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Since the Beatles Separated in 1970, the three men standing at the front of the stage had no problem building their legacy. John Lennon wrote the legendary songs “Imagine” and “Give Peace a Chance”. George Harrison published All Things Must Pass and spent time as a member of the Traveling Wilburys. Paul McCartney is headlining the Super Bowl halftime shows and the Olympic opening ceremonies.
The drummer Ringo Starr Unfortunately I didn’t have the same luck. After a series of hit singles in the early 70s, he was mostly no longer in the spotlight of the music scene and only appeared as an accomplished session musician (he played for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Ben Harper, among others) or as a voice actor.
The Award for Musical Excellencewhich Starr received at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2015, gave the drummer well-deserved and long-overdue recognition as both a supporting musician and a solo artist. Follow our cover star’s career with these 20 songs.
“Sentimental Journey” (1970)
Immediately after the Beatles’ traumatic breakup, Starr briefly turned away from rock completely. He recorded a number of pre-rock standards such as “Night and Day”, “Stardust” and the title track of his debut solo album “Sentimental Journey”.
It didn’t exactly suit his modest vocal abilities, but it was still charming. Plus, the mutual accusations and lawsuits that followed the band’s breakup would make everyone yearn for simpler times. This had been an idea that had been in the back of his mind for some time. And he chose the songs with the help of his parents, especially his mother.
“Beaucoups of Blues” (1970)
Country music was always the best fit for Starr’s wry vocals, and with the support of legendary pedal steel session musician Pete Drake, he recorded his second solo album, Beaucoups of Blues, in Nashville. A city he had somehow never visited before.
Presley’s presence is clearly felt in this recording. Elvis’ first guitarist, Scotty Moore, was a recording engineer at Music City Recorders, a studio he partially owned. The King’s backing singers, the Jordanaires, harmonize skillfully behind Ringo.
“It Don’t Come Easy” (1971)
“It Don’t Come Easy” from 1971 is partly a premonition of the relaxed lightness of seventies soft rock (“you don’t have to shout or leap about”) and yet is rightly Starr’s most celebrated hit. Greil Marcus included it in his appendix “Treasure Island” to the discography of Stranded where Ringo tied John Lennon (“God”) with a single entry and George Harrison (zero – Paul McCartney got the whole thing Band on the Run) struck.
In “I Wanna Be Sedated: Pop Music in the Seventies,” Phil Dellio and Scott Woods called “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Photograph” “probably the two best post-Beatles singles of all time.” Not bad for a casual, playful three-minute homage to Phil Spector with brass and cymbals and gospel-like choral accompaniment from two members of Badfinger.
“Early 1970” (1971)
“Everything is fine with the Beatles,” Starr allegedly assured in March 1970. A month later, the split was official. Six months later, he recorded this hopeful but heartbreaking eulogy, which was at least initially hidden on the B-side of “It Don’t Come Easy.”
It’s a kind of rap in which he expresses himself ironically about his own instrumental skills. “I don’t play bass because it’s too hard for me.” And wondering, verse by verse, which of his former bandmates (or “knights,” as an earlier version of the track called it) will play with him when they come to town. Paul maybe, John sure, George is already there. In fact, it’s him who plays slide guitar and piano!
Back Off Boogaloo (1972)
In 1972, glam rock was the next big thing in Britain. Starr was as susceptible to T-Rextasy as anyone. He made a documentary, Born to Boogiecommemorating a performance by T. Rex at Wembley Stadium.
Marc Bolan’s influence is omnipresent in this playful stomp. Ringo liked the song so much that he re-recorded it almost a decade later with harmonies from Harry Nilsson and Beatles quotes in the lyrics.