Ringo Starr- Ringo (1973)

In 1973 most ex- Beatles had their best solo records behind them. George and John went into significantly different directions from their previous work and McCartney’s work on Ram, despite still keeping the spirit of Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road alive, would still be underappreciated for some time. People were still hoping for a Beatles reunion of some sort and it finally happened, kinda, thanks to the Beatle who was least likely to pull it off.

With his self-tiled record Ringo, acting as a true 70s DJ Khaled, created a variety show of sorts, collaborating with various guests on every track and mostly basing the success of the song on whoever he works with and serving more of a host that brings everyone together. To this day Ringo is the only post-Beatles projects that features all the members of the band. They never all collaborate on one track but I can’t see it ending well anyway. There’s plenty of highlights here, Photograph is the obvious stand-out and the biggest hit in Ringo’s discography. It’s carried by an ear-worming refrain, clearly a product of George Harrison’s involvement in the track. Another personal favorite of mine is Six O’Clock with Paul and Linda McCartney. It might be cheesy, like McCartney songs tend to be, it’s too adorable for me to care. I have never seen McCartney’s cutesy approach to songwriting as an issue, it might bother someone else more than me, though. Then we have the song You’re Sixteen (And Beautiful And You’re Mine) with Sherman brothers. Yeah, it’s probably as creepy as the title suggest if not more. I would suggest to just skip it and try not to think about it. Jesus.

I don’t know how much Ringo actually did on this record apart from bringing people together but in this case even that is a notable achievement. Also the the cover, variety of voices, styles and the fact that at the end of the record he thanks all the performers makes it feel like a live performance, a variety show hosted by Ringo. Adding that aspect makes the album much more cohesive. It might not be as interesting listen as projects from other band members but still an entertaining listen.