
Q[20]
Record Collector[21]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[22]

According to a report in Billboard magazine in late September 1973, Ringo's release was delayed while work was being completed on the album artwork.[23] On 24 September, "Photograph" was released as the album's lead single in the US, backed by "Down and Out".[9] Starr filmed a promo clip for the song at his Tittenhurst Park residence, although the film's only screening was on a single episode of BBC TV's Top of the Pops, which has since been lost.[8] The single was issued a month later in the UK, on 19 October.[24]

Apple/

gold in America on 8 November and in Britain a month after its release there.[24] Ringo was critically well-received also.[34] Loraine Alterman of The New York Times described it as an "instant knockout ... [a] sensational album".[35][36] In his review for Rolling Stone, Ben Gerson said that, on one hand, Starr's limited artistry and the abundance of star guests made the album "rambling and inconsistent", yet in terms of "atmosphere", "Ringo is the most successful record by an ex-Beatle. It is not polemical and abrasive like Lennon's, harsh and self-pitying like Harrison's, or precious and flimsy like McCartney's, but balanced, airy and amiable."[37]

"

telegram: "Congratulations. How dare you? And please write me a hit song."[5]

The original cassette tape and 8-track versions of the album, as well as a small number of early promotional copies of the vinyl album, contained a longer version of "Six O'Clock".

quadrophonic version was produced, but was never released.[43]
Additionally, the original artwork lists the second song, written by Randy Newman, as "Hold On" which was later corrected to "Have You Seen My Baby" in following pressings.

When Ringo was reissued on

B-side "Early 1970", as well as the B-side to "Photograph", "Down and Out".[44] The CD was released in the UK on 4 March 1991,[nb 6] and in the US by Capitol on 6 May.[nb 7][44] On some CD reissues "Down And Out" is inserted into the album as the fourth track (between "Photograph" and "Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)"). On the US CD, "You and Me (Babe)" begins crossfaded over the end of "Devil Woman," even though the original album, and the UK CD, had these songs separated by silence. Strangely, the longer version of "Six O'Clock" was not added as a bonus track to the reissue of this album, but instead appeared on the reissue of Goodnight Vienna.[15]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "I'm the Greatest" (John Lennon) – 3:21
  2. "Have You Seen My Baby"[nb 8] (Randy Newman) – 3:44
  3. "Photograph" (Richard Starkey, George Harrison) – 3:56
  4. "Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)" (Harrison) – 2:45
  5. "
    Dick Sherman
    ) – 2:48

Side two

  1. "Oh My My" (Starkey, Vini Poncia) – 4:16
  2. "Step Lightly" (Starkey) – 3:15
  3. "Six O'Clock" (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney)[45] – 4:06
  4. "Devil Woman" (Starkey, Poncia) – 3:50
  5. "You and Me (Babe)" (Harrison, Mal Evans) – 4:59

1991 reissue bonus tracks

  2. "It Don't Come Easy" (Starkey) – 3:02
  3. "Early 1970" (Starkey) – 2:20
  4. "
    Down and Out
    " (Starkey) – 3:04

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[57] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[58] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover version

An instrumental version of the album was produced by David Hentschel and titled Sta*rtling Music.[59] Sta*rtling Music was the first release on Starr's label, Ring O' Records; released on 18 April 1975 in the UK,[nb 9] and four years later on 17 February 1979 in the US.[nb 10][59] Just prior to the album was a single, "Oh My My", backed with "Devil Woman", released on 17 February 1975 in the US,[nb 11] and on 21 March in the UK.[nb 12][59] The album, was re-released in the US on Capitol in October 1980.[nb 13][60] A budget edition was released in the UK on 27 November by Music for Pleasure.[nb 14][60]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Lennon previously recorded a demo of the song on 28 December 1970, after watching a repeat of the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night,[8] with the intent of recording the track himself.[11]
  2. ^ The track is sometimes titled as "Hold On".[13]
  3. ^ US Apple SWAL-3413[25]
  4. ^ UK Apple PCTC 252[26]
  5. ^ US Apple 1872[39]
  6. ^ UK Parlophone CDP 7 95884 2[26]
  7. ^ US Capitol CDP 795637[44]
  8. ^ Titled "Hold On" on the album cover and record label.
  9. ^ UK Ringo O' 2320-101[59]
  10. ^ US Ringo O' ST 11372[59]
  11. ^ US Ringo O' 4030[59]
  12. ^ UK Ringo O' 2017-101[59]
  13. ^ US Capitol SN-16114[60]
  14. ^ UK Music for Pleasure MFP 50508[60]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "Ringo – Ringo Starr". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-416-30661-3
    .
  3. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-416-30661-3
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-416-30661-3
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7119-8307-6
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  14. ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  16. ISBN 089919026X
    . Retrieved 13 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  17. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8
    .
  18. ISBN 978-1-84195-827-9
    .
  19. ISBN 1-57859-061-2
    ), p. 1082.
  20. ^ Martin, Andrew (April 1991). "Re-releases: Ringo Starr Ringo". Q. pp. 95–96.
  21. ^ Staunton, Neil (February 2018). "Ringo Starr Ringo; Goodnight Vienna". Record Collector. p. 104.
  22. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8
    .
  23. ^ "Inside Track". Billboard. 29 September 1973. p. 66. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  25. ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  26. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  27. ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4
    .
  28. ISBN 0-07-055087-5
    .
  29. ^ a b Library and Archives Canada. Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^
    The Official Charts Company
    . Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  31. ^ Sharon Mawer. "US number two albums". Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  32. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9
    .
  33. ^ "Billboard, CASHBOX & Record World #1 ALBUMS(1973年)". Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  34. ^ Rodriguez, p. 143.
  35. ISBN 978-1-139-82806-2
    ), p. 266.
  36. ^ Alterman, Loraine (25 November 1973). "Ringo Dishes Up a 'Hot Fudge Sundae'". The New York Times. p. 188.
  37. ^ Gerson, Ben (20 December 1973). "Records: Ringo". Rolling Stone. p. 73. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  38. ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8
    .
  39. ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  40. ^ a b Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975 (New York: Ballantine Books, 1975), 268
  41. ^ Perry Cox & Joe Lindsay, The Official Price Guide to The Beatles Records and Memorabilia (New York: House of Collectibles, 1995), 235.
  42. ^ Labels on Apple Records SWAL 3413 & Capitol Records SN-16114.
  43. ^ "QuadraphonicQuad Beatles Surround Music Releases". Quadraphonicquad.com. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  44. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  45. ^ "MPL Music Publishing Inc". mplscommunications.com. MPL Communications. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2013. Enter Six O'Clock in the Title field, click Begin Search click Six O'Clock
  46. ^
    ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .
  47. MegaCharts
    . Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  48. ^ "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) – Albums Chart Daijiten – The Beatles" (in Japanese). 30 December 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  49. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Ringo Starr – Ringo" (ASP). VG-lista. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  50. ISBN 84-8048-639-2
    .
  51. ^ "Swedish Charts 1972–1975 (in PDF-files)" (PDF) (in Swedish). Hitsallertijden. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  52. ^ "allmusic (((Ringo – Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums)))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  53. ^ "Album Search: Ringo Starr: Ringo" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 12 February 2012.[dead link‍]
  54. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1973" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  55. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1974". RPM. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  56. ^ Billboard – Year-end Albums – 1974. 26 December 1974. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  57. ^ "British album certifications – Ringo Starr – Ringo". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  58. ^ "American album certifications – Ringo Starr – Ringo". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  59. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
  60. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7535-0843-5
    .
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