The period between 1976 and 1983 was not a great one for Ringo Starr. After two Top 10 albums with Ringo and Goodnight Vienna in 1973 and 1974, respectively, his solo career quickly took a nose dive. Ringo's Rotogravure, despite having involvement from the other three Beatles for the second time, failed to live up to expectations of the previous two albums, peaking out at #28 in America in 1976. And things only got worse from there when Ringo the 4th topped out at a shocking #162 in 1977; most unthinkable for a former Beatle! 1978's Bad Boy fared no better, peaking out at #129.
Three years later, Stop and Smell the Roses was released, and despite the presence of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, as well as the likes of Harry Nilsson, Ronnie Wood and Stephen Stills, it only managed to reach #98 in America, despite "Wrack My Brain" being a Top 40 hit (albeit at a paltry #38). And his final album before his musical sabbatical, Old Wave, didn't make the American charts at all.
Is there a way to make the most out of this controversial period in Ringo's solo career? Well, one could make the argument that Ringo's Rotogravure was his last "good" album of the 1970s, and of his two 1980s albums, Stop and Smell the Roses is the better one; it even came with bonus tracks when released on CD, which I think helps a little. However, can we take Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy, generally regarded as Ringo's combined low point, and make one halfway decent album out of them?
Side A (18:32)
1. She's So in Love - 3:30 (Ballard)
2. Who Needs a Heart - 3:48 (Starkey/Poncia)
3. Just a Dream - 3:58 (Starkey/Poncia)
4. Heart on My Sleeve - 3:20 (Gallagher/Lyle)
5. One Way Love Affair - 3:56 (Ballard)
Side B (18:54)
6. Drowning in the Sea of Love - 4:02 (Gamble/Huff)
7. Hard Times - 3:31 (Skellern)
8. It's No Secret - 3:42 (Starkey/Poncia)
9. As Far as We Can Go - 4:42 (Ballard)
10. Simple Love Song - 2:57 (Starkey/Poncia)
To make this hypothetical "new" album any good, we'll have to take the best from both Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy and throw in some other stuff from the time period, however scarce it may be. From 4th, I picked "It's No Secret", "Simple Love Song" and Ringo's cover of "Drowning in the Sea of Love". The latter was released as a single, albeit it was shortened. I've done an edit that's a little longer than the single version, but it's still shorter than the official 5:09 album version.
Also from the Ringo the 4th era is the non-album B-side "Just a Dream". The original length of this song was 4:23, but I shortened it by 25 seconds to eliminate a repeat of the chorus near the end. The tracks I picked off of Bad Boy were "Who Needs a Heart" and cover versions of "Heart on My Sleeve" and "Hard Times", all in their original length; no editing required.
So far, that's seven songs picked out; four written by Ringo with Vini Poncia, and three covers. But what about the other three slots? Well, that's where a bit of obscure Ringo recording history comes in; on July 22 and 23, 1978, Ringo was recording with Russ Ballard for a potential follow up to Bad Boy, but it appeared to have been canceled. The songs recorded for these sessions were "As Far as We Can Go", "One Way Love Affair" and "She's So in Love", along with a fourth that has never been leaked in any way. However, the sessions were postponed but never resumed, and Ringo wouldn't be back in the studio for another two years.
Out of the three, only "As Far as We Can Go" was officially released under Ringo's name, but it had been reworked for 1983's Old Wave, and the original version was included as a bonus track on CD. Meanwhile, "She's So in Love" was first released by Lulu for her 1978 album (some sources say 1979) Don't Take Love for Granted, and it was later covered by Dutch band The Cats for Flyin' High in 1985. "One Way Love Affair" has never been recorded by another artist as far as I'm aware, which I think is a shame, since it's the cute story song that fits Ringo so well.
I've made "She's So in Love" the first track on the new album as I feel like it could've had single potential under Ringo's name. "One Way Love Affair", meanwhile, closes out the first side, and I've trimmed away about half a minute, which was basically two repeats of the chorus at the end. "As Far as We Can Go" uses the original version, albeit I've trimmed out a repeat of the chorus and an instrumental section, making it longer than the version as heard on Old Wave, but still shorter than the original version. I like how it's immediately followed up by "Simple Love Song", ending the album on an upbeat note.
Finally, there's the album title, It Beats Sleep. It was the working tile for Old Wave, but I like how it fits some of the material on this album, "Just a Dream" especially. So I think it's right that an album featuring a few unreleased songs uses an unused title. The image of Ringo comes from about 1978, from a promo for his eponymous made-for-TV movie from the same year.
Is It Beats Sleep a great album from Ringo? Well, it obviously isn't on the same level as his 1973 eponymous album; how could it, what with the presence of the other ex-Beatles? But is it at least better than Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy? I like to think so, but of course, your mileage may vary. Some may be disappointed by the absence of "Wings", but perhaps in this scenario, Ringo unearths it and records a new version years later, like he did for Ringo 2012. Of course, if you think that some other song should've been included instead, why not try making your own version your yourself?
