Ringo the 4th

Amazon.com
In 1977, at the height of the British punk movement, the former drummer of England's greatest band released Ringo the 4th, a dinosaur-rock artifact if there ever was one. "Drowning in the Sea of Love" was the album's lead-off single, but drowning in a sea of L.A. session cats is more like it. Severely overproduced by Arif Mardin, the album pits Ringo's old brown shoe of a voice against a phalanx of backing singers (including Bette Midler, Luther Vandross, and Melissa Manchester) and a hyperactive horn section. Without any Beatle mates to bail him out, the songs are almost uniformly dire, though the cover of "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" almost works. The album (which failed to chart on either side of the Atlantic) produced no hits whatsoever; at this point, Ringo's career and personal life were rapidly spiraling out of control, and the glory days of the Fab Four seemed very far away, indeed. --Dan Epstein

Ringo the 4th,Ringo Starr,Atlantic / Wea,Pop,Pop/Rock,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating:

Drowning in the Sea of Bombs
I like this album, rounded up from 3.5 stars
Not a masterpiece, but sure better than most of the '77 LPs
Ringo the Songwriter
Ringo, the 1st Big Mistake

Ringo the 4th
Ringo Starr
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ringo's Rotogravure
Goodnight Vienna
Sentimental Journey
Beaucoups of Blues
Bad Boy

ASIN: B000002IU1
Release Date: 1992-08-18

Tracks:

Drowning In The Sea Of Love
Love All Night
Wings
Gave It AllUp
Out On The Streets
Can She Do It Like She Dances
Sneaking Sally Through The Alley
It's No Secret
Gypsies In Flight
Simple Love Song

Amazon.com

In 1977, at the height of the British punk movement, the former drummer of England's greatest band released Ringo the 4th, a dinosaur-rock artifact if there ever was one. "Drowning in the Sea of Love" was the album's lead-off single, but drowning in a sea of L.A. session cats is more like it. Severely overproduced by Arif Mardin, the album pits Ringo's old brown shoe of a voice against a phalanx of backing singers (including Bette Midler, Luther Vandross, and Melissa Manchester) and a hyperactive horn section. Without any Beatle mates to bail him out, the songs are almost uniformly dire, though the cover of "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" almost works. The album (which failed to chart on either side of the Atlantic) produced no hits whatsoever; at this point, Ringo's career and personal life were rapidly spiraling out of control, and the glory days of the Fab Four seemed very far away, indeed. --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews:

Drowning in the Sea of Bombs.......2006-06-17

Let me just say first and foremost: I think Ringo is very underappreciated but this album does not do Ringo justice. Ringo the 4th was the 2nd album in his triple threat of bombs before he released the excellent Stop and Smell the Roses in 1981.

I bought this album bundled with Ringo's Rotogravure and I can say about the only song on the 4th that I actually liked was "Drowning in the Sea of Love". Other than that, every other song is worse than the last one.

It almost hurts to give a Ringo album one star because he is a truly talented musician...but like I said, this album does Ringo no justice and should be avoided like the plague.

Pick up "Ringo", "Goodnight Vienna" or "Stop and Smell the Roses" instead.

I like this album, rounded up from 3.5 stars.......2004-09-24

This album is slick soul-pop and it's also very sophisticated. RIngo's marriage was falling apart, and it was the source of some inspirational lyrics. With this album Ringo kind of turned the corner from making fun pop relying heavily on his superstar friends to help him to trying be more of an innovator. Of-course, the major fault of this album is the fact that Ringo's vocals are in the background. They should be louder and more prominent. The material he wrote with Vini Poncia, however, is brilliant. I do honestly think 'It's no secret' is one of the best songs he ever did. It's a gentle acoustic ballad that has a disco touch and a sprinkling of psychedelia. Plus, it has a wonderful melody and some nice chord changes. Plus, I love the backing vocals. I love that song. Most of the songs are divided between entertaining, slightly amusing covers, like 'Sneaking Sally through the Alley' and 'Can she do it like she dances' that have a strogn R&B leaning. However, my favourite sogns are the originals which are serious, plaintive and sophisticated fusions of disco, pop, rock, soul and country. Wings is another brilliant song. Gypsies in flight is a gorgeous little C&W ballad. However, the other masterpiece was a dramatic disco number with a ghostly melody callad 'Drowning in the sea of love'. I think the world of that song adn Ringo's vocal performance is as good as John's take of 'Twist and shout'.

This album and it's follow up, Bad Boy, were both commercial failures. What I don't understand with both this album and Bad Boy is when the first single flopped why they didn't release a second one? They released two singles from Ringo's Rotogravure and the second one charted, or at least according to 'allmusic.com'.

Not a masterpiece, but sure better than most of the '77 LPs.......2003-07-11

Is "Ringo The Fouth" one of Ringo's best albums? Not at all,I agree. But if you compare it with all the albums released at its time you'll certainly be sure that this album IS really good. When Ringo recorded it, he certainly was not wanting to make a masterpiece, a new "Sgt Pepper" or "Rubber Soul". He was just having fun. This album was produced by Arif Mardin, one of the "kings" of disco music. Arif convinced Ringo to try new sounds. I think that Ringo (with his then partner Vinnie Poncia, later producer for Kiss) bothered so much with the instrumentation (excellent) and forgot the melodies. Some of the songs are "not whistful" and forgettable, although perfectly performed, but there are good moments. But the most interesting thing about "Ringo The Fourth" is that the best song Ringo recorded for the album was not included in it!...The song was called "Just a Dream" and appeared only as the b-side of "Wings" (and later as the b-side of "Drowning in the sea of love"). If you listened to this song you'd love it and I'm sure that if "Just a Dream" was released on the album and as the A-side of the single, the history of this album would be different. It has a great melody and the taste of the disco era. It could be a serious hit, but how could we understand the artists' mind??? Atlantic, please re-release "Ringo the Fourth" with "Just a Dream" as a bonus track!

Ringo the Songwriter.......2002-12-17

What makes this album sort of special is that Ringo wrote six of these songs. I don't care much for "Out on the Streets", but the others are charming and very enjoyable. I really wish that Ringo would have insisted on writing the whole album. Of the four songs that Ringo didn't write, "Tango All Night" is the only one I like a lot. Like the song "Monkey See Monkey Do" on Ringo's BAD BOY album, these cover versions are kind of an embarrasment to Ringo. The best song here is the melodic and sweetly nostalgic "Gave It All Up." "It's No Secret", "Gypsies In Flight", and "Simple Love Song" are nearly as good. This is not one of Ringo's best albums, but it is still a must-have if you like Ringo. Note to Paul McCartney: In return for Ringo's "Wings", how about recording a song called "Ringo Starr."

Ringo, the 1st Big Mistake.......2002-07-24

Abandoning his "cast of thousands" approach and embracing the disco fad(two huge mistakes), our man Ringo(never known as a writer)further causes trouble for himself by co-authoring 6 of the albums 10 tracks. Add this to over-slick production by Arif Mardin and you have what amounts to a recipe for disaster. The LP opens with "Drowning in the Sea of Love," and this song basically sets the tone for the rest of this album. The song's disco beat does Ringo no favors. His strong singing aside, the song has little to commend it. "Tango all Night," the next track is a step up--but not much. Its different beat allows the song to breathe a bit more. "Wings" is just as indistinguished as "Drowing in the Sea of Love." The next track "Gave It All Up," is probably the best cut on the album. The lyrics give the song a wistful feeling and along with the uncluttered(rare of this album)arrangement provide the only glimmer of the Ringo Starr we've grown to love on this set. "Out on the Street" is a full-blown piece of garbage. The Brecker Bothers who supply horns on this record do their danmdest to raise the level of quality to these proceedings but the overblown production of the song buries what exceptional talents these hornmen have. Also, at the end of this song, Ringo lyrically tries improvise some nonsense to go along with the song and it is truly embarrassing.
"Sneakiing Sally Through the Alley," is the one song that allows Ringo and super session drummer Steve Gadd to flex their muscles. When Ringo and Jim Keltner worked together in the past, one could hear them trading off each other. Here, with Gadd, producer Mardin didn't seize the opportunity to get something interesting from Starr and Gadd. That's almost as sad as the good money i shelled out for this record. However, with the Brecker Brothers stepping it up on horns yet again, Ringo and Gadd pounding away, the song turns into a winner. "Can She Do It Like She Dances," is a bit of comedown after "Sally" but being that quality is in short supply on this record, why quibble? Again, the overblown production takes away any charm this song could have. "Gypsies In Flight," is nice song. With some nice guitar picking and clear production, plus Ringo's homey voice--it gets a thumbs up. "Its No Secret" follows and to its detriment. Not that its a bad song, indeed, there are good points to say about it, nice melody, good singing but again the song is injected with a little disco beat making it too slick to be takien seriously. We wind up with "Simple Love Song," Actually a nice melody buried by orchestration and chorus. This is same tactic that Mardin used to destroy "You Don't Know Me" on Ringo's previous record. After the smoke clears, there's maybe 2 or 3 songs to hang your hat on. Not good odds. Along with interesting horn playing, bits of insipired drumming, snatches of melody it adds up to 2 stars. The thick sameness of the production just doesn't make for too many repeated listenings.

Meditation Music:

Meditation Music

A Concert from China / Schucheng, Baodi, Central China PO

Music: Bang Bang Baby [Original recording reissued] [Import]

Another Way/Avenue

76 [Import]

AONN Records Presents: The November 12 Projekt [Explicit Lyrics]

All Out of Love: Live (CD & DVD) [Live]

17 New Wave Classix

11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula

A Tribute to Billy May

100% Plancha

100% Puro San Luis

J.C. Bach: Sinfonias, Op. 6, 9, 18; Overture "La calamità"

Somewhere Down in Texas