[Review] Ringo Starr: Sentimental Journey (1970)

Ringo records an album of oldies that would have made Old Fred proud.

Kronomyth 1.0: Things never are as bad as they seem.

I was eight years old when I bought this album with my allowance money, so imagine my joy when I discovered that Sentimental Journey consisted entirely of Ringo Starr singing oldies. That was sarcasm right there, by the way. Up to this point, it hadn’t occurred to me that The Beatles were capable of making anything but magic. In retrospect, I suppose I was lucky I didn’t buy The Wedding Album instead. Now, many years later, I have a certain nostalgia for this album and the music on it. Ringo is no Harry Nilsson, but he’s clearly trying; in fact, this might be the best vocal performance of his career. (Crickets.) The arrangers are plainly sympathetic to Ringo’s vocal limitations and provide full-bodied arrangements that sparkle with stardust. Inspired by the music of his childhood, the songs on Ringo’s Sentimental Journey speak of a bygone age that seemed light years removed from the turbulent 60s. No Vietnam War, no Manson murders. Here, love is the light that leads you from darkness: Night and Day, Dream, You Always Hurt the One You Love, Let the Rest of the World Go By. Sadly, somewhere along the way, people stopped escaping into music and romance like this. They escaped into television. They escaped into drugs. They escaped into video games and social media and virtual reality. And they stopped dreaming because they didn’t have to anymore; someone or something was doing it for them. So, maybe a sentimental journey back is just what the doctor ordered. Best of all, since this is Ringo, you can even sing along if you want.

Original elpee version

A1. Sentimental Journey (Bud Green/Les Brown/Ben Homer, arr. by Richard Perry) (3:27)
A2. Night and Day (Cole Porter, arr. by Chico O’Farrill) (2:24)
A3. Whispering Grass (Don’t Tell the Trees) (Fred and Doris Fisher, arr. by Don Goodwin) (2:35)
A4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Mort Dixon/Ray Henderson, arr. by Maurice Gibb) (2:11)
A5. I’m a Fool to Care (Ted Daffan, arr. by Klaus Voorman) (2:39)
A6. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish, arr. by Paul McCartney) (3:17)
B1. Blue, Turning Grey Over You (Andy Razaf/Fats Waller, arr. by Oliver Nelson) (3:19)
B2. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster, arr. by Quincy Jones) (3:06)
B3. Dream (Johnny Mercer, arr. by George Martin) (2:41)
B4. You Always Hurt the One You Love (Doris Fisher/Allan Roberts, arr. by John Dankworth) (2:19)
B5. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (Scott Wiseman, arr. by Elmer Bernstein) (2:43)
B6. Let the Rest of the World Go By (J. Keirn Brennan/Ernest R. Ball, arr. by Les Reed) (2:54)

Original 8-track version
A1. Sentimental Journey
A2. Night and Day
A3. Whispering Grass (Don’t Tell the Trees)
B1. I’m a Fool to Care
B2. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
B3. Dream
C1. Blue, Turning Grey Over You
C2. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?
C3. You Always Hurt the One You Love
D1. Star Dust
D2. Bye Bye Blackbird
D3. Let the Rest of the World Go By

The Players

Ringo Starr (vocals). Produced by George Martin; engineered by Phillip McDonald.

The Pictures

Photos by Richard Polak.

The Plastic

Released on elpee, cassette, 8-track and reel-to-reel tape on March 27, 1970 in the UK (Apple, PCS 7101), the US (Apple/Capitol, SW/4XW/8XW/L-3365), Australia (Apple, PCSO-7101), Brazil (Apple, BTL-1012), Japan (Apple, AP-8948), Mexico (Apple, SLEM224) and Venezuela (Odeon, SOLP-7093). Reached #7 on the UK charts and #22 on the US charts.

1. Re-issued on elpee in the 1970s in the US (Capitol, SN-16218).
2. Re-issued on elpee in 1977 in Japan (EMI Odeon, EAS-80698).
3. Re-released on compact disc in May 1995 in the UK (EMI, 9861521) and in 1995 in the US (Capitol, 98615-2) and Japan (Apple, TOCP-8497).
4. Re-packaged w. Beaucoups of Blues on 2-for-1 compact disc in Russia (CD-Maximum, CDM 0999-341).
5. Re-issued on compact disc on June 28, 2000 in Japan (Parlophone/Apple, TOCP-53152).