"Choose Love" with Ringo Starr, Mark Hudson, Billy Preston and Chrissie Hynde
Written: Jul 07 '05 (Updated Oct 07 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Great songs. Great band. Guests: Chrissie Hynde, Billy Preston and Mark Hudson.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Ringo's best album since 1973's "Ringo." 44:36 minutes of music. A killer duet with Chrissie Hynde. And Billy Preston and Mark Hudson!
Don_Krider's Full Review: Choose Love by Ringo Starr
Liverpool native Ringo Starr turned 65 years of age on July 7, 2005. In recent TV appearances, he doesn't look a day over 29 (my generation said not to trust people over 30, and I trust Ringo, so...).
The bearded Richard Starkey was in the most successful rock 'n' roll band of all time (no, not The Rutles). In that mop-topped hair band he was known as Ringo Starr.
Ringo Starr, of course, was one of The Beatles. With his average-guy good looks and rock-steady drum beat he helped The Beatles to sell between 500 million and 1 billion recordings, depending on your source material, since their first single in 1961 (Ringo joined them in 1962, replacing original drummer Pete Best).
Film stardom followed music success (not just in Beatles' movies like "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!," but later as an actor in films like Peter Sellers' "The Magic Christian" and as a director of films like the T. Rex documentary "Born To Boogie" (which recently came out on DVD)).
He narrated the terrific Harry Nilsson cartoon "The Point" (Nilsson and Starr later co-starred in the film "Son Of Dracula"). He also had a part in Mae West's last film, "Sextette." And yes, kids, he was the original Mr. Conductor at Shining Time Station on TV's "Thomas The Tank Engine" from 1985 to 1991 (later replaced on the PBS show by George Carlin).
Ringo sang lead on a few Beatles tracks (even wrote or co-wrote a few), but he is best remembered for singing lead on a pair of Lennon-McCartney-written Beatles songs, "Yellow Submarine" (# 2 in 1966, a million-seller) and "With A Little Help From My Friends."
After a slow-start as a solo act in music in 1970 (the single "Beaucoups Of Blues" peaked at # 87 that year), Ringo's former Beatles' buddies (John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison) were soon backing him on album tracks and/or writing songs for him. Friends like the rock group group Badfinger, The Band and Marc Bolan of T. Rex backed him in the studio.
All of which led to Billboard magazine Top 10 singles chart success starting with "It Don't Come Easy" which peaked at # 4 in 1971 in the U. S. The tune became Ringo's first solo Gold Record Award winner (one million units sold for a single in those days).
This was followed by six more Top 10 hits between 1971-75: "Back Off Boogaloo" (# 9, 1972), "Photograph" (#1, 1973, Gold Record Award), "You're Sixteen" (# 1, 1973, Gold Record Award), "Oh My My" (# 5, 1974), "Only You" (# 6, 1974-75) and "No No Song" (# 3, 1975). Ringo's string of hits continued into the early 1980's, but he hasn't visited the Top 10 since 1975.
On the album front, Ringo put four albums in the Top 40 of Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart in the 1970's, including 1974's "Goodnight Vienna" (backed by John Lennon and Elton John, the LP hit # 8 in 1974, and earned a Gold Record Award for selling over 500,000 units --- singles had to sell a million units and albums had to sell 500,000 units to achieve the award at the time).
Ringo's biggest solo success was 1973's "Ringo" (with appearances by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison), which went Gold and multi-platinum (one million albums sold), propelled by the three Top 10 singles from it ("Photograph," "You're Sixteen" and "My Oh My"; more recent reissues on CD have included "It Don't Come Easy" as a bonus track). The album peaked at # 2 for two weeks and spent 37 weeks on the charts.
Though he hasn't hit the Top 40 in more than two decades, Ringo has continued to record over the years and to tour with Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band (attracting folks like Eric Carmen, Peter Frampton, Burton Cummings, Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren, Jack Bruce, Dave Edmunds, Nils Lofgren and others to join him on stage).
The man most at Ringo's side the last few years has been Mark Hudson (Grammy-nominated songwriter for acts like Aerosmith ("Livin' On The Edge") and Alice Cooper). Hudson, who sounds like John Lennon when he sings, was once lead singer of The Hudson Brothers, a wonderfully Beatles-inspired trio who had a pair of Top 40 hits ("So You Are A Star" in 1974 and "Rendezvous" in 1975).
Hudson has been involved with Ringo's albums for the last several years, bringing Ringo to a more mainstream, modern, almost power pop sound, which is a good thing. He is also currently touring with The Roundheads as Ringo's backup band.
Trivia note: Talent runs in Ringo's family. His son, Zak Starkey, has been The Who's drummer the last few years and since March of 2005 has been the tour drummer for Oasis (a commitment that runs until at least January of 2006 according to press reports).
This album:
On Ringo Starr's latest release, the Koch Records album "Choose Love" released in June of 2005, Starr and Hudson co-produced. They also co-wrote all 12 tracks with a little help from some friends. Most of the arrangements are by Jim Cox (The Monkees).
Guest musicians on the album include keyboardist (piano and B3 Organ) Billy Preston (who worked with The Beatles in the 1960's and later had four million-selling hit singles of his own in the 1970's) and Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (who duets with Ringo on the album's best track, The Beatles-inspired "Don't Hang Up").
Besides Ringo on drums/organ/lead vocals and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Hudson (who also plays harmonica on the album), the players on the CD also include John Amato (B. B. King, Curtis Mayfield, Eddie Kendricks) on sax, bassist/guitarist/vocalist Gary Burr (a Nashville songwriter who has worked with Carole King and Faith Hill, among others) and guitarist Steve Dudas (he co-wrote Aerosmith's "Just Push Play" with Hudson and Steve Tyler and he has also worked with Ozzy Osbourne).
Other musicians include guitarist/vocalist Mark Mirando, guitarist Robert Randolph, vocalists The Rose Stone Choir, with horns by Dan Higgins and Gary Grant.
I had low expectations for the album, but the quality of this release has impressed me. This is Ringo's "love" album. Many of the tunes have Beatles' references in the lyrics or the melodies, and Ringo has said that the lovely track "Oh My Lord" is his tribute to the late George Harrison (kind of Ringo's version of "My Sweet Lord," if you will).
"Choose Love" is filled with romantic optimism. At times, the album's vibe fools one into believing it could be the Summer Of Love of 1967 again. Nothing wrong with a little peace and love in my book. Nothing wrong with a very good album, either, which "Choose Love" by Ringo Starr is.
Ringo even quotes the late Ray Charles in the album's CD booklet, "You can't say anything bad about people you love." He also pays tribute in his thank yous to "the Best Rock Band in heaven: John, George and Harry" (a nod to Lennon, Harrison and Nilsson).
The album isn't perfect --- Ringo's voice, after all, isn't a classic pop instrument, but it is totally unique and is fun to listen to. Ringo as a drummer, of course, is among the best. The musicianship is first-rate and most of the songs are quite good, which means I can recommend the album not only to die-hard Beatles' fans but also to fans of classic rock music.
As an album, "Choose Love" by Ringo Starr may be his best outing since 1973's "Ringo." One of those rare albums you can listen to from start to finish. The record industry and the music-buying public should kick themselves if this album doesn't become a hit. Ringo and The Roundheads come across as a band with Ringo as just one of the guys, something to applaud and admire at the same time.
Ringo is no broken record. He still means something to me and I, for one, am happy the man continues to work as hard as he does to put out quality material and to tour. Ringo seems to truly care about the fans (I'm sure Paul McCartney does, too, but his tours hit only the big cities, while Ringo might show up within driving distance of me every couple of years).
I saw Ringo on tour some years ago when his backup band included Burton Cummings, Joe Walsh, Dave Edmunds, Todd Rundgren, Nils Lofgren and Timothy B. Schmidt. Ringo dominated the show, but yielded the spotlight to each artist for a couple of songs while he sat behind his drum kit --- a Ringo concert is the most family-oriented show, next to a Monkees reunion, on the road and a fun experience ("I saw a Beatle!!!").
The CD:
***NOTE: I'm reviewing the CD version of the album. There is also a more expensive DualDisc version of the album (which I haven't heard). According to a press release, the DualDisc features the regular CD on one side with "enhanced stereo" with a DVD on the other side (which has an album documentary, lyrics, a Ringo biography and "song-by-song analysis").***
12 tracks on a single CD with a total running time of 44:36 minutes, all produced by Mark Hudson and Ringo Starr.
The sound quality is outstanding in both vocals and instrumentation.
The 8-page CD booklet features numerous small photos and is a bit psychedelic, as befits a former Beatle (who will always be a Beatle to the fans, which Ringo doesn't seem to mind). Each track has personnel listings, but no lyrics to the songs.
The 12 tracks:
"Fading In And Out," "Give Me Back The Beat," "Oh My Lord," "Hard To Be True," "Some People," "Wrong All The Time," "Don't Hang Up" (duet with Ringo and Chrissie Hynde), "Choose Love," "Me And You," "Satisfied," "The Turnaround" (with Ringo's wife, actress Barbara Bach of the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me," as "the voice"; she also took the cover photo shot of Ringo) and "Free Drinks."
The best tunes:
"Don't Hang Up":
The person who thought of pairing Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders with Ringo for a duet on "Don't Hang Up" deserves applause for the idea. The two, trading lead vocal duties throughout the track, are perfect together. The song was written by Ringo (who still writes under the name of Richard Starkey) with Hudson and Burr. I think the track has current Top 40 Pop potential, believe it or not.
The Beatles echoes are everywhere in the the song's up-tempo melody. Listen to Ringo's playing on drums and percussion here, especially how he plays the cymbals ever-so-gently --- that's why more than a few music publications have called him "one of the 50 best drummers of the last century."
The lyrics on "Don't Hang Up" are both smart and hip, about two people and how they deal with one another, when one of them (Ringo) is in a rock 'n' roll band:
Starr sings in a fast ratta-tat-tat machine gun delivery style: "...I want to sit here, drink beer, really love you dear, but there's a rent man knockin' at the door...while I'm out there rockin', I'll be rockin' 'round the clockin', and I'll always come home to you..."
Chrissie responds in a matching style: "...I got new shoes, new dress, hairdo, guess you don't love me anymore...while you're downtown playin', I'll be uptown stayin', 'cause that's what lonely women do..."
"Choose Love":
The album's title track, written by Starr, Hudson and Burr, is full of Beatle song references (and references to Ringo's solo work as well) in the lyrics:
"...the long and winding road is more than a song, tomorrow never knows what goes on, to live your life right you've got to let in the light and let all the darkness go, you've got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues, but no matter who you choose, choose love..."
"Choose Love" has a driving backbeat and a great horn arrangement at its core, with some sizzling lead guitar work. Proof positive that Ringo's band, The Roundheads, has been with him long enough that they truly are a band now --- what Ringo has called a "well-to-do garage band" in interviews. They're great!
"Satisfied":
Roll the power pop music of The Hudson Brothers, Badfinger, Big Star and Raspberries into a ball, add a pinch of Byrdsy-country, and you would probably come up with a track like "Satisfied." This is a great rock 'n' roll track and a true early '70s flashback (this would fit on Raspberries' "Fresh" album quite well and Ringo reminds me of Raspberries' bassist Dave Smalley ("It Seemed So Easy") vocally here).
Written by Starr, Hudson and Grammy-winning songwriter Gary Nicholson (who has more credits than I dare list, but a web link to his website is at the end of this article), the tune is another candidate for a single (probably would fit pop, country and AC formats). It's about a guy who tells the girl of his dreams he'll never be "satisfied":
"Give me all the time you have, won't be satisfied, I'm happy when you hold my hand, still not satisfied, and when you tell me it's time to go, I'll ask you for one minute more, and if you never leave my side, I won't be satisfied..."
"Free Drinks":
The initial disco tone of the track scared me, but this is actually a pretty good dance track with a rock beat. Ringo's lead vocal doesn't sound like Ringo --- a bit higher than his usual singing voice. Toss in what Ringo described in an interview with David Wild as a "Fistfull Of Dollars" guitar riff from Steve Dudas, hand claps and Ringo's synthesizer loop and the song works surprisingly well.
"Wrong All The Time":
With its piano by Jim Cox and B3 Organ by Billy Preston, slow percussion and bass, country-blues flavor, I felt like I was depressed after a bad date in the late '70s or early '80s and laying head first on a table in a smoke-filled bar next to a couple of empty pitchers of beer (usually followed by my singing with the band on the postage stamp-sized stage uninvited).
This is one of those "she-done-me-wrong" Charley Rich-type of songs. The type of tune with lyrics that should depress you but you still find yourself singing along with them. Ringo sounds like he has been there and done that, which is what makes him special, I think --- life isn't perfect and he knows it.
Another great tune by Starr, Hudson and Burr.
"Fading In Fading Out":
Ringo seems to have come to terms with his own mortality. We all die eventually, after all. As Ringo sees it in the song's lyrics, "...and when I disappear, I hope I've left enough love." I think Beatle nutcases like me will answer in the affirmative if asked, Ringo, when the time does come.
The Starr-Hudson-Burr tune is powerful --- driven by two horn players, four guitarists, bass, drums and percussion. Richly textured music here. And the lyrics are intelligent (as a lyric lover, I'm glad to report that), telling us to face life and remain hopeful:
"...life is fast, life is strange, every breath is filled with happiness or pain, the story goes 'til you reach the end, why give up when there's a chance to start again..."
"Some People":
I love a jangly pop 12-string guitar and Steve Dudas does the job quite nicely on "Some People." Another up-tempo, positive about life, power pop anthem with vocal harmonies The Eagles would die for on the chorus of a very hopeful song:
"...when it starts to go wrong, and I feel like I can't go back, it's just a bump in the road, it's just a penny that's on the track, some people can move on, some can't let it go, but I can, and you can, so we don't have to worry 'bout that..."
"Some People" was written by Starr with Hudson, Burr, Dudas and lyricist Dean Grakal.
Related reviews:
"The Anthology...So Far" by Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band (with solo performances by Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Eric Carmen, Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, Felix Cavaliere, Todd Rundgren, Dave Edmunds, Simon Kirke, Gary Brooker, Jack Bruce, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Clarence Clemons, Mark Farner, John Entwistle, Levon Helm, Dr. John and Timothy B. Schmidt): http://www.epinions.com/content_34313899652
The late Billy Preston, Ringo's oft-time sidekick, has an outstanding CD featuring all 14 of his Hot 100 chart hits, including the original version of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" (which Billy wrote), "Ultimate Collection": http://www.epinions.com/content_247350726276
The official Ringo Starr site (with a movie greeting from Ringo): http://www.ringostarr.com/
The official Beatles site: http://www.beatles.com/
The official Paul McCartney site:
http://www.mplcommunications.com/mccartney
Official Billy Preston site (plays on Ringo's album, played on Beatles' tunes such as "Get Back," and had hit singles of his own ("Will It Go Round In Circles" in 1973 and "Nothing From Nothing" in 1974 both hit # 1; he also hit # 2 in 1972 with "Outa-Space" and # 4 in 1973 with "Space Race" --- all four songs earned Gold Record Awards --- Billy returned to the Top 10 in 1979-80 with a duet with Syreeta Wright, "With You I'm Born Again," that reached # 4): http://www.billypreston.net/
Official Gary Nicholson site: http://www.garynicholson.com/
Official Pumkinhead Records (label formed by Ringo Starr and Mark Hudson; home of singer Liam Lynch): http://www.pumkinheadrecords.com/
Hudson Brothers' fan site: http://members.aol.com/bluekate/hudson/bio_long.htm
Mercury Records bio of Ringo Starr (Ringo has left the label): http://web2.airmail.net/gshultz/98mercbio.html
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