Ringo the 4th
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| Ringo The 4th | |||||
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| Studio album by Ringo Starr | |||||
| Released | 30 September 1977 | ||||
| Recorded | June 1977 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 38:05 | ||||
| Label | Polydor (UK) Atlantic (US) |
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| Producer | Arif Mardin | ||||
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| Ringo Starr chronology | |||||
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Ringo The 4th is an album by Ringo Starr and was released in 1977. Commonly regarded as his least popular album (and perhaps the least-favored solo Beatles release), Ringo The 4th caught Starr at the nadir of his recording career.
After the commercial failure of Ringo's Rotogravure (1976), Starr decided to shift his formula of using his well-known musician friends (notably his fellow ex-Beatles) to write songs and appear on his albums. Instead, he intensified his partnership with Vini Poncia, with whom he wrote several of the songs featured here, while using the input of different musicians. David Foster played keyboards on a couple of songs, while Melissa Manchester and Bette Midler occasionally appeared on backing vocals. By reducing the input of his usual celebrity friends, the limelight is aimed more squarely on Starr - and the results are far from satisfying.
Producer Arif Mardin places Starr in a slick dance-oriented context, but it is not enough to save what are fairly mediocre songs sung by Starr, who sounds clearly inebriated throughout much of the album. Even its campy front cover is a sign that Starr was no longer putting much effort into his musical career.[citation needed] Why did the album did so poorly? Journalist Peter Palmiere states in his front cover story on Starr for DISCoveries magazine in January 2003 that "The music critics and the record buying public took the album as a joke for Ringo's voice was not suitable for the disco flavored music on Ringo the 4th". Palmiere went on to claim that Ringo the 4th destroyed Starr's career and that he never commercially recovered from it. Ringo The 4th - in fact, his sixth studio album, but so named because he considered "Ringo" (1973) to be his first proper album - was a dismal failure upon its September release, both commercially and critically. Never touching the UK charts, Ringo The 4th limped to a paltry #162 in the US, before expiring. Shortly thereafter, Atlantic Records promptly dropped Starr from their roster. In the UK, Polydor fulfilled its three-album contractual requirement by following up Ringo the 4th with a children's album, Scouse the Mouse which featured Ringo, in the lead role, performing the lion's share of the material.
Of the 45's pulled from Ringo The Fourth, "Wings" and "Drowning In The Sea Of Love", neither charted (in the USA). However, both featured what is now probably one of Starr's most sought after rarities on the flip side: "Just A Dream". The US stock copy of "Drowning In The Sea Of Love" is ultra rare and copies in any condition tend to fetch a hefty sum amongst collectors. In foreign countries, other songs were released as singles: "Sneaking Sally Through The Alley / Tango All Night" (Australia) and "Tango All Night / It's No Secret" (Argentina).
Ringo The 4th was reissued on CD in the US by Atlantic Records in 1992, its only current source of availability.
[edit] Track listing
- "Drowning In The Sea Of Love" (Kenny Gamble/Leon Huff) – 5:09
- "Tango All Night" (Tom Seufert/Steve Hague) – 2:58
- "Wings" (Richard Starkey/Vini Poncia) – 3:26
- "Gave It All Up" (Richard Starkey/Vini Poncia) – 4:41
- "Out On The Streets" (Richard Starkey/Vini Poncia) – 4:29
- "Can She Do It Like She Dances" (Steve Duboff/Gerry Robinson) – 3:12
- "Sneaking Sally Through The Alley" (Allen Toussaint) – 4:17
- "It's No Secret" (Richard Starkey/Vini Poncia) – 3:42
- "Gypsies In Flight" (Richard Starkey/Vini Poncia) – 3:02
- "Simple Love Song" (Richard Starkey/Vini Poncia) – 2:57
[edit] External links
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