VH1 Storytellers (Ringo Starr album)

Last updated

VH1 Storytellers
VH1Storytellers RingoStarr.jpg
Live album by
Released20 October 1998
Recorded13 May 1998
Genre Rock
Length51:56
Label Mercury
Producer Mark Hudson
Ringo Starr chronology
Vertical Man
(1998)
VH1 Storytellers
(1998)
I Wanna Be Santa Claus
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Entertainment Weekly B [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

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.

Contents

Recording

Recorded a month before the release of Starr's new studio album Vertical Man – and performed in promotion for it – VH1 Storytellers features Starr's contemporary musical collaborator Mark Hudson (who produced the album) and Starr's current band, dubbed "the Roundheads". Aside from songs that appeared on Vertical Man, much of the set is devoted to Starr's Beatles and early solo successes.

Release and reception

This marked the last time a Ringo Starr album was released on cassette in the United States, according to journalist Peter Palmiere. However, some countries in the Far East still issue cassettes of recent Ringo Starr material including Ringo Rama , Choose Love , and Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr .

VH1 Storytellers was released by Mercury Records in the US on 20 October 1998. [nb 1] [5] The album failed to chart. Entertainment Weekly 's reviewer wrote: "It's his yarns, though, that are most engaging … A nice retrospective of an under appreciated composer." [3]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."With a Little Help from My Friends" Lennon–McCartney 4:18
2."It Don't Come Easy" Richard Starkey 3:18
3."I Was Walkin'"Starkey/Mark Hudson/Dean Grakal4:21
4."Don't Pass Me By"Starkey5:40
5."Back Off Boogaloo"Starkey3:40
6."King of Broken Hearts"Starkey/Hudson/Steve Dudas/Grakal7:42
7."Octopus's Garden"Starkey2:51
8."Photograph"Starkey/George Harrison 4:10
9."La De Da"Starkey/Hudson/Dudas/Grakal5:04
10."What in the... World"Starkey/Hudson/Dudas/Grakal5:31
11."Love Me Do"Lennon–McCartney3:42
12."With a Little Help from My Friends (Reprise)"Lennon–McCartney1:19
13."I've Got Blisters..." 0:13
14."The End" 0:03

Personnel

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References

Footnotes
  1. US Mercury 314 538 118-2 [5]
Citations
  1. VH1 Storytellers at AllMusic
  2. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 1984. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
  3. 1 2 "Ringo Starr VH1 Storytellers Album Review". Entertainment Weekly . 6 November 1998. p. 89.
  4. Brackett, Nathan, with Hoard, Christian (eds) (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Fireside. p. 777. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  5. 1 2 Harry, Bill (2004). The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia. London: Virgin Books. p. 186. ISBN   9780753508435.