Ringo Starr

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. With Ringo Starr’s new album Ringo 2012 hot off the presses, I thought it would be a good week to scrounge up a Ringo rarity. Has it really been 50 years since he first went on a record?!

Additionally, you can consider this a follow-up to an earlier article I made, back in April 2011, concerning the BBE disc (Best Buy Exclusive) that accompanied the first few copies of Ringo’s 1998 Vertical Man CD when bought from Best Buy (you can find that post here, if you like, but I’ll give the necessary details here too).

The BBE disc contained three tracks from the ‘Vertical Man’ sessions that were not included on the CD: Mr. Doubleitup, Sometimes and Good News. The single release from this CD, a track called “La-De-Da,” contained an alternate edit (for radio) of the title track, along with another non-album tune from the ‘VM’ sessions called “Everyday.” While both “Everyday” and “Mr. Doubleitup” ended up as bonus tracks on the Japanese issuance of the Vertical Man CD, “Sometimes” and “Good News” were never issued on anything official other than the very limited BBE disc. If you’d like to hear “Sometimes,” visit the link I listed above. As this week’s BROW, I’m offering up “Good News.” Both of these tracks give us Ringo back in that country vein he’s been known to be partial to over the years. “Good News,” in fact, is about as country as Ringo gets – complete with lyrics about his truck breaking down and even a mention of Johnny Cash. As the name implies, it’s also an uptempo feel-good type of song written by Ringo with bandmates Mark Hudson and Steve Dudas, along with collaborator Bruce Grakal. Ringo not only sings and plays drums but also strums rhythm guitar with Mark and Steve. Mark also plays lead guitar and garnishes the track with his ever-recognizable backing vocals. Lee Rocker is also on board playing an upright bass. Although not credited in the BBE liner notes, the piano is likely played by Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.

For a good sampling of Ringo’s new album, Ringo 2012, click here.

Cover art for Vertical Man BBE Bonus Disc, 1998

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Vertical Man – Original 1998 Vertical Man CD, 1998

2) Vertical Man (Japanese Import) – Japanese version of Vertical Man with bonus tracks “Everyday” and Mr. “Doubleitup”, 1998

3) Ringo 2012 – Ringo Starr’s latest CD, 2012.

4) Ringo Starr VH1 Storytellers – Live performances by Ringo Starr and the Roundheads, 1998

5) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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“Weight Of The World” was the catchy sounding first single pulled from Ringo Starr’s big comeback album Time Takes Time. Released on May 22, 1992, Time Takes Time was Ringo’s first studio LP in 9 years. His previous 1983 album, Old Wave, was not even distributed in the U.S. and, although it was a good record, fell on apathetic ears in 1983.

By the late 80′s he started up the All-Starr Band, but needed a good studio album to get back in the action. “Weight Of The World” was a great opening single for Time Take Time, and the upbeat sound is a good representation of the mood of the entire LP. It features Ringo on drums and vocals, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench on keyboards, Mark Goldenberg on guitar and James “Hutch” Hutchinson on bass. It is one of three songs on the album produced by Don Was. Others sitting in the producer’s seat for the disc were Peter Asher, Jeff Lynne and Phil Ramone. It was written by Brian O’Doherty and Fred Velez. Most of the songs on the album were written by others, but Ringo co-wrote three of the albums songs.

Time Takes Time was also Ringo’s first album where he worked with Mark Hudson (originally of the television comedy The Hudson Brothers). Mark assisted with vocal arrangements on a few of the tracks and went on to be a core part in Ringo’s career. He served as producer or co-producer on the next 9 albums by Ringo between 1998-2008.

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Time Takes Time – 1993 original CD, including “Weight Of The World”.

2) Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Vol. 2 – 1993 All-Starr Band CD set featuring “Weight Of The World” Live at Montreux.

3) Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo – 20 track 2007 hits compilation by Ringo Starr, including “Weight Of The World”.

4) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Since today is the 71st birthday of Richard Starkey, MBE (aka Ringo Starr), I have elected to back up the VOW one day (usually out on Fridays) and feature this enlightening video. It not only shows a great performance of Ringo and his band, but also has lots of interesting highlights of Ringo’s incredible life and career.

Ringo explains this upbeat track is a tribute to the ‘L8′ area of the city of Liverpool, where he was born and brought up. He said: “The song was actually Dave Stewart’s idea (of Eurythmics fame), as a mini autobiographical travelogue of Ringo’s life. This is the title song, released early to promote the upcoming CD of the same name. It was initially set for release in mid-2007 and to be produced with Mark Hudson, but when Mark and Ringo had a falling out, the entire Liverpool 8 album project was delayed. It ended up being produced by Dave Stewart and released on CD on January 15, 2008. Ringo plays drums and sings on the track with Dave handling both the acoustic and electric guitar parts, while Mark Hudson’s original backing vocals were left mixed into the track. Two other members of his Roundheads band – Gary Burr & Steve Dudas – also contribute backing vocals. Bass is played by Sean Hurley. The theme for the video is a creative portrayal of a young boy viewing Ringo’s memories (including some Beatles footage, of course) through a kaleidoscope toy while the band plays tribute to Ringo’s home city.

Happy Birthday Ringo, and many more!

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Liverpool 8
– original 2008 CD release

2) Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr (CD & DVD) – 2007 hits compilation with bonus DVD.

3) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

No related posts.

Ringo Starr’s Ringo Rama CD, released on March 25, 2003, was his first release after the death of his good friend, George Harrison. George was not only Ringo’s former bandmate with The Beatles, but a longtime friend who had been a part of much of Ringo’s post-Beatles work. Ringo has explained often enough that during the Beatles years, George was who he was closest to. It’s only fitting that Ringo included this tribute to George on the CD. Never Without You features Ringo on drums and keyboards, with further support from his Roundheads line-up of Gary Burr on acoustic guitar, Steve Dudas on electric guitar, Mark Hudson on bass and Jim Cox on B3 organ. Although he does not appear in the video, the guitar solo is by Eric Clapton, another good friend of George Harrison’s. Additionally, there is a 12 string acoustic guitar played by Gary Nicholson with background vocals handled beautifully by Mark Hudson and Gary Burr. Rather than touch on all of the references the song contains of Ringo’s dearly missed friend, I will leave those for you to take notice of on your own. Enjoy…

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Ringo Rama (Bonus Dvd) (Dlx) – Deluxe edition of original 2003 Ringo Rama CD with bonus DVD and featuring original version of Never Without You

2) Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo – 2007 hits compilation of Ringo’s big ones, including Never Without You

3) Ringo 5.1 – a special 2008 CD/DVD audio collection of 5.1 (surround) mixes of some of Ringo’s recent favorites (also includes regular stereo mixes of same tracks) featuring Never Without You

4) Live at Soundstage – 2009 CD covering Ringo live on June 24, 2005 at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan Illinois with The Roundheads (Mark Hudson, Steve Dudas, Gary Burr, Mark Hart, Greg Bissonette and Matt Bissonette). Aired on PBS’s Soundstage in August 2005 and featuring Never Without You (live)

5) Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band Live 2006 – 2008 DVD of 2006 concert with Ringo and the All-Starrs (Richard Marx, Sheila E., Hamish Stuart, Edgar Winter, Billy Squier, Rod Argent) featuring Never Without You (live)

6) Live at the Greek Theatre 2008 – 2010 DVD of 2008 concert with Ringo and the All-Starrs (Gary Wright, Colin Hay, Hamish Stuart, Edgar Winter, Billy Squier) featuring Never Without You (live)

7) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

Related posts:

1. Back Off Boogaloo – Ringo Starr and The Roundheads, 2005 This week’s VOW is to get you ready, in case...
2. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – “Sometimes” (extra from ‘Vertical Man’ sessions) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. By the...

Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. By the summer of 1998, Ringo Starr was way overdue to get a CD out. He had not had a studio release since 1992′s Time Takes Time and had since struck up a musical partnership with musician/songwriter Mark Hudson. Besides, the recent success of the Beatles Anthology series had effectively added a lot to the younger generation of Beatles fans, making the timing of a fresh new release a good bet. Most of the tracks on Vertical Man were actually recorded the previous year and included an impressive list of supporting musicians other than Ringo and Mark. Among them were Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Scott Weiland, Brian Wilson, Steven Tyler, Alanis Morissette, and Timothy B. Schmidt. I should probably mention that Paul McCartney and George Harrison made a few contributions as well. Additionally, Steve Dudas began playing bass and guitar for Ringo on this CD and is still with him today.

While not a huge commercial success, Vertical Man is one of my favorite solo efforts by Ringo and it was his biggest seller since his 1976 album Ringo’s Rotogravure. The CD was released in June of 1998, with a single release out the following month of a track on the CD called La De Da. The La De Da single contained the album track, plus a rearranged edit of the song that differs from the album version. There was also a song called Everyday that was not included on Vertical Man. The first 30, or so, copies of ‘VM’ delivered to each Best Buy store received a free 3-track second CD of bonus music (called a Best Buy Exclusive, or BBE). The BBE’s track listing was Mr. Doubleitup, Sometimes and Good News. Mr. Doubleitup and the La De Da b-side Everyday also appeared as bonus tracks on the Japanese edition of VM, but the other two BBE tracks, to my knowledge, have never surfaced anywhere else. I have decided to include one of these as this week’s BROW. Sometimes is Ringo back in that country vein he’s been known to be partial to over the years, which makes for a unique sort of BROW. Ringo sings, plays drums and a little piano on the track. Mark Hudson plays bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, some piano and shares background vocals with ex-Eagle Timothy B. Schmidt. Steve Dudas also plays electric and acoustic guitar. Pedal steel guitar is played by Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and the main pianist is Jim Cox.

Cover art for Vertical Man BBE Bonus Disc, 1998

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Vertical Man
– Original 1998 Vertical Man CD featuring La De Da, 1998

2) Ringo Starr VH1 Storytellers – Live performances by Ringo Starr and the Roundheads including La De Da, 1998

3) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

Related posts:

1. Vertical Man – EPK, 1998 One of my favorite Ringo Starr album’s is 1998′s Vertical...
2. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – “Good News” (extra from ‘Vertical Man’ sessions) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. With Ringo...
3. New Ringo album will also feature Paul Ringo is putting out a new album due on the...

Another highlight of mine from the 2010 Fest For Beatles Fans was getting a few photos and autographs from some of the stars and just hanging out.

KLAUS VOORMANN, an original member of the Plastic Ono Band, was reunited with most of the band for Yoko’s Birthday Concert in NYC in February (with Eric Clapton, Jim Keltner and Sean). His latest effort A Sideman’s Journey CD/DVD/Book, features Paul, Ringo, his old band Manfred Mann, Joe Walsh, Cat Stevens and many other friends. This is Klaus’ first ever solo CD and it was worth the wait. Klaus’ friendship with The Beatles goes back 50 years to the Hamburg days. Klaus is one of those few musicians who has performed and recorded with all four Beatles. He is a two time Grammy Winner including his album cover artwork for Revolver.

Happy Nat & Klaus Voorman, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

DENNY SEIWELL is one of the busiest session drummers in Los Angeles. In 1971, Denny was hired by Paul to join him on the Ram album session in NYC in 1971. Paul must have liked what he heard, as later that year, he was asked to join Wings. In the two years with Wings, he played on two of Paul’s biggest hits, My Love & Live & Let Die.

Happy Nat with Denny Seiwell, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

Denny Seiwell plays selections from the 'Ram' sessions at the Fest For Beatles Fans, 2010

LAURENCE JUBER is one of the finest guitarists on the planet. It is no wonder Paul asked him to join Wings in 1978! His guitar work on Back To The Egg was amazing. His new CD, LJ Plays The Beatles 2 was premiered in Chicago at the Fest.

Happy Nat with Laurence Juber, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

DENNY LAINE was a founding member of Wings (with Paul & Linda) in 1971 and remained a core part of the band until it broke up in 1980. Denny co-wrote Paul’s biggest solo hit in the UK – Mull of Kintyre. Denny, also a founding member of the Moody Blues, burst onto the scene in 1965 with his bluesy rock vocals on Go Now. Denny’s has a new CD called Storyteller.

Happy Nat with Denny Laine, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

MARK HUDSON Mark’s knowledge of the entire spectrum of music is truly remarkable. Plus, he is an admitted Beatlemaniac. During his 10 years as Ringo’s producer, Mark had the chance to work with Paul, George and dozens of other music legends. Mark also produced Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and Ozzy Osbourne. Mark has a new CD out called, The Artist.

Unfortunately, this pic (below) came out a little fuzzy.

Happy Nat with Mark Hudson, Aug. 2010, Fest For Beatles Fans

Pictured (below) from left to right: Klaus Voormann, Mark Lapidos, Gary Wright and Walter Podrazik (author of All Together Now)

From a late-night party on 8/14/2010

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One of my favorite Ringo Starr album’s is 1998′s Vertical Man. The hit single off the album was called La De Da and along with Ringo’s regular band (Mark Hudson, Steve Dudas and Jim Cox), was his brother-in-law, Joe Walsh (doing that nice guitar work), and backing vocals by about 43 others including Paul McCartney, Barbara Bach, Steven Tyler, Nils Lofgren and Timothy B. Schmidt.

Note: Originally this post featured the La De Da promo video, but since this video has been pulled by You Tube, I have modified the post to feature the actual press kit (EPK) for the Vertical Man album which has some good snippets of La De Da and other songs on the album along with some interesting commentary from Ringo Starr. Enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – “Sometimes” (extra from ‘Vertical Man’ sessions) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. By the...
2. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – “Good News” (extra from ‘Vertical Man’ sessions) Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. With Ringo...
3. New Ringo album will also feature Paul Ringo is putting out a new album due on the...

This week’s VOW is to get you ready, in case you have a ticket to see Ringo this summer. His US tour is currently in progress. Back Off Boogaloo was Ringo’s second solo UK single and third in the US. It made it to #9 on the US Billboard charts and #3 on the UK Melody Maker charts. George Harrison produced the original single and plays guitar on it. It also has Klaus Voormann on bass and Gary Wright on keyboards. Of course, Ringo is on the drum kit. It has been rumored that Boogaloo was a nickname for Paul McCartney, and that the lines in the song Wake up meathead, don’t pretend that you are dead are directed at him. While this is plausible, given the dispute over Apple Records going on at the time, Ringo, in 1977, claimed only that the song was inspired by his late friend Marc Bolan (of T. Rex fame), who used the word a lot one night when they had dinner together, causing Ringo to dream up the song.

This clip was recorded live at The Genesee Theatre, Waukegan, IL with The Roundheads: Mark Hudson (guitars, harmonica, background vocals), Steve Dudas (electric guitar), Gary Burr (electric guitar, mandolin, background vocals), Mark Hart (keyboards, background vocals), Greg Bissonette (drums, background vocals) and Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals).

Also, I have the site listed on BeatleLinks.net now so if you’d like to rate this site and maybe even give a review, the link is here. Kind words will make an even happier Nat.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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