A new two-disc Ringo Starr collection,
“Ringo Starr Greatest Hits,” showed up on Amazon recently. Thanks
to the design and much of the packaging, complete with logos, it
looked it could have been a legitimate issue. But it wasn't. It was
really an unauthorized Russian issue composed completely of all
previously released material. Besides the tiny Russian type on the
back cover that gives it away, the cover also shows the listings on
“Dick One” and “Dick Two.”
The funny thing is, though, that if it
was a legitimate release it would get a four-star rating. Why?
Because the music itself is great. For better or worse, the work of
the other three Beatles is almost always mentioned ahead of his. And
if you count the Beatles as a group, it's fifth. But after listening
to this set, that shouldn't be the case. As we said, there's nothing
new or nothing anyone with a complete Ringo Starr CD collection
doesn't already have. Why would it be a necessary buy if it was a
legitimate release?
Unlike the other Beatles who at times
have gotten off in tangents in their solo careers either lyrically or
musically, Ringo's music has always, even in its few vanity detours
(like “Beaucoups of Blues” and “Sentimental Journey”) been
down-to-earth. And that's what this set is all about.
The first disc begins, not
surprisingly, with 1973's “Photograph,” the first of his two
Billboard No. 1 hits. The other was the follow-up, “You're
Sixteen,” from the same year, which is the second track on side
one. The first disc, with 24 tracks, includes the A-sides of all his
top 100 Billboard hits through 1981 – “Beaucoups of Blues” (his
first Billboard charter in 1970); “It Don't Come Easy”; “Back
Off Boogaloo”; “Oh My My”; “No No Song”; “(It's All Down
to) Goodnight Vienna”; “Only You”; “A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll”;
“Hey Baby” and “Wrack My Brain.”
Also on the disc, but certainly not
filling it out, are “Drowning in the Sea of Love”; “Wings”
(which he recently remade); “Lipstick Traces”; “Heart on My
Sleeve”; “Private Property”; “Stop and Take the Time To Smell
the Roses”; “In My Car” and “I Keep Forgettin'.”
The second disc features more recent
material, starting with “Weight of the World.” Some of the other
tracks on the disc are the rockin' “Don't Go Where the Road Don't
Go”; “King of Broken Hearts” with George Harrison's tender
slide solo; “Never Without You,” his tender tribute to Harrison;
another rocker, “Give Me Back the Beat”; “Choose Love”;
“Liverpool 8”; “Peace Dream”; “Walk With You,” his duet
with Paul McCartney; “Rock Island Line,” his cover of that
vintage song; and “Postcards From Paradise,” the title song from
his most recent album.
It's only on the second disc that the
programming of songs falls off a little. But so much of this disc is
absolutely wonderful listening and points up Ringo's talent as a
singer. (Yes, we said that.) What connects the songs is the fact that
Ringo never appears to be putting on airs. His humanity shines
through on this set. The set includes several cover versions and also a surprising number of songs about the Beatles, Liverpool or songs with Beatles references.
Now, if only he'd do a few more of
these in concert. Though the album is no longer on Amazon, it
can be found on eBay, at least for now. See the full track list from the back cover below. The funniest thing about this is that Ringo has long talked about putting out a new career retrospective. It's happened, but he didn't do it.
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