Old Wave
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Old Wave | ||
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| Studio album by Ringo Starr | ||
| Released | 16 June 1983 (LP) 22 August 1994 (CD) |
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| Recorded | March - August 1982 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 36:56 | |
| Label | Bellaphon/RCA | |
| Producer(s) | Joe Walsh | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ringo Starr chronology | ||
| Stop and Smell the Roses (1981) |
Old Wave (1983) |
Starr Struck: Best of Ringo Starr, Vol. 2 (1989) |
Old Wave is an album by Ringo Starr, was released in 1983. As the follow-up to 1981's pleasant Stop and Smell the Roses - which saw a considerable improvement in Starr's musical quality, Old Wave retained the appeal of its predecessor, yet with some changes.
In early 1982, with Stop and Smell the Roses still on the charts, Starr was eager to continue the good work and move onto his next project. Deciding that he needed more consistency this time around, he would work with only one producer, Joe Walsh. A former member of the recently disbanded Eagles, Walsh and Starr had known each other since the mid-1970s, having met and befriended each other in Los Angeles. Walsh immediately agreed to work with Starr and they met in February to begin writing material.
After John Lennon's murder, Starr no longer felt safe in the US and returned home to England to live at Tittenhurst Park, which Starr ironically purchased from Lennon in 1973. Having converted Lennon's recording studio into Startling Studios, Starr would record his new album there.
Beginning in March, Starr was joined not only by Walsh, but Gary Brooker (formerly of Procol Harum), The Who's John Entwistle, Ray Cooper and Eric Clapton on one track. With none of his usual celebrity mates helping out, this was largely a Starr/Walsh album and the spotlight would be mostly on them. Incidentally, the album's titling of Old Wave is a play on New Wave and an acknowledgment by Starr that an 'old waver' like him is still up to the challenge. As an indication of his vitality, the cover of the album features a black and white photo of Starr in his pre-Beatles days.
Recording of the album went smoothly and was completed by summer. Unfortunately, with Starr's RCA Records contract cancelled, he needed to find a new label for Old Wave. The harsh truth was that just over a decade after The Beatles' dissolution, no major UK or US record company was interested in signing him. Starr would not accept that and was determined to have Old Wave released any way he could. RCA Records ended up distributing the album in June 1983 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico and Brazil, while in Germany, the album and lone single pulled from the album titled "In My Car" appeared on the Bellaphon label. However - despite its virtues - its lack of success in any of these territories seemed to imply that the UK and US labels were not wrong about Starr's marketability in the early 1980s. Consequently, Old Wave would be Ringo Starr's last studio album until 1992's Time Takes Time.
"In My Car" was covered by Walsh in his 1987 album Got Any Gum?.
Old Wave was reissued on CD in the US by Capitol Records in 1994 with the original 1978 recording of "As Far As We Can Go" as a bonus track, but was deleted some years later.
[edit] Track listing
- "In My Car" (Joe Walsh/Richard Starkey/Mo Foster/Kim Goody) – 3:13
- "Hopeless" (Joe Walsh/Richard Starkey) – 3:19
- "Alibi" (Joe Walsh/Richard Starkey) – 4:02
- "Be My Baby" (Joe Walsh) – 3:48
- Song original by Walsh, not The Ronettes song.
- "She's About A Mover" (Doug Sahm) – 3:53
- Featuring Freebo on bass guitar & tuba.
- "I Keep Forgettin'" (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller) – 4:20
- Featuring Ray Cooper on percussion with Starr.
- "Picture Show Life" (John Reid/John Slate) – 4:18
- Featuring Waddy Watchel on guitars.
- "As Far As We Can Go" (Russ Ballard) – 3:51
- Featuring Joe Vitale on piano & vocals.
- "Everybody's In A Hurry But Me" (Joe Walsh/Richard Starkey/John Entwistle/Eric Clapton/Chris Stainton) – 2:34
- Features Eric Clapton on guitar, John Entwistle on bass and Ray Cooper on percussion
- "Going Down" (Joe Walsh/Richard Starkey) – 3:34
- Features Sam Clayton, Joe Lala & Jocko Marcellino on percussion.
- "As Far As We Can Go (Original Version)" (Russ Ballard) – 5:33
- Featuring the composer Russ Ballard on electric piano and the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Only in the 1994 Issue.
[edit] Personnel
- Ringo Starr: Drums, percussion, vocals.
- Joe Walsh: Guitars, synthetizers, talkbox, vocals.
- Mo Foster: Bass guitar, guitars.
- Gary Brooker: Keyboards, piano, electric piano.
- Chris Stainton: Keyboards, piano, organ.
- Russ Kunkel: Drums.
- Steve Hess: Backing vocals.
- Mark Easterling: Backing vocals.
- Patrick Maroshek: Backing vocals.
- Garrett Adkins: Trombone.
- Lee Thornburg: Trumpet.
- David Wooford: Saxophones.
