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| Ringo Rama | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 March 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Studio | Whatinthewhatthe? Studios, Los Angeles; Rocca Bella, Village Recorder, London | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 49:52 | |||
| Label | Koch | |||
| Producer |
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| Ringo Starr chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Ringorama | ||||
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Ringo Rama is the thirteenth studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 2003.
They actually gave the Christmas album no support. We have now parted company due to their incompetence, they let me go. I'm hoping to record another studio album ... and I'm hoping it will be on any label other than Mercury. [1]
– Ringo Starr, discussing his choice of leaving Mercury, 2000
As the follow-up to I Wanna Be Santa Claus (1999), it continues Starr's alliance with Mark Hudson as well as most of his collaborators from that last project. Annoyed that Mercury had not put enough promotion towards I Wanna Be Santa Claus, [2] Starr left the label in 2000. [1] Contributors this time around include Willie Nelson, Charlie Haden, Van Dyke Parks, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Shawn Colvin, Timothy B. Schmit, and Eric Clapton. [3] Starr said "People would ask, "So who's on the record?" and we'd say, "Just a couple of local guys. You know, like Eric Clapton and Dave Gilmour." Because they do both live just around the corner." [4] Recording had taken place at Starr's recording studio in London, Rocca Bella, and Hudson's Whatinthewhatthe? Studios in Los Angeles, with the sessions being produced by Starr, Hudson and Gary Nicholson. [3]
Starr commented that the opening track, "Eye to Eye", sounded "like there's a war going on and we're trying to make it a war of love." [5] "Missouri Loves Company", a play on words of misery loves company, was written quickly after Dean Grakal thought of the title phrase. [6] The song features Gilmour on guitar. [5] "Instant Amnesia" features, as Starr mentions, "some of the best drumming I've ever played in the last ten, fifteen years." [7] "Memphis in Your Mind" references several Sun Studio artists, such as Elvis Presley and Orbison. [1] With George Harrison's late 2001 passing before Ringorama was started, Starr composed "Never Without You" in tribute to his friend, [8] having Clapton perform the guitar solo duties. [9] The song originally started out as a tribute to John Lennon and Harry Nilsson, but Starr thought the song was getting "too messy". [8] After choosing to focus solely on Harrison, lines from Harrison's songs—"Within You Without You", "Here Comes the Sun" and "All Things Must Pass"—were included. [8] Starr asked Clapton based on his stature as a friend to both Starr and Harrison: "We're all good friends. So I asked Eric to play and he said 'yeah'." [8]
Starr wanted to include a Roy Orbison "growl" on the song "Memphis in Your Mind", and proceeded to call Orbison's widow, Barbara Orbison; she sent him a "growl" on a CD, with a message "I'm sending over a growl". [10] The song also features Gilmour on guitar. [5] The title for "Trippin' on My Own Tears" came about during a night out between Starr and Hudson when Hudson said "I was trippin' on my own tears, I was so down" and Starr replied "That's just a great line". [11] The country-influenced "Write One for Me" was a duet with Willie Nelson, [4] who sang on it at Starr's suggestion. [nb 1] [13] Starr had a phone call with his lawyer, who was also Hudson's lawyer, to "tell them to write one for me, so they did—but they wrote a song with that as the title!" [12] At that point the song was unfinished, but was later finished when they got together. [12] Asked if "Love First, Ask Questions Later" was like another part of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", Starr responded that the song is how he feels "the world should be and my hope that we all might stay in love." [11]
It was a lot of fun. You put four guys in the room, and the main battle was trying not to write about the woman who left us! Anybody says a line [and] we can write a song about it. [14]
– Ringo Starr, on songwriting for the album, 2003
"Elizabeth Reigns" came about while Starr and Dean Grakal were recording at Rocca Bella Studio, some time before Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. [15] Asking Starr what ER stood for, Grakal proceeded to start on a song, with Starr exclaiming "I'm not going to sing about the Queen." [15] "English Garden", which mentions Starr's wife Barbara Bach and their dog Buster, includes in the final part some verses taken from Paul McCartney's "Let 'Em In". [11] Starr explained: "That always happens when you're sittin' in the garden, doesn't it? So I just put [the lines] in and called Paul for permission. He said, 'Sure.' He knew about it ahead of time." [11] After looking at several albums where one artist would record all the instruments for a particular song, Starr wanted to do one such track, and the result was "I Really Love Her". [16]
On 20 May 2002, Starr signed a recording contract with Koch. [17] Released by Koch on 25 March 2003, [nb 2] [19] Ringorama managed a number 113 peak in the US on the Billboard 200, his first album in the 21st century to do so. [20] The album also charted at number 1 on the Top Independent Albums chart in the US. [12] The first 100,000 copies included a DVD of the recording sessions. [nb 3] [3] To help promote the album and the "Never Without You" single, Starr appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the US on 13 March. [21] During a show arranged for the press on 22 March, Starr and The Roundheads performed "Memphis in Your Mind" and "Never Without You", at the Bottom Line Club in New York City. [21] Starr again performed "Never Without You" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 25 March; later that day for MTV's Total Request Live ; and for Good Morning America on 9 April. [21] On 21 October it was announced that a 3-disc version of the album would be released on 11 November, and included three bonus tracks, an interview disc and a DVD containing a "Making Of" documentary and the music video for "Never Without You". [nb 4] [22] The bonus tracks were "OK Ray", "I'm Home" and "Blink", [22] all of which were recorded for a movie. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [23] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [24] |
| The Essential Rock Discography | 6/10 [25] |
| PopMatters | (favourable) [26] |
| Rolling Stone | [27] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [28] |
AOL Radio rated "Never Without You" at number 5 on their top 10 Starr songs list. [29]
The 16 tracks of Ringorama Deluxe Edition are as follows: [30]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Eye to Eye" |
| 3:19 |
| 2. | "Missouri Loves Company" |
| 3:33 |
| 3. | "Instant Amnesia" |
| 5:12 |
| 4. | "Memphis in Your Mind" |
| 3:13 |
| 5. | "Never Without You" |
| 5:24 |
| 6. | "Imagine Me There" |
| 3:55 |
| 7. | "I Think Therefore I Rock and Roll" |
| 3:25 |
| 8. | "Trippin' on My Own Tears" |
| 3:31 |
| 9. | "Write One for Me" (featuring Willie Nelson) |
| 3:14 |
| 10. | "What Love Wants to Be" |
| 3:03 |
| 11. | "Love First, Ask Questions Later" |
| 4:45 |
| 12. | "Elizabeth Reigns" |
| 3:57 |
| 13. | "English Garden" (features a verse from the Wings song "Let 'Em In"; includes a short hidden track entitled 'I Really Love Her'.) |
| 3:17 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Blink" |
| 2:52 |
| 15. | "OK Ray" |
| 3:02 |
| 16. | "I'm Home" |
| 3:23 |
Personnel per booklet. [31]
Musicians
|
Technical personnel
|
| Chart (2003) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 [32] | 113 |
English musician Ringo Starr has released 20 studio albums and 49 singles. Starr achieved international fame as a member of British rock band the Beatles.
Ringo is the third studio album by English musician Ringo Starr, released in 1973 on Apple Records. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM national albums chart.
Beaucoups of Blues is the second studio album by the English rock musician and former Beatle Ringo Starr. It was released in September 1970, five months after his debut solo album, Sentimental Journey. Beaucoups of Blues is very far removed in style from its pop-based predecessor, relying on country and western influences. A longtime fan of the genre, Starr recorded the album over three days in Nashville with producer Pete Drake and an ensemble of local session players. Beaucoups of Blues failed to chart in Britain but achieved moderate commercial success in the United States, where it reached number 35 on Billboard's Country Albums list and number 65 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
Goodnight Vienna is the fourth studio album by Ringo Starr. It was recorded in the summer of 1974 in Los Angeles, and released later that year. Goodnight Vienna followed the commercially successful predecessor Ringo, and Starr used many of the same players, including Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Robbie Robertson, Harry Nilsson, and producer Richard Perry. The title is a slang phrase meaning "it's all over".
Blast from Your Past is a compilation album by English rock musician Ringo Starr, released on Apple Records in 1975. It is both Starr's first compilation LP and his final release under his contract with EMI. It was also the last album to be released on the Beatles' Apple label until it was revived in the 1990s.
"Act Naturally" is a song written by Johnny Russell, with a writing credit given to Voni Morrison and publishing rights transferred to Buck Owens. It was originally recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, whose version reached number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1963, his first chart-topper. In 2002, Shelly Fabian of About.com ranked the song number 169 on her list of the Top 500 Country Music Songs.
Vertical Man is the eleventh 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.
The Anthology... So Far is a triple live compilation album by English rock musician Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band. It was released in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2001 by Eagle Records and on 24 July in the United States by Koch Records. The album includes material from 1990's Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, 1993's Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Volume 2: Live from Montreux and 1997's Ringo Starr and His Third All-Starr Band Volume 1, along with previously unreleased live recordings from 1995, 1997 and 2000.
Ringo the 4th is the sixth studio album by English musician Ringo Starr, released on 20 September 1977. Its title is sometimes ascribed to him being the fourth member of the Beatles. Others have suggested that it is his fourth mainstream album, which excludes his Great American Songbook homage, Sentimental Journey, and his country-western foray, Beaucoups of Blues. However, Ringo the 4th is a dance-oriented record, crafted for him by his Atlantic Records producer, Arif Mardin.
Bad Boy is the seventh studio album by English rock musician Ringo Starr, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. The album was released at a time of diminishing success for Starr, failing to chart in the UK and reaching only No. 129 in the US and No. 98 in Australia, with none of its singles charting in either the UK or US. Prior to its release in the US, it was cross-promoted with the TV special Ringo, which was poorly received, and a planned follow-up special never came to fruition. Bad Boy would ultimately be Starr's final album release for Polydor.
Stop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by English rock musician Ringo Starr. Released in October 1981, it followed the twin commercial failures of Ringo the 4th (1977) and Bad Boy (1978). The album includes the hit single "Wrack My Brain", written and produced by George Harrison, but otherwise failed to find commercial success. It also includes contributions from Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson, Ronnie Wood and Stephen Stills.
Old Wave is the ninth studio album by English rock musician Ringo Starr. It was originally released in June 1983, on the label Bellaphon, and is the two-year follow-up to his 1981 album Stop and Smell the Roses. The title is a play on new wave music.
Starr Struck: Best of Ringo Starr, Vol. 2 is Ringo Starr's second official compilation album, released in the US in 1989.
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band is Ringo Starr's first official live album, and the first album recorded with his All-Starr Band, recorded in 1989 during his successful comeback tour and released in 1990. It was also Starr's first release of unheard material in seven years.
Time Takes Time is the tenth 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.
Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Volume 2: Live from Montreux is Ringo Starr's second official live album and was released in September 1993.
Ringo Starr and His Third All-Starr Band, Volume 1 is a limited edition live album by Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, recorded at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. It was released on 12 August 1997 by Blockbuster for $5.99. The All-Starr Band included the return of the keyboardist Billy Preston from the First All-Starr Band, and Starr's son Zak Starkey continuing from on from the Second All-Starr Band.
Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal is a charity album released in July 1990 to benefit Romanian orphans, under the auspices of the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation. It was compiled by English rock musician George Harrison in response to concerns raised by his wife Olivia Harrison, who had visited Romania and witnessed the suffering in the country's abandoned state orphanages following the fall of Communism. The release was preceded by a single, "Nobody's Child", recorded by Harrison's band the Traveling Wilburys. Other artists who donated songs to the album include Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Duane Eddy, Van Morrison, Guns N' Roses, Ringo Starr, Ric Ocasek and Elton John. Many of the recordings were previously unreleased.
"A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" is a song written by Carl Groszman, who at the time was signed to Ringo Starr's record label, Ring O' Records. Starr released his own recording of the song on his 1976 album Ringo's Rotogravure. Also issued as the album's lead single, it became his first hit as an Atlantic Records artist.
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