Continuing from the previous post in which I did a compilation of Paul McCartney solo songs in which the first letter of each title spelled out "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", I'm now doing a compilation of Ringo Starr solo songs. This time, it's a compilation in which every song features at least one other Beatle, whether John, Paul and George wrote something for Ringo, performed on it or, in most cases, both. This covers the period of 1970 to 1981 since that was when John Lennon was the most active, and when Ringo had the most help from his friends. (See where I'm going with this?)
Side A (19:43)
1. Photograph - 3:56 (w/ George; 1973)
2. It Don't Come Easy - 3:02 (w/ George; 1971)
3. You're Sixteen (You're Beautiful and You're Mine) - 2:48 (w/ Paul; 1973)
4. Back Off Boogaloo - 3:22 (w/ George; 1972)
5. I'm the Greatest - 3:21 (w/ John and George; 1973)
6. Pure Gold - 3:14 (w/ Paul; 1976)
Side B (18:34)
7. Only You (and You Alone) - 3:26 (w/ John; 1974)
8. Stardust - 3:22 (w/ Paul; 1970)
9. Early 1970 - 2:20 (w/ George; 1971)
10. Attention - 3:20 (w/ Paul; 1981)
11. Down and Out - 3:04 (w/ George; 1973)
12. (It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna - 3:02 (w/ John; 1974)
Side C (17:40)
13. Sure to Fall (In Love with You) - 3:42 (w/ Paul; 1981)
14. Cookin' (in the Kitchen of Love) - 3:41 (w/ John; 1976)
15. You Belong to Me - 2:09 (w/ George; 1981)
16. Six O'Clock (Extended Version) - 5:23 (w/ Paul; 1973)
17. Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond) - 2:45 (w/ George; 1973)
Side D (18:42)
18. You Can't Fight Lightning - 5:41 (w/ Paul; 1981)
19. Wrack My Brain - 2:21 (w/ George; 1981)
20. I'll Still Love You - 2:57 (w/ George; 1976)
21. Private Property - 2:44 (w/ Paul; 1981)
22. You and Me (Babe) - 4:59 (w/ George; 1973)
In order to get the track listing down, I've used Ringo's 2007 compilation Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr as a reference. Tracks 1-5, 7, 9, 12 and 19 remain the same as they are, and on the digital version, "King of Broken Hearts" was replaced with the extended version of "Six O'Clock" as found as a bonus track on Goodnight Vienna. So technically, that's ten songs which retain their original track listing positions, so we're halfway done already!
Because a good chunk of material comes from Ringo, Ringo's Rotogravure and Stop and Smell the Roses, I've tried to spread songs from each of them as evenly as I could. The first replacement track was "Pure Gold" from 1976, taking the place of "Oh My My". "Stardust" from 1970's Sentimental Journey replaces "Beaucoups of Blues", and then "Attention" occupies "Snookeroo"'s spot. All three songs feature Paul McCartney in some capacity, giving him much more of a presence in the first half. "Down and Out", the B-side of "Photograph" and also featuring George, substitutes "No No Song", capping off the first half of this compilation.
The second half was where I got truly creative. The first three substitute tracks were "Sure to Fall" with Paul, "Cookin' (in the Kitchen of Love)" with John and "You Belong to Me" with George, the first and last of which both come from Stop and Smell the Roses, and the middle from Ringo's Rotogravure, much like "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll". The next replacement track is "Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)" from Ringo, another one written for him by good old George.
Track 18 onwards is where it gets truly interesting, since there are only two empty spaces to fill in, but four songs remain. "You Can't Fight Lightning", featuring Paul and an outtake from Stop and Smell the Roses, substitutes Ringo's 1989 re-recording of "Act Naturally" with Buck Owens, and "I'll Still Love You", the last track from Rotogravure, is the replacement for "Fading In Fading Out". This means that the final two tracks are now additions; these being "Private Property" featuring Paul, and "You and Me (Babe)" featuring George. Coincidentally, the latter concludes his 1973 eponymous album, so it's only right that it concludes this compilation as well.
In total, John Lennon contributed to four songs, Paul McCartney to eight songs, and George Harrison to eleven songs (exactly half!), with "I'm the Greatest" featuring joint contributions from John and George, so they really get three-and-a-half and ten-and-a-half, respectively. Of Ringo's albums from this time period, Beaucoups of Blues, Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy are not represented at all.
Ringo was the glue who helped to keep the Beatles together, even during the post-breakup years, and his eponymous album from 1973 is the closest we got to a reunion between the four. During the 1970s, he collaborated with George the most, appearing on All Things Must Pass, Living in the Material World and Dark Horse for a few songs. Even John invited Ringo to play drums for Plastic Ono Band. Paul, still sore about the Beatles' breakup, only played with Ringo a few times that decade, but by 1980, feelings between them had healed enough so that they played together on Tug of War, Pipes of Peace and Give My Regards to Broad Street. Maybe that would be a project worth exploring?
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