Ringo

Ringo Starr

Capitol, 1973

http://www.ringostarr.com

REVIEW BY: Jeff Clutterbuck

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 10/22/2006

John was the most radical, Paul the most romantic and the George the most spiritual. But Ringo was the coolest.

Seriously, Ringo was the fun-loving guy, the only Beatle who really didn’t end up wanting to kill the others by 1970. When the Fab Four broke up, they all took radically different paths, and one could argue Ringo took the most entertaining route.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Thus, 1973 gave the public Ringo. A star-studded album, this is the only record to feature all four of the Beatles after their breakup on one disc. Of course, not all four played on the same track, but their fingerprints are all over Ringo.

Gloriously, Starr had no pretensions when he recorded this album. It’s pure, 100 percent pop, though that's about what people expected from the dummer. It’s not brilliant and never could be, but it's a good and quick listen, a palate cleanser of sorts.

The three best tracks come from the collaboration with his former bandmates. “I’m The Greatest,” “Photograph” and “Six O Clock” could not be more different in tone and style, and of these “Photograph” works the best, with its sax solos and Wall of Sound approach. It helps that George and Ringo wrote it together.

The rest of Ringo plays out as a hit-or-miss affair. For every “Oh My My,” which Ringo also wrote, there’s a forgettable “Step Lightly.” Like many pop albums, what it boils down to is the hooks, and there are enough of them here that won't leave your head for hours. The infectious chorus of “Oh My My,” the honky tonk cover “You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful and You're Mine)” and the number-one hit “Photograph” are melt-in-your-mouth pop confections, from the drummer who helped write the book on the genre.

To be honest, critiquing Ringo seems a little pointless. Starr made this album to have a good time, sell a few records and hang out with his old mates. There was really no way this could have turned out bad, but as Ringo's third album and the one that kicked his solo career into gear, it's a breezy good time.

Rating: B

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© 2006 Jeff Clutterbuck and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Capitol, and is used for informational purposes only.