A little behind due to life being the suck!
22. Coming Undone from Change the World (2021)
Previously ranked - N/A
Another Linda Perry joint, and likely ranked higher than it should have been due to the presence of Trombone Shorty. It's my highest ranked "new" song, and yeah, if he were "Saxophone Shorty," his points for alliteration would be well outweighed by the sax. As it is, I love him and I love the horns and there you go.
21. La De Da from Vertical Man (1998)
Previously ranked #22 - prior write-up below
Vertical Man was Ringo’s 13th studio album and his first with Mark Hudson, who would become his producer and co-writer until their falling out in 2007. The record was engineered by long-time Beatle engineer Geoff Emerick. This was Ringo’s first studio album in six years, and it was timed and promoted to take advantage of a renewed interest in the Beatles as a result of the Anthology projects. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for Ringo, as the album sales disappointed despite decent critical reception, peaking at #61 in the US.
We’re used to seeing an all-star(r) cast on Ringo albums, but this one might take the cake. In addition to the usual such as Joe Walsh and Steve Cropper, performers on this record included Steven Tyler, Tom Petty, Alanis Morissette, Ozzy Osbourne, Scott Weiland, and Brian Wilson. Further, both Paul and George appeared on this album, with George contributing slide guitar on two songs and Paul providing bass and backing vocals on this one. Despite all that star power – which included Petty, Tyler, and Morissette on a cover of “Drift Away” – this is the only song from the album that I’ve selected for the countdown.
On this album, Ringo decided he wanted mostly to include his own compositions, so other than the aforementioned “Drift Away” and a cover of “Love Me Do,” all songs are Ringo’s. It’s not a bad record; another that you could easily put on while lazing away with a cocktail outside on a summer day. The title of the album reflects its sunniness – it came from a book of poems where Ringo saw the line, “Let’s hear it for the vertical man, so much praise is given to the horizontal one.” Ringo adopted this to relay his thanks for having been close to horizontal in his days of drug and alcohol abuse and his commitment to being a “vertical man” by adopting a more positive and clean lifestyle. Seems to have worked for him, given how he looks at 80!
The song I’ve selected is just a fun sing-along, with some great Ringo-ing and a better-than-usual vocal from him on the verses, then a 46-person chorus on the sing-along refrains. One funny (to me) aspect is a strange mix such that ~2:36 and again ~3:35 Paul is suddenly so loud and prominent in the chorus that it sounds like he’s standing right next to me.
Another hilarious (to me) bit is such a typical Ringo story. Apparently he’d neglected to pay rent during the recording sessions, and when the landlord’s assistant showed up at the studio demanding payment, he asked her what instruments she played. When she told him cello, he had her go get her cello, and she joined them on the recording for the title track. Credits include Nina Piaseckyj – cello.
By the way, the video for this was meant to be filmed at Shea Stadium, but a downpour changed the plan. Instead, they just put Ringo with a big umbrella in the middle of NYC and filmed his interactions with people. Charming video.