Entertainment For Lively Minds
Not them again!@!
Posted by doomah on 16 July 2009 - 6:11pm.
The Beatles have been at the forefront of my mind for the past few days (can't think why), and today it dawned on me that, of the Fabs solo material, I have really only concentrated on Lennon's output. I have a few McCartney tracks, and a couple of Harrisongs, but no Ringo. Am I missing anything?
I know the obvious things I'm overlooking such as Band On The Run, Ram, All Things Must Pass, The Frog Song, etc. but is there anything really worth investigating, e.g. that Ringo recorded, or any Harrison gems on lesser known albums?
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Interesting fact
is that Ringo out-charted Lennon between 1970 and 1975 both in the UK & US.
The 1973 LP 'Ringo' is pretty good if a little dated and contains cameos from the other three. It has charm. He had a couple of great early 70's singles - 'It Don't Come Easy' & 'Back Off Boogaloo' - and there was a pretty good compilation out in the last year or so.
If you like ATMP I'd suggest George's 'Living In The Material World', as at least two thirds of it is as good as that first album. Thereafter even as a fan I have to admit there is a diminishing return on the albums although each contains at least one or two great tracks. So I would also opt for the recent compilation 'Let It Roll', not a perfect sampler by any means but a good overview.
McCartney - 'Ram', 'BOTR', 'Wings Over America' & 'Back To The Egg' are what you need to cover the 70s.
I gave up on the 80s McCartney - Backwards 7 is the man to cover that era.
I was once at a mate's house who
had loads of Macca's 80s LPs. They all followed a similar path - one or two great songs, five or six average and two or three utter duds. With itunes you could make a decent album or two there. Although maybe you can't buy them on itunes yet?
Ringo
I have Ringo's CD Phonograph, which is a best of collection. On my MP3 player it's been whittled down from 20 songs to 3: Photograph; It don't come easy and Back off boogaloo. That's all you need.
'Venus and Mars'
is a much-maligned album.
And 'Memory Almost Full' was superb.
Always had a soft
spot for London Town. And I second the vote for Memory Almost Full.
Flowers in the Dirt
and Flaming Pie have some wonderful songs.
Ringo wise Beaucoups of Blues
Ringo wise Beaucoups of Blues and Ringo! are good albums, the great early 70's single tracks It Don't Come Easy and Early 1970 (there's one verse each devoted to each of the other Beatles) are bonus tracks on most reissues of Ringo! and all that stuff is on i-tunes along with Paul, George and John's solo material.
I think Ram is the best overall McCartney solo album. McCartney, Band on the Run, London Town, McCartney II and Tug of War all have their share of good tracks. McCartney's recent albums, starting with Flaming Pie (featuring contributions from Ringo and Geoge Martin) have all been pretty decent.
As well as the already mentioned Harrison album, his last two solo albums Cloud 9 and Brainwashed have some good material.
McCartney II
I love McCartney II. I recently delved into Macca's back catalogue, because I was guilty of avoiding it. Wings and a lot of the 70s stuff sound great. There are dud tracks but that's what the skip button is for on my iPod.
But McCartney II, Coming Up, Temporary Secretary, Waterfalls (what a fantastic song) and Goodnight Tonight are amazing, and the bits in between somehow frame it all rather nicely. It all sounds very 1980 somehow, and being somebody who came of age during the early 80s where music was concerned it suits me down to the ground.