My Ringo Last Five Out, in no particular order:
Everyone and Everything - from
EP3 (2022)
Something I've learned today is how much of Ringo's recent work has involved collaboration with Linda Perry. I'm embarrassed to admit I had no idea who she was, but I found that she was not only the lead singer and songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, but has spent the last 20+ years penning and producing some huge hits by Christina Aguilera, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys and a ton more. Oh, and also non-hit songs for Ringo, including this one. I love the sound of this song, but the lyrics are often un-good, including the ear-killing "Where you at" in the first line. I set those lyrics aside enough to let this onto my last five out, but can't get past them enough for the top 31. Rest assured Ms. Perry will show up again in better form. This is the only selection I'll have from this particular EP, but it really was pretty good and in fact earned high praise in its review by Salon, which called it "an unabashed, sincere attempt at finding a little light in a downtrodden world." As that review pointed out, Ringo's latter-day music isn't for those "looking for high-minded musings about the trauma and turmoil of workaday life," but it's a way to lose yourself in a bit of peace and love.
Miss Jean - from
Rewind Forward (2023)
This EP was described by American Songwriter as "bright and lovely," and I agree. This is
not the only song from this four-song EP that will appear. This particular ditty was written by Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers, who obviously know how to work with Ringo's limited vocal range. It's not a world-beater, but it's a bluesy, rollicking good time.
Have You Seen My Baby - from
Ringo (1973)
Previously ranked somewhere-or-other on my 2019 Ringo list
I messed up my Ringo list in 2019. His 29 songs were in the midst of a total of 290 post-Beatles Beatles songs, the 290 of which I kept constantly moving and shifting and re-ordering. (I know, that sounds
nothing like me.) And somewhere in there, I came to Ringo song #10 and found that I had one ("Wrack My Brain") that I hadn't intended to have on the list at all. So I put this one in as a last-minute substitution, making it my #10, but really it's not my #10. It's apparently somewhere in my #32-36. I have charts and graphs to explain this if you're confused. Has anyone ever chosen Randy Newman in one of these? Seems like they should have. Maybe Mr. or Mrs. R could. Anyway, great song.
R U Ready? from
Liverpool 8 (2008)
Previously ranked #29 - prior write-up below
This song would be ranked much higher were it not for the use of this recording technique. Combine that with the unnecessary "R U" in the title (you ain't no Purple One, Ringo), and there are enough irritants to make this my lowest ranked Ringo song that I still enjoy anyway. In listening to the 20 Ringo studio albums, I became convinced that Ringo is at his best when singing country music, and so this old-timey song sounds great for his voice, or at least it does insofar as I can actually hear his voice.
This song comes from Ringo's album,
Liverpool 8, released in 2008 and representing a pretty big change in Ringo's recording team. After 10 years and at least five albums together, Ringo ditched his long-time producer and songwriting partner Mark Hudson in the midst of recording this album and turned to former Eurythmic Dave Stewart to re-produce it, leading to a delay in its release that I doubt anyone noticed. As far as I know, Ringo never gave specifics on the falling out with Hudson, but did indicate it had to do with loyalty and trust rather than artistic matters. Intriguing. How much of a jerk do you have to be to piss off
Ringo that much!?!
Despite the change in producers, I don't see a huge difference between the prior albums and this one. Ringo continues his usual themes of peace and love and singing a lot about the old days in Liverpool (in the title song) and referencing his time in the Beatles (in "Gone Were the Days"). He ended up with a generally amiable if not spectacular record, and while this is the only song from this album that will appear on my countdown, I'd never object if someone wanted to play this record. It's sweet and unpretentious like most Ringo records, perfectly listenable on a relaxed and easygoing night. If you're interested in more songs from this album, I recommend checking out "Liverpool 8" and "Pasodobles."
This album did end up getting Ringo into the unusual-for-Ringo situation of having a bunch of people pissed at him. Liverpool was designated by the EU to be its "Capital of Culture" for 2008, and just before the album was released Ringo sang the title track, "Liverpool 8," at the opening ceremony. All went well there, with tens of thousands of appreciative fans, but a few days later Ringo made
this appearance on a talk show and asked if he missed Liverpool. As it turns out, "Ah no" was not the right answer to that question! I'm not sure Liverpool has yet forgiven him. On the other hand, Liverpool named its airport after John Lennon. Poor Ringo.
In Liverpool from
Ringo 2012 (2012)
Previously ranked #27 - prior write-up below
Ringo has stated that he doesn't want to write an autobiography because no one would want to hear about anything but the Beatles years, so instead uses his songs to tell his full story. He sings about the old days in Liverpool a lot. We have, for instance, "Liverpool 8," "The Other Side of Liverpool," "Rory and the Hurricanes," and more. As I discussed above, it's a bummer that he - the one who actually writes nice little songs about Liverpool - is now disliked there due to his off-the-cuff remark during that TV interview, while John is beloved.
Ringo had the roughest upbringing of any of the Beatles, having grown up poor in a tough and violent working-class area of inner-city Liverpool called Dingle. His parents divorced when he was 4 or 5, and he had very little contact with his father thereafter. His mother took a variety of back-breaking jobs to try to support the family, cleaning houses or working in bars. After contracting an infection during an appendectomy when he was six, Ringo was in a coma for several days, and a year-long recovery took him out of school for that period of time. By eight years old, he still hadn't learned to read. When Ringo had almost recovered from all of that and caught up in school, at 13 he got TB and was in a hospital for two years. It was during this time that he learned to drum, as the hospital staff encouraged participation in music as a therapy to assist their patients. When Ringo was finally released from the hospital, he never went back to school and instead took a variety of jobs such as machinist, waiter, railway worker...anything to eke out a living...until Rory and the Hurricanes started to have enough success for him to be a full-time musician.
Since Liverpool is such a focus of his recent songwriting, I wanted to include one of these songs, and this is my favorite of the group. It was co-written by Dave Stewart and appeared on Ringo's 17th studio album,
Ringo 2012. I need to find another word to call Ringo's songs other than "amiable," but this one fits right in with the last as just a pleasant pop song, and it's a cheerful trip down memory lane. This is the only song I'll be listing from this album, but much like the one above, the record as a whole is not a bad listen. It continues his usual themes of peace and love combined with nostalgia, and features a nice tight band that includes, in addition to Stewart, Joe Walsh, Van Dyke Parks, Edgar Winter, among others. The album also has examples of this odd tendency of Ringo to re-record his own songs, as it includes remakes of "Wings" and "Step Lightly" from earlier Ringo albums, neither of which was a song we really needed another version of. "
Anthem," which gets some play on the Beatles Channel, is on this record.
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