| I Wanna Be Santa Claus | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 19 October 1999 (US) | |||
| Recorded | September 1998, March–September 1999 | |||
| Studio | Whatinthewhatthe? (Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | Rock, christmas music | |||
| Length | 44:59 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Ringo Starr chronology | ||||
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| Singles from I Wanna Be Santa Claus | ||||
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I Wanna Be Santa Claus is the 12th studio album by Ringo Starr. A Christmas album, it was issued in 1999. It is the only Christmas album released by any member of The Beatles.
Ringo Starr and musical partner Mark Hudson composed "Dear Santa" and "Christmas Eve" in July 1998 at Starr's Surrey residence. [1] The pair of the songs were recorded a few months later, between 14 and 16 September in the UK. [1] Follow-up sessions did not commence till 8 March 1999 at Whatinthewhatthe? Studios in Los Angeles, where the tracks "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "The Little Drummer Boy", "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" and further work on "Dear Santa", were taped that day. [1] "Christmas Time (Is Here Again") was originally recorded by The Beatles in 1967 for their annual Christmas record for members of their fan club. Featured on these tracks were Starr, Hudson, Jim Cox and Steve Dudas. [1] Recorded throughout 1999 between Starr and Hudson, I Wanna Be Santa Claus—which is composed of half-and-half traditional songs and new originals—was made in several studios in the US and UK, [1] with their families joining in and including two notable celebrity guests, Aerosmith's Joe Perry and Eagles member Timothy B. Schmit. Jeff Lynne also sings backing vocals on "Come on Christmas, Christmas Come On", [2] "I Wanna Be Santa Claus", [3] and "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)". [4] The final sessions for the album were held on 8 and 9 September at Whatinthewhatthe? Studios, with mixing taking place at A&M Studios, Los Angeles and Sterling Sound, New York. [1]
The title track is about spreading Christmas cheer on every day of the year, compared to just on Christmas Day. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [6] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
Released on 19 October 1999, in the US [8] by Mercury, [nb 1] [1] ahead of the Christmas season, I Wanna Be Santa Claus was not a commercial success, despite its strong reviews. It was re-released on 23 September 2003 entitled 20th Century Masters: The Best of Ringo Starr/The Christmas Collection. [9] Starr left Mercury after they had done no promotion for the album, which in turn resulted in little sales. [1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On" | Richard Starkey, Mark Hudson, Dean Grakal | 3:36 |
| 2. | "Winter Wonderland" | Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith | 2:55 |
| 3. | "I Wanna Be Santa Claus" | Richard Starkey, Mark Hudson, Dick Monda | 3:46 |
| 4. | "The Little Drummer Boy" | Harry Simeone, Henry Onorati, Katherine K. Davis | 3:19 |
| 5. | "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" | Johnny Marks | 2:21 |
| 6. | "Christmas Eve" | Richard Starkey, Mark Hudson | 4:26 |
| 7. | "The Christmas Dance" | Richard Starkey, Mark Hudson, Jim Cox, Steve Dudas | 4:06 |
| 8. | "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" | George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Richard Starkey | 4:06 |
| 9. | "Blue Christmas" | Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson | 2:58 |
| 10. | "Dear Santa" | Richard Starkey, Mark Hudson, Steve Dudas | 5:12 |
| 11. | "White Christmas" | Irving Berlin | 2:56 |
| 12. | "Pax Um Biscum (Peace Be with You)" | Richard Starkey, Mark Hudson, Scott Gordon | 4:46 |
The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton. The profits from the event went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, an organisation founded by Harrison.
Face the Music is the fifth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in September 1975 by United Artists Records and on 14 November 1975 in the United Kingdom by Jet Records. The album moves away from the large-scale classical orchestrated sound of the previous album, Eldorado, in favour of more "radio-friendly" pop/rock songs, though the string sections are still very prominent. The new sound proved successful for the group, for Face the Music was the first ELO album to go platinum.
Flaming Pie is the tenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 5 May 1997 by Parlophone in the UK and Capitol Records in the US. His first studio album in over four years, it was mostly recorded after McCartney's involvement in the highly successful Beatles Anthology project. The album was recorded in several locations over two years, between 1995 and 1997, featuring two songs dating from 1992.
"Real Love" is a song written by the English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles. He recorded six demos of the song in 1979 and 1980 with "Real Life", a different song that merged with "Real Love". In 1988, the sixth take was posthumously released for the documentary soundtrack Imagine: John Lennon. In 1995, his demo was completed by his former Beatles bandmates as part of the Beatles Anthology project, along with "Free as a Bird".
Ringo Rama is the 13th studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 2003.
Vertical Man is the 11th studio album by Ringo Starr, issued in 1998. The album served as Starr's attempt at a commercial comeback following the success of The Beatles Anthology project. Starr enlisted the help of many of his musician friends in making Vertical Man, including Scott Weiland, Brian Wilson, Alanis Morissette, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Steven Tyler, and his former Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick mixed the tracks, and Starr and Mark Hudson served as producers.
VH1 Storytellers is a live and video album by Ringo Starr recorded and released for the popular music program in 1998. Unlike his previous live recordings, this release places Starr in an intimate environment where, as per the show's requirement, he tells the genesis of the songs being performed.
Time Takes Time is the 10th studio album by Ringo Starr. His first studio album since 1983's Old Wave, it followed a successful 1989–90 world tour with his first All-Starr Band. Released in 1992, Time Takes Time was a critically-acclaimed comeback album, and featured several celebrity guests including Brian Wilson, Harry Nilsson and Electric Light Orchestra front-man Jeff Lynne.
"Showdown" is a 1973 song written by Jeff Lynne and recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was the band's last contemporary recording to be released on the Harvest label. The song was released as a single and reached No 12 in the UK Singles Chart, in the week beginning 28 October, and No 9 on the Norwegian chart VG-lista.
"Angel in Disguise" is a song co-written by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr that has never been released.
"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" is a Christmas song by the English rock band the Beatles, originally recorded for their fifth fan club Christmas record, Christmas Time Is Here Again! (1967). One of the few Beatles songs credited to all four members of the band, it consists of a blues based backing track as well as double-tracked vocals sung by them, George Martin and Victor Spinetti. The lyrics are mostly made up of the song's title refrain, repeated across nine verses.
"Beautiful Night" is a song by Paul McCartney and is the 13th track on his 1997 album Flaming Pie. In December 1997, it was released as the third and final single from that album, peaking at number 25 in the UK Singles Chart. The single featured "Love Come Tumbling Down" and "Same Love" as b-sides both of which were previously unreleased tracks and were recorded in 1987 and 1988 respectively.
Liverpool 8 is the 15th studio album by Ringo Starr, released worldwide on 14 January 2008. Received with mixed reviews, it marked Starr's return to EMI for the first time since leaving the label in 1975, following the end of the Beatles' recording contract with the company.
Ringo Starr: Live at Soundstage is a 2007 live album by English rock drummer and singer Ringo Starr. It was recorded at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois on 24 June 2005 as part of the PBS concert series Soundstage. The Roundheads for this performance were: Steve Dudas, Gary Burr (guitar), Mark Hudson (guitar), Matt Bissonette, Mark Hart (keyboards) and Gregg Bissonette (drums). Colin Hay and his wife Cecilia Noël joined in on the "With a Little Help From My Friends" finale.
Dan Higgins is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggins, Barry Manilow, Elton John, Go West, The Temptations, Lionel Richie, Joe Cocker, Lisa Stansfield, and Eros Ramazzotti. He has over 800 motion picture soundtracks to his credit. He is also known as the saxophone sound of Bleeding Gums Murphy from The Simpsons.
"Wings" is a song by Ringo Starr, originally recorded for and released as a single from the album Ringo the 4th. It was co-written with Vini Poncia in 1977. Starr later re-recorded it, produced by Starr and Bruce Sugar, and released it as a single from his 2012 studio album, Ringo 2012.
"Devil's Radio" is a song written by George Harrison that was first released on Harrison's 1987 album Cloud Nine. It was not released commercially as a single, but a promotional single was released and the song reached #4 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.
Analog Man is the eleventh and latest solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh, formerly of the James Gang and lead guitarist for the Eagles. The album was released in mid 2012, on the label Fantasy in the United States and the United Kingdom, It is also his first new solo studio album to be released since 1992's Songs for a Dying Planet, 20 years prior. The album features 10 new songs, and was co-produced by Walsh, Jeff Lynne, who also performs various instruments and backing vocals on the album, and Tim Armstrong from the punk band Rancid who co-wrote and plays guitar on one of the album's songs. The album also features contributions from the former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, the former Barnstorm members, Kenny Passarelli and Joe Vitale, former James Gang members, Jim Fox and Dale Peters, David Crosby and Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash and also a duet with Little Richard.
Dear Santa may refer to:
