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!

No related posts.

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...

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...