Ringo (album)

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" over 1971–72, both produced by and co-written with his former Beatles bandmate George Harrison. 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. 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. ==Recording==

Recording started on 5 March 1973 upon Starr's arrival in Los Angeles at Sunset Sound Recorders. Sessions were produced by Richard Perry. The song was first recorded in late 1972 with Harrison as producer, during the sessions for Harrison's Living in the Material World album. The song was remade five months later, produced by Perry for its appearance on Ringo. Ten takes of the song were recorded in a session lasting approximately 18 minutes. This group of sessions lasted until 27 March. and his wife Linda, After finishing "Six O'Clock", Starr asked his chauffeur to buy some tap dancing shoes which Starr would use on "Step Lightly". He then recorded "You're Sixteen" and "Step Lightly" with Nilsson; McCartney also appears imitating a kazoo on "You're Sixteen". This second block of recording sessions lasted until 30 April, and overdubs were added at Sunset Sound Recorders throughout July. The album was mixed at Sunset Sound on 24 July. ==Release==

According to a report in Billboard magazine in late September 1973, Ringos release was delayed while work was being completed on the album artwork. Apple/Capitol Records released Ringo on 2 November in the US, and on 9 November by Apple/EMI in the UK. 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". The record label on the original stock pressing of the vinyl album incorrectly lists the running time of "Six O'Clock" as 5:26, which may have led some to mistakenly assume that the original pressing contained the long version of the song. The label on the reissued vinyl album correctly lists the running time as 4:06. At the time of release, various reviews and press articles of the day stated that the longer version was "snuck" onto the tape duplicating masters at the last moment; this may have been done for the benefit of 8-track versions of the album, to make program two of the tape (on which the song appeared) the same approximate length as the other tracks. Artwork for a quadrophonic version was produced, but was never released. 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 compact disc, the album included three bonus tracks: Starr's 1971 hit single "It Don't Come Easy" and its B-side "Early 1970", as well as the B-side to "Photograph", "Down and Out". The CD was released in the UK on 4 March 1991, and in the US by Capitol on 6 May. "You're Sixteen" was released as the album's second single, backed with "Devil Woman", in the US on 3 December. On 18 February, "Oh My My" was released as a single only in the US, backed with "Step Lightly". After the singles became hits, Lennon sent Starr a telegram: "Congratulations. How dare you? And please write me a hit song." == Reception ==

Propelled by the international success of "Photograph", and speculation regarding the former Beatles working together on the same project, the album reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 7 in the UK, and No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, denied the top position by Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Ringo peaked at No. 1 on America's other albums charts, however, in Cashbox and Record World. The album was certified gold in America on 8 November and in Britain a month after its release there. Loraine Alterman of The New York Times described it as an "instant knockout ... [a] sensational album". 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." ==Track listing==

Notes: • "Have You Seen My Baby" is listed as "Hold On" on the record label. • Cassette pressings contain an extended version of "Six O'Clock" running 5:26. While the LP contains a shortened version running 4:05, the center label incorrectly lists the duration as 5:26. • Digital releases, as well as some CD pressings, place "Down and Out" as the fourth track, in between "Photograph" and "Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)". ==Personnel==

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album. • Ringo Starr – lead vocals (all tracks), drums (all tracks), percussion (4) • George Harrison – electric guitar (1, 4, 10), acoustic guitar (3), backing vocals (3, 4) • Vini Poncia – acoustic guitar (3, 10), electric guitar (5), backing vocals (4, 6), percussion (8) • Jimmy Calvert – acoustic guitar (3, 7), electric guitar (5, 6, 9) • Steve Cropper – electric guitar (7) • Marc Bolan – guitar (2) • Klaus Voormann – bass guitar (all tracks) • Paul McCartney – "kazoo" vocal solo (5), piano (8), synthesizer (8), flute and string arrangements (8), backing vocals (8) • Linda McCartney – backing vocals (8) • John Lennon – piano (1), backing vocals (1) • Billy Preston – organ (1, 6), piano (6) • Robbie Robertson – electric guitar (4) • Garth Hudson – accordion (4) • Levon Helm – mandolin (4) • Rick Danko – fiddle (4) • James Booker – piano (2) • Nicky Hopkins – piano (3, 5, 10) • Tom Hensley – piano (9) • Jim Keltner – drums (2, 3, 5, 6, 9) • Milt Holland – percussion (2, 9), marimba (10) • Lon & Derrek Van Eaton – percussion (3) • Tom Scott – horns and arrangements (2, 6, 7, 9, 10) • Chuck Findley – horns (9) • Bobby Keys – saxophone (3) • David Bromberg – banjo (4), fiddle (4) • Harry Nilsson – backing vocals (5) • Martha Reeves – backing vocals (6) • Merry Clayton – backing vocals (6) • Richard Perry – backing vocals (9) • Gary Wright - piano (13) ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==

An instrumental version of the album was produced by David Hentschel and titled Sta*rtling Music. Sta*rtling Music was the first release on Starr's label, Ring O' Records; released on 18 April 1975 in the UK, and four years later on 17 February 1979 in the US. ==References==