Friday, January 27, 2006

Everybody Loves Ringo

Ah, poor Ringo, the lovable loser Beatle. Let's be honest: Ringo was never the heavy-hitter the other three Beatles were. There was no way he could be. You needed someone down-to-earth to ground John, Paul, and George.

And Ringo's solo career...Ringo's solo records are enjoyable solely because he's just being Ringo. He doesn't try to be artsy like Lennon, or a catchy pop tunesmith like McCartney, or a mystic spiritualist like Harrison. He's just always Ringo. It means there's not much depth or substance to his work, but it's fun, it's upbeat, and it's generally enjoyable.

That being said, I picked up his record Ringo earlier today. Great album, actually. It's got "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen" on it as well as the single "It Don't Come Easy." Probably the most interesting aspect of it was that it's essentially a Beatles reunion record: the other three all contribute songs to the record and all appear at one point or another to back up the lovable drummer. It was probably a case of the other three lads thinking, "Oh, poor Ringo. No one loves Ringo. I should go 'round and help him out a bit." But Ringo really gets the last laugh, see, 'cause he got them to do so much of the work for him. Never let it be said that Ringo was a complete fizzle.

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