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Review
At last - the talented one from that group of Liverpudlian, long-haired louts gets his due recognition. While his fellow remaining band fellow sells his soul to a large multi-national beverage franchise the former Richard Starkey keeps a relatively low profile. Probably now more famous in the UK for being the voice of a small blue train, Ringo's career has been kept alive in the States by his road jaunts with a crew of stellar mates in his All-Starr band. But why has the man who had the first post-Beatles solo hit fallen off the radar to such a large extent? How could we forget the most lovable mop top?
The clue is in the chronology of this fine compilation of hits and choice cuts from the last 35 years. The conspicuous gap between the early 80s and early 90s. Yes, personal demons (now happily defeated) saw to it that Ringo became the unlovable moptop for a while.
But before this unfortunate fall from grace our Ringo was in fact a man who made remarkably fine pop records. Of the eight hits contained here, seven are top tenners. Cleverly he always knew his limitations and wasn't above a little help from his friends. The cast list on everything from 'It Don't Come Easy' in 1971 to 'Hey Baby' from Ringo's Rotogravure (a record he admits to not even remembering having made) is staggering. Still close buddies with George Harrison (who co-wrote the title track of this compilation and produced his first two hits) and John Lennon (who wrote both 'I'm The Greatest' and '(It's All Down To) Goodnight Vienna)', Ringo also could call on seemingly every toast-of-Beverly-Hills legend at the time, including Harry Nilsson, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Martha Reeves, Jim Keltner, Arif Mardin, Marc Bolan, Elton John and Bernie Taupin!the list is mind-boggling. With this much talent on board no amount of carousing could totally obscure the results.
Wisely, a large quantity of tracks come from his finest albums, Ringo (including the wonderful 'Oh My My') and its follow-up, Goodnight Vienna. But you also get the title track from his country project, Beaucoup Of Blues, the autobiographical b-side of 'It Don't Come Easy', 'Early 1970', and even his collaboration with the criminally underrated Jellyfish, 'Weight Of The World'.
With candidly direct sleevenotes by the big-nosed one himself, Photograph is a heart-warming reminder that Ringo was always more than a drummer. --Chris Jones
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is the second ever 'Best of' compilation from Ringo. The first (Blast From Your Past) had just 10 songs and ran for about thirty minutes. This new collection doubles that and brings us up to date.
All the early singles are here of course, plus the excellent b side 'Early 1970'.There are four tracks from the fabulous 'Ringo' album, and four from the not quite so fabulous 'Goodnight Vienna', including what was arguably its best track, the Elton John penned 'Snookeroo'. (Inexplicably excluded from the earlier package.) Newer tracks are included from the albums 'Ringo's Rotogravure',Vertical Man','Time Takes Time'. 'Stop & Smell the Roses','Ringo Rama'and 'Choose Love'.This includes his comeback single 'Weight of the World which, although never a big hit, was played heavily on the radio and deserved to fare better. The highlight of the album to me, is the track 'Never Without You, Ringo's tribute to former bandmate George Harrison, and featuring a guitar solo from Eric Clapton. This track was new to me, but had I ever heard it I'd have bought the album just for this one! The inclusion of Ringo's duet with Buck Owens on 'Act Naturally'is a nice touch, and a reminder of where it all started.
The album is not quite a full career overview- there is nothing from his first 'Sentimental Journey' album, or several of the later ones, but the description 'Best of' is in this instance probably accurate. The booklet is informative, with Ringo's own recollections on each song. If, like me, you bought his first few albums then lost interest, this album is an excellent opportunity to revisit those old gems and to sample what came later.
All the early singles are here of course, plus the excellent b side 'Early 1970'.There are four tracks from the fabulous 'Ringo' album, and four from the not quite so fabulous 'Goodnight Vienna', including what was arguably its best track, the Elton John penned 'Snookeroo'. (Inexplicably excluded from the earlier package.) Newer tracks are included from the albums 'Ringo's Rotogravure',Vertical Man','Time Takes Time'. 'Stop & Smell the Roses','Ringo Rama'and 'Choose Love'.This includes his comeback single 'Weight of the World which, although never a big hit, was played heavily on the radio and deserved to fare better. The highlight of the album to me, is the track 'Never Without You, Ringo's tribute to former bandmate George Harrison, and featuring a guitar solo from Eric Clapton. This track was new to me, but had I ever heard it I'd have bought the album just for this one! The inclusion of Ringo's duet with Buck Owens on 'Act Naturally'is a nice touch, and a reminder of where it all started.
The album is not quite a full career overview- there is nothing from his first 'Sentimental Journey' album, or several of the later ones, but the description 'Best of' is in this instance probably accurate. The booklet is informative, with Ringo's own recollections on each song. If, like me, you bought his first few albums then lost interest, this album is an excellent opportunity to revisit those old gems and to sample what came later.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's been a long time coming but this is a great selection of Ringo's songs. My favourites are from the early '70s, great singles like 'Back Off Boogaloo', 'It Don't Come Easy' and 'Photograph'. Most of the tracks are good-time sing-alonga-Ringo songs that sound good all these years later. The booklet includes snippets from an interview with Ringo talking about each of the songs. Pleased I bought this!
14 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
After the break up of the beatles, Ringo was certainly the most unlikely to have much success with a solo career. He has managed to produce a number of reasonable songs with a little help from his friends and perhaps, unsurprisingly, his best work featured contributions from his ex-beatle buddies - notably collaborations with George Harrison ('Photograph' and 'It Don't Come Easy') and John Lennon ('Goodnight Vienna'). Other partnerships have included Marc Bolan ('Back Off Boogaloo') and Harry Nillson ('Only You') - more recently Ozzie Osbourne. All his best material is probably here but my personal favourite was 'Early 1970' - Ringo's plea to the other beatles that 'if they came to town he'd love to play with them again'. This collection proves there's more to Ringo than Thomas the Tank! A long overdue best of collection for a charismatic and highly undervalued drummer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Shining Starr
This is a *must have* album which will appeal to both serious and casual fans of Ringo Starr.
While it is more of a 'Greatest Hits' / 'Singles Collection' rather than a... Read more
While it is more of a 'Greatest Hits' / 'Singles Collection' rather than a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by nzbeatlefan
It's Ringo innit?
Ringo is a bit of a marmite taste as a solo artist - you either love him or hate him. I am in the former camp and thoroughly enjoy this album of very individual tracks.
Published 1 month ago by C. Mason
with a little help from his friends
A 2007 update of his greatest solo hits and album tracks. Apart from Ringo Starr, the writing credits include George Harrison and John Lennon, who also played on many of the... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Red Rose
Pure Gold.
There are some great Ringo Starr tracks on this album, but there are also what I believe to be some glaring ommissions as well as some slight oversights. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2009 by Guitar Heroine
fjlyness
Ringo Starr maybe the least accomplished vocalist of the ''fab four'' but his best off album gives us some of the best pop songs of the early seventies, indeed anyone of the same... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2007 by FJLyness
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