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GREATEST HITS ALBUM REVIEW

RINGO STARR

Photograph
The Very Best of Ringo

Released -  August 28, 2007 on Capitol/Apple Records. Produced by Richard Perry, George Harrison, Peter Drake, Arif Mardin, Jeff Lynne, Don Was, Mark Hudson, Ringo Starr, Jim Shaw & Jerry Crutchfield

Ringo Starr - Lead & Backing Vocals, Drums, Percussion; Piano on tracks 9 & 17; Acoustic Guitar on track 9

With a little help from his freinds:
Klaus Voormann - Bass on tracks 1 thru 7, 10 thru 12 and 14; Acoustic Guitar & Dobro on track 9
George Harrison - Guitars on tracks 1, 2, 5, 9, 19;  Slide Guitar on tracks 4 & 16; Backing Vocals on tracks 1, 2, 19
John Lennon - Acoustic Guitar on track 7; Piano & Backing Vocals on tracks 5 and 12
Paul McCartney - Saxophone on "Your Sixteen"
Vini Poncia - Guitar on tracks 1 & 3;  Backing Vocals on tracks 6 & 14
Jim Keltner -  Drums (along with Ringo) on tracks 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 thru 13
Nicky Hopkins - Piano on tracks 1, 3 and 11
Billy Preston - Piano on tracks 5 & 7; Organ on track 5 & 6; Clavinet on track 12
Jesse Ed Davis -  Guitars on tracks 7, 11 and 12
Bobby Keys - Tenor Sax on track 1; Horns on tracks 10 & 11
Mark Hudson -Bass & Backing Vocals on tracks 16, 17 & 20 Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards & Mellotron on track16
Harry Nilsson - Backing Vocals on tracks 3, 7 and 11
Jimmy Calvert -  Guitar on tracks 1, 3 & 6
Gary Wright - Piano and Keyboards on tracks 2 & 4
Eric Clapton - Guitar solo on "Never Without You"
Stephen Stills - Guitars on "It Don't Come Easy"
Peter Frampton -  Guitar on "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll"
Robbie Robertson - Guitar on "Snookeroo"
Elton John - Piano on "Snookeroo"
Al Kooper - Piano and Electric Guitar on "Wrack My Brain"
Herbie Flowers - Bass & Tuba on "Wrack My Brain"
Ray Cooper - Percussion, Piano, Vocoderon & Backing Vocals "Wrack My Brain"

With a little more music help from these freinds: Guitars: Steve Cropper, Danny Kortchmar, Steve Dudas, Mark Goldenberg, Gary Burr, Gary Nicholson, Bill Lloyd, Terry Christoffersen, Reggie Young, Mark Mirando, Robert Randolph, Lon VanEaton; Bass: Doyle Curtsinger, Cooker Lo Presti, James Hutchinson; Keyboards: Benmont Tench, John Jarvis, Jim Shaw, Jim Cox, Mac Rebennack; Horns: Lon VanEaton, Tom Scott, Steve Madaio, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Trevor Lawrence, George Young, Alan Rubin, Louis Delgatto, Dan Higgins, Gary Grant, Chuck Finley; Drums: Jim McCarty.

With a little more vocal help from these freinds: Vocal Harmony: Buck Owens, The Jordanaires; Backing Vocals: Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Madeline Bell, Lesley Duncan, Merry Clayton, Martha Reeves, Linda Lawrence, Melissa Manchester, Clydie King, The Mad Mauries, The Masst Alberts, The Blackberries, Andy Sturmer, Roger Manning, Gary Burr and other unnamed friends.

  REVIEW

Ringo Starr, the drummer boy who was in the right place at the right time when he was asked to join the Beatles, and was considered an average drummer at best while in the greatest band to ever exist, wasn't suppose to have any chance at a successful solo career when the Fabs broke up. That is what just about everybody thought. Boy, was everybody wrong, and Photograph The Very Best Of Ringo proves it!

There are so many great songs found inside this greatest hits package, from pure country music with "Beaucoups of Blues" and "Act Naturally" (not the Beatle cover version, but a take with Buck Owens), to perhaps his best ever solo released song - "Photograph". Found on several songs on here are his three former Beatle mates, with "I'm the Greatest" featuring Ringo with George and John, and "Your Sixteen", which features George and Paul (on the sax). George Harrison was of course the one ex-Beatle who helped out Ringo the most in his solo career, and appears on a total of seven tracks. Ringo wrote and recorded "Never Without You" shortly after George died, a touching song about his passing that will bring a tear to any Beatle fan's eye after hearing it the first time.

In the booklet that comes with the album, Ringo writes a bit about each song, which if anything leads to even more confusion as far as the song "Back Off Boogaloo" goes. For years it has always been believed that he wrote this about Paul McCartney, to get Paul to back off of the war of words he was having with John Lennon at the time. It was pretty well known that Ringo took John's side in the matter. But he explains that "Back Off Boogaloo" was something that his friend Mac Bolan said to him one night, and that was where the term first came from. However, he still doesn't say that the song isn't about Paul, and with Ringo knowing that everybody thinks it is - if it wasn't, you would think he would have cleared that up in saying so here. You can bet the song is, and Ringo just doesn't want to address that subject anymore, since the McCartney/Lennon feud was settled so many years ago.

As wonderful as this collection is, it could have been even better had Ringo gone the same route that his friend George went with his best of LP. Ringo could have dropped about 4 or 5 songs on here (the ones I rated the lowest) and in their place, and like Geroge did on his LP,  he could have added in his best songs with the Beatles. Why not, half of George's album was that way, and what fan of Ringo's would not had loved to have those Beatles songs included here? Still as it is, every song on this LP is at least good if not great, so I don't mean to complain at all.

- Keno, 2007

To listen to some soundclips from The Very Best of Ringo, or to purchase it, click on: Photograph: The Very Best Of Ringo

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