''Ringo's Rotogravure'' is the fifth studio album by

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

, released in 1976. It was the last project to feature active involvement from all four former

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

before

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

in 1980, and the second of two projects following the band's 1970 breakup to hold the distinction (alongside '' Ringo'' from 1973). Following the end of his contract with EMI, Starr signed on with

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

worldwide (

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

handling US distribution).

Background and recording

It was reported in December 1975 that

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

in the US was to sign former Beatle

for a 5-year recording contract, worth $5 million.Miles; Badman 2001 However, on 26 January 1976, when Starr's recording contract with EMI ended, he signed with

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

for the US and

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

for the UK, on 10 March.Harry 2004, p. 122 As stated in the deal, Starr was expected to release 7 albums within 5 years, with the first album planned for release in June. Starr's original intention was to have Richard Perry produce the album, before he had switched labels.Robinson 2005, p. 112 Starr thought "since we were trying another label, we'd try another producer." It had been suggested by Atlantic to Starr that he work with

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

, who was the in-house producer for the label at the time. Mardin met up with Starr in London to see what they were like together and, pleased with the encounter, Mardin told Starr he would be happy to work with him. Starr's intention was to work in Los Angeles as his friends were there. Starr again stuck to his proven formula of having friends write songs and perform on the recordings. This time,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

took part, in addition to his old friend

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

, and

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

Jesse Ed Davis Jesse Edwin Davis III (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Bob Dylan, Eri ...

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

, Dr. John, and former Beatles

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

. Sessions began in April at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, and eventually moved on 12 June to Cherokee Recording Studios. Starr was joined at this session by Lennon and his wife

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

, recording the Lennon-penned "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)".Rodriguez 2010, p. 37 Lennon played the piano lines that are heard at the beginning of the song, in what was his only known studio recording during his five years of musical retreat that he kept until 1980, when he recorded his album '' Double Fantasy''. McCartney, while on break from his Wings Over America tour with Wings, made the backing track to "Pure Gold" along with his wife

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

, which McCartney got Starr to sing over, on 19 June. Harrison donated a song too, but because of his commitments to get his album '' Thirty Three & 1/3'' (1976) done on schedule, he was unable to partake in any recording for ''Ringo's Rotogravure''.Rodriguez 2010, pp. 37–38 Harrison's contribution was a song previously known as " When Every Song Is Sung", which he had attempted to record first with Ronnie Spector in 1971, then with

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...

(on which Starr also played), and later still with

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

's wife Mary.Harrison 2002, p. 228 Eric Clapton played guitar on the track "This Be Called a Song".Harry 2004, p. 174 Several unreleased tracks were recorded during the sessions: "Where Are You Going", "All Right", "It's Hard to Be Lovers" and a track Starr co-wrote with Nilsson, "Party".Harry 2004, p. 256

Music and lyrics

"Pure Gold", composed by Paul McCartney, had been influenced by Starr's then-girlfriend Nancy Andrews. "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" was written specifically for Starr by John Lennon.Harry 2004, p. 176 "Las Brisas", a track co-written between Starr and AndrewsHarry 2004, p. 9 in Mexico, features Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey with Starr on maracas. Starr claimed that he had "looked around all these Mexican restaurants and found this band who were sensational." "Lady Gaye" was based on Clifford T. Ward's "Birmingham" (from Ward's 1975 album ''No More Rock 'N' Roll''), which in turn gave him co-credit on the Starkey–Poncia composition. "Spooky Weirdness" is an ad-libbed piece that closes the album.Harry 2004, p. 320

Release

''Ringo's Rotogravure'' was released on 17 September 1976 in the UK, to a lukewarm response. Despite letting him record the song, Harrison was not pleased with Starr's version of "I'll Still Love You", and proceeded to take legal action against Starr, which was soon settled out of court. The album's title came from the film '' Easter Parade'' (1948).Harry 2004, p. 295 At the time living as a UK

tax exile A tax exile is a person who leaves a country to avoid the payment of income tax or other taxes. The term refers to an individual who already owes money to the tax authorities or wishes to avoid being liable in the future for taxation at what they ...

, Starr promoted the album with interviews in Denmark, France and Italy. The album was packaged with a free magnifying glass so that those who bought the album could read the graffiti that was featured on the album's back cover. The " A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" single, backed with "Cryin'", was released on 20 September in the US, reaching number 26. Released in the US on 27 September, the album performed poorly, only reaching number 28 in America and quickly falling off the charts, while it never even appeared in the UK charts. The promotional film for "You Don't Know Me at All" aired on Dutch TV, in the Netherlands, on the show ''Voor De Vuist Weg''. On 15 October the "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" single was released in the UK. In between this and the next single, Starr recorded the track "I Can Hear You Calling" at

Atlantic Studios Atlantic Studios is the recording studio network of Atlantic Records. Although the historic recording studio was located at 1841 Broadway (at the corner of 60th Street), in New York City, Atlantic Recording Studios was initially located at 234 Wes ...

on 15 October. The follow-up single, his cover of Bruce Channel's " Hey! Baby", backed with "Lady Gaye", was released on 22 November in the US and stalled at number 74.Harry 2004, p. 123 The single was released in the UK on 26 November. A single comprising "Las Brisas" and "Cryin'" was released in Mexico. ''Ringo's Rotogravure'' was issued on CD, on the same day as '' Ringo the 4th'', on 16 August 1992, in the USHarry 2004, pp. 144–145 by Atlantic.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals, drums, percussion *

– guitar *

– guitar * Lon Van Eaton – guitar *

– guitar on "This Be Called a Song" * Danny Kortchmar – guitar *

– piano on "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" * Dr. John – keyboards * Jane Getz – keyboards *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– drums *

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German graphic artist, artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, includ ...

– bass guitar *

– backing vocals on "Pure Gold" *

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals * David Lasley – backing vocals *Mariachi Los Galleros de Pedro Rey – instruments and backing vocals on "Las Brisas" * John Kosh – Art Director and Album Cover Designer

Charts

References

Footnotes Citations Sources * * * * *

External links

*
JPGR's ''Ringo's Rotogravure'' site
{{Authority control 1976 albums Ringo Starr albums Polydor Records albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Arif Mardin Soul albums by English artists