RINGO ST*RR STOP AND SMELL THE ROSESI Private Property (2:43) x °. Neca y (243) 2. Wrack My Brain (2:20) + (G. Harrison} 3. Drumming ls My Madness (3:28 ma Noo y Mache (128) 8 4, Attention (3:19) + (P. McCartney) 5.Stop And Take The Time To Smell The Roses (3:08) @ (H. Nibsson-, Starkey) 6 Dead Giveaway (4:24) % (R Sarkey R Wood) 7. You Belong To Me (2:09) + (PW. KingeR. Seewart-C. Price) 8,Sure To Fall (3:41) = (C. Perkins-Q. Claunch-W. Cantrell) 9. You've Got A Nice Way (3:33) # (G. Stils-M. Seergis) 10, Back Off Boogaloo (3:15) @ (R Starkey) BONUS TRACKS: LI. Wake Up (3:44) # (R Surkey) 12,Red and Black Blues (3:19) # (L Teen) 13. Brandy (4:08) % (oseph B. JeffersoniCharles B. Simmons) 14, Stop And Take The Time To Smell The Roses (3:08) @ (HLNisson-R Starkey) (Original Vocal Version): Rough mix by ‘Steve Stanley and Kendal Stubbs at Compass Pont Stdos, 12480 15. You Can't Fight Lightning (5:40) x (R. Starkey) 16. Hand Gun Promos (2:02) Recorded for Hary Nilsson 108 engineer: ick Reto * PAUL Mc! Recorded July I |-21, 1980 at Super Bear Studios, Bear-Les-Apes, France Engineer: PETER HENDERSON 2nd Engineer: STEVE LIPSON RINGO STARR: Drums, Lead Vocals PAUL McCARTNEY: Bass, Piano LAURENCE JUBER: Guitars HOWIE CASEY: Saxophones LLOYD GREEN: Pedal Stee! Guitar (on “Sure To Fall") Background Vocals: LINDA McCARTNEY, SHEILA CASEY, LEZLEE LIVRANO PARISER, PAUL MCCARTNEY except, “You Can't Fight Lightning’: RINGO STARR: Guitar, Lead Vocals PAUL MCCARTNEY: Drums, Bass LAURENCE JUBER: Guitar LLOYD GREEN: Slide Guitar BARBARA BACH: Marachas Background Vocals: SAME AS ABOVE + Produced and Mixed by GEORGE HARRISON, Assisted by RAY COOPER & PHIL McDONALD: Recorded November 19-25, 1980 at FPSHOT, UK Engineer: PHIL McDONALD RINGO STARR: Drums, Lead Vocals GEORGE HARRISON: Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Background Vocals HERBIE FLOWERS: Bass, Tuba AL KOOPER: Piano, Electric Guitar (on “Wrack My Brain”) RAY COOPER: Piano, Percussion, Vocoder, Background Vocals Produ d by HARRY NILSSON: Basic vacks recorded November 4, 1980 at Evergreen Recording Stucis, Burbank, CA ‘Additional recording at Compass Point Studios December Int, 1980 (Engine: Steve Staley, 2nd Engineer: Kendal Stubbs} Engineer: RICK RICCIO 2nd Engineer: MIKE HATCHER RINGO STARR: Drums, Lead Vocals JIM KELTNER: Drums RITCHIE ZITO, DENNIE BUDIMIR, FRED TACKETT: Guitars Banjo on “Stop And Take Time To Smell The Roses” by DENNIS BUDIMIR) DENNIS BELFIELD: BassJANE GETZ: Piano JOE LALA: Percussion JERRY JUMONVILLE: Tenor Sax BRUCE PAULSON: Trombone JM GORDON: Baritone Sax LEE THORNBERG: Trumpet RICK RICCIO: Flute (on “Drumming Is My Madness") Background Vocals on “Back Off Boogaloo”: HARRY NILSSON and RICK RICCIO * Produced oe RON WOOD A Recorded BRS SEE ‘2-27, 1980 at Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California Engineer: DEE ROBB 2nd Engineer: LARRY REBHON RINGO STARR: Drums, Lead Vocals RON WOOD: Guitars, Acoustic Bass (on “Dead Giveaway’), Saxes (on “Dead Giveaway"), Keyboards WILTON FELDER: Bass JOE SAMPLE: Piano GREG MATHIESON: Piano (on “Dead Giveaway’) JEFF “SKUNK” BAXTER: Guitars. (on “Brandy") Background Vocals: RON WOOD, RINGO STARR # Produced by. STEPHEN STILLS: Basic tracks recorded August I-14 1960 at Devonshire Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA Adional recording on “Nice Wy” produced by Abn Parser at Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California (Engineer: Dee Robb) December 19, 1980 Engineers: STANLEY JOHNSTON, STEVE GURSKY RINGO STARR: Drums, Lead Vocals STEPHEN STILLS: Lead Guitar MICHAEL STERGIS: Rhythm Guitar MIKE FINNIGAN: Piano, Organ HARLEY “TREY” THOMPSON: Bass Background Vocals: STEPHEN STILLS, MIKE FINNIGAN, MICHAEL STERGIS except, "Wake Up" same as above plus: Basic Tracks produced by Stephen Stil, September 4.7, 1980 at Deveonshire Sound Recording, Nocth Hollywood, California, ‘Additional Production by Ron Wood, December 22, 1980 January and February 1981 ae Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles. RON WOOD: Guitars, Background Vocals KEITH RICHARD: Guitar Our Man in Havana: ALAN PARISER Remix Producers & Engineers: DEE & BRUCE ROBB Post Production Coordinating Engineer: RICK RICCIO Photography: AARON RAPOPORT Design & Art Direction: KOSH Love and thanks, Schmil Thanks as always to Bruce and Hilary Special thanks and all my love to Barbara who got me out of bed to make this album. and to whom this album is dedicated Thanks to my Three Brothers1980 was a busy year for the four ex-Fabs. Paul McCartney was promoting his first solo album, MeCartney Il, nearly 10 years since forming Wings. After helping his friends, Monty Python, with the financing oftheir film, “Life of Brian,” George Harrison had formed a fim production company, HandMade Films, and was recording his tenth album. John Lennon was making his first solo record in 5 years since becoming a father. And Ringo Starr had his hands full as well: a new movie, anew love, and a new album, Since releasing his last record, Bad Boy on Portrait (CBS) in April 1978, appearing in a network TV special, “Ringo” (por- traying “Ognir Rrats” - read it backwards!), Ringo's life had quieted down, comparatively. After recovering from a serious ill ness in 1979, he decided to push ahead with his film career. Principal photography for Ringo’s tenth (non-Beatle) film, “Caveman,” began on February 18 in Durango, Mexico, and con- tinued there and in Mexico City through April, The film, dubbed a “pre-historic comedy,” according to United Artists, was Ringo's first starring role (though not exactly a speaking part). It featured him as caveman Atouk, who's got his eye on the chiefs mate, Long Island model-turned-actress Barbara Bach. Bach had caught the world's eye in the 1977 James Bond thriller “The Spy Who Loved Me.” The two fell in love on the set and have been together since, having married a year later. The film out of the way, it was time for a (short) rest. Paul McCartney had been laying low for the first part of the year follow ing an unfortunate incident in Japan which landed him in jail and cut shore Wings' last tour. After mixing several live cuts from the tour in March and releasing his new solo album (recorded the previous summer) two months later, he and wife Linda left Britain to join Ringo and Barbara in Monte Carlo at Ringo's home. Ie was during this visit that Ringo and Paul discussed working together on a new album for Ringo. Ringo's previous three albums, though interesting and wel-produced, were neither critical nor commercial successes, Ringo regarded his two Apple rock albums, which featured an array of close mates made up of a “Who's Who" of rock and roll, as his peak thus far in recording. He decided to use chat tried and true method again, caling on his three oldest mates for “a little help from his friends,” envi- sioning an album of songs produced, perhaps, by each of his three “brothers.” A fine wish, were not destiny to prove other- wise. Paul's tracks were the first to be recorded. In mid-June, Paul sent Ringo a demo of the songs to be taped and arranged ses- sions for the following month. Super Bear Studios, in the tiny French village of Bear Les Alpes, was one of only a few residen- tial studios in Europe, and was located midway between Nice and Monaco, only 2 40 minutes’ drive from Ringo's home. Super Bear itself had become reknowned as a state-of-the-art 24-track facility, with Pink Floyd's The Wall and Queen's A Day at the Races among its credits, McCartney booked a week at the studio, eventually staying on for two. [The "three brothers” concept was apparently truly marching ahead at this time. Studio manager Graeme Perkins recalls receiving a call for Paul from John Lennon during the sessions, indicating, indeed, something was up. “I said, ‘Hold on, ‘t's for you. That was the extent of my conversation with John Lennon!"] Paul dispatched his head roadie John Hammel with a truckload of equipment from England, arriving by ferry in France. The truck could barely make it up the winding mountain roads, but eventually got there intact. Paul brought with him a small entourage, including Linda, Wings guitarist Laurence Juber, Wings saxophonist Howie Casey, accompanied by his wife Sheila, who would contribute background vocals, and old-time pedal steel guitarist Lioyd Green, whom Paul had met in Nashville in1974 while doing recording with Wings. Besides Barbara, Ringo had with him, of course, friend/coordinator, Alan Pariser, who was accompanied by his wife, Lezlee Livrano Pariser, an accomplished background singer. Paul also brought along engineer Pete Henderson. Henderson, who had worked with Paul previously on Wings at the Speed of Sound, was also responsible for engineering a scring of successful albums by Supertramp. He was assisted in these new sessions by house tape operator Steve Lipson, who years later would produce tracks for Paul on his acclaimed Flowers in the Dirt LP. Notably absent was longtime McCartney cohort Denny Laine, who had become distant from Paul following Japan, after which he had recorded a song called “Japanese Tears,” which chided McCartney for his mistakes, and introduced a rift between the two which would last until the following year. Recording began on July 1! and lasted for ten days, through July 21. A total of § songs were completed, three of which made it onto the final album. Photo courtesy Lae Jaber “Attention,” the first to be recorded, is an uplifting McCartney tune, fF perfect for Ringo’s warm, friendly voice, and makes for a pleasant break in an album surrounded by a generally faster pace. The song was originally 424 in length, containing an additional verse, but was edited down to 3:20 for final release, “Private Property,” eventually chosen as the final album's opener and the disc's second single, is undeniably contagious with its fast-paced, pounding rhythm and typically catchy McCartney hooks, courtesy of Howie Casey's saxophone (overdubbed several times to produce a “brass section”), Again, the original version of the song was much longer, at 4:43, with longer breaks between verses, addtional instru- mental sections, and, not heard on the final release, Lloyd Green on pedal steel throughout. Mixes of both versions, the long and a 2:44 edit, were provided by McCartney/Henderson for Ringo's use. The third track Ringo recorded with Paul was Carl Perkins’s 1956 hit “Sure to Fall (In Love With You).” This song had been a staple of The Beatles’ early stage act, even appearing on their original demo for Decca Records in |962, with, in those days, lead vocals by Paul McCartney. This time around, i's a genuine bona-fide country song, complete with Lloyd Green's pedal steel guitar and some beautifully welllayered background vocals. One of McCartney's simplest but finest productions, and a pleas- ant nod to Ringo's earlier country LP, Beaucoups of Blues, record- ed 10 years before. Paul & Ringo at the console at Super Bear, Photo courtesy Graeme Perkins (One day during a break in recording, Ringo made a remark in the studio Paul Ringo & Linda listen at Super Bear.Cf musicians, and would ultimately (until now) remain unreleased. The song was initially untitled, then given the name “Love Song.” changing back and forth between that name and “Wake Up.” until late January when it was decided that “Wake Up” was “it”, Though essentially completed by the end of the Stills sessions, the track would be picked up in late December by Ron Wood, who would continue work on it until the eleventh hour during final mixing in February. On September 4, the group began recording the new song, with drummer Bill Meeker joining the band on this day. The group recorded several rehearsal takes, highlighted by some tight guitar playing (Sus was on electric chis night, switching to acoustic the following evening) and a mighty rhythm section with the two drummers adding a powerful punch to the song, On this first day back in the studio, Stephen Stills, who was notoriously late for recording sessions, was on time for the 9pm fig, as he had been since taking on the role of producer for this job. Ringo, who was notoriously on-time in his Beatle days, vwas four hours late. “When he showed up, we all just stood there pointing to our watches!” recalled Stergis. Needless to say, Mr. Starkey was on-time for the remainder of the Stills sessions. The master take for “Wake Up” was recorded the following evening, September 5, this time without Bill Meeker, and with Siils on acoustic guitar, switching to his Stratocaster for lead guitar takes. Percussion instruments were added on September 6, and the song was (or so it was thought) completed the next day with the recording of several instrumental overdubs, Ringo’s lead vocals and three-part harmony background vocals. The three songs were given rough mixes and then set aside, and Stills and band returned to the road. Ron Wood was one of the gang of mates that Ringo hung out with on his frequent trips to Los Angeles in the late ‘70s, along with Seis and Harry Nilsson. Ringo would frequent Wood's home, where, sometimes after a meal, he would hop onto a drum set Wood kept in the hallway, and Ronnie would grab a guitar, and the two would bash out songs. “That's where ‘Dead Giveaway’ came from,” explains Wood. He had had the music for the song around for years. The Rolling Scones had just ended their 1980 North American tour, and one evening during a visit from Ringo, “we were mucking about with it, and we sat down and the two of us wrote the words.” Eventually the two decided to record, Shortly after the Stills sessions, Ringo took a week’s break to return to London {ineluding a day's visit with George Harrison), and upon his return to Los Angeles, Wood set up a series of sessions at Cherokee Studios in LA. Cherokee was (and stil is) one of Los Angeles's most respected recording facilities, founded by brothers Dee, Bruce and Joe Robb in 1975 inside a former MGM satelite studio in Hollywood. Their facility was the birt place of a plethora of hit records by such superstars as David Bowie (Station to Station), The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand. Ringo was no stranger to Cherokee either - his 1976 LP Ringo’s Rotogravure was recorded there as well Ringo and Ron began recording “Dead Giveaway" on Tuesday evening September 23, For that session, the Robbs set Wood up with one of the area's top jazz keyboard players, Greg Mathieson, who had played with and produced for such noted acts as Manhattan Transfer, Lee Ritenour, Al Jarreau and Larry Carlton, The session on this first day featured only Wood, Starr and Mathieson. “I remember that was the strange thing about the session,” recalled Greg. “There was no bass!” Wood added a few takes of bass to the tracks, but shortly thereafter decided to bring in some other musicians to fill out the song. The Rolling Stones were big fans of the Crusaders, with the jazz group appearing as their opening act in their 1975 “Tour of the Americas.” Alan Pariser, friend to both Ringo and Ron Wood, set them up with Crusaders members Joe Sample and Wilton Felder to perform keyboards and bass on the recordings.Sample had this recollection: “During that period of my studio musi- Photo courtesy Ricard & Barbara Srey cian career, | was doing perhaps 200 to 250 sessions a year. The only cones | remember are the ones that meant the most to me. Although Ron and Ringo had attained ‘superstar status’, both gentleman dis- played an attitude of being musicians and understanding the brother- hood of musicians. They were humorous and gracious. Allin all, | had a hell of alot of fun!” Wood also added several guitars and, a pleasant surprise, a horn sec- tion - comprised entirely of saxaphones played by Ron Wood himself Unbeknownst to most, Wood is an exceptional musician on several instruments beside guitar. His wo older brothers were also musi« cians (one of them, Art Wood, had an early band called, of course, "The Arewoods”, featuring a drummer named Charlie Watts), and in their home, they had a room full of instruments, where Ronnie learned to play piano, drums, sax and, of course, guitar. On “Giveaway,” Wood says, "| played tenor and alto and just built it up.” A second tune, “Brandy,” originally recorded by the O'Jays (released as a single in September, 1978 and a year later on their So Full Of Love LP), was begun on September 25, Ronnie played guitar in time to a rhythm machine, to which he then added a piano, bass and Wurlitzer organ (presumably by Joe Sample - Mathieson played only on “Dead Giveaway"). Ringo, at this point, recorded two takes of a lead vocal, neither of which was used on the final recording The following day, Starr recorded a drum track for the song, which was replaced the following night, on September 27, by a second try. Wood's bass was also replaced with a proper recording by Wilton Felder. The song was set aside for completion at a later date September 1980, Towards the end of their session on the 27th, Ringo and Woody took advantage of the last remaining minutes to record a demo of a possible third track titled “Don't Blame It On Me,” an old-fashioned, Fats Domino-lke rock and roll number. The ‘two, with Wood on piano and Ringo playing drums while singing a live vocal, bashed ut six takes of the song, trying to sort out its exact arrangement, It was indeed getting late - at one point, in between takes, Dee Robb can be heard reminding the pair "You only have ten minutes left,” to which Wood responded, “You're never the bearer of bad news, are you!”] Not much got done, and the song was left Wood returned to Cherokee on November 6, where, with Joe Robb, he made rough mixes of "Dead Giveaway” (making an edit of the song the following day) and "Brandy." The completed version of "Dead Giveaway,” as it appeared on the original Can’t Fight Lightning album, was 5:30 in length, with additional Iytis in the end portion of the song. Such lines as Wood shouting “running noses” to Ringo’s “baggy trousers,” as well as a bass break, were edited out when the final release was prepared. Original lyries and track sheet for “Brandy.Wood still recalls the Ringo sessions with fondness, though he notes one piece of unfinished business: “He still owes me a fiver!” Back in the °60s, when asked who their favorite American singer was, The Beatles unanimously agreed: Harry Nilsson. Ringo and Harry had been the best of friends since the early 70s, playing on each other's albums and other projects throughout the decade, They had last worked together the previous fall recording Harry's Flash Harry LP at Cherokee. It made perfect sense, then, that if Ringo was putting together an album with best friends, Harry Nilsson would unquestionably be a part of it. Harry threw some material together and gathered an all-star band to perform lve in a giant all-day session, The group was made up of many of the best L.A. studio musicians with whom Nilsson had worked in the last several years. Guitarist Fred Tackett had come to LA. to work with Jimmy Webb and went on to work with Rod Stewart, Boz Scaggs, Carly Simon and Litule Feat (eventually joining that band later in the 80's). He had appeared on several of Nisson's albums, including Flash Harry, Dennis Budimir had played guitar as a session player for everyone from Elvis Presley to the Partridge Family (along 4 few more contemporary artists!) and on Harry's Duit On Mon Dei and That's the Way It Is LPs. Ritchie Zito had also played with a variety of artists and had appeared on Flash Harry, as well. Bass was handled by Dennis Belfield the origina bass player for Rufus (featuring Chaka Khan). Drumming alongside Ringo was old pal Jim Keltner. Keltner had played on nearly all of George Harrison’s, John Lennon's and Ringo's albums through the 70's, and continues to be one of the world’s most acclaimed and sought-after studio drummers. Percussionist Joe Lala, who, just two months before played on Stephen Stills contributions to this album, was also in the band, though went uncredited in the album's liner notes. Jane Getz was 2 jazz keyboardist who had played with Charlie Mingus in the 60s, and, besides appearing on four of the last five of Nilsson’s records, had played on Ringo's 1976 Atlantic LP Ringo’s Rotogravure, Van Dyke Parks was another L.A. keyboard player/arranger who had worked with the Beach Boys, Judy Collins, Carly Simon, and was a friend of Harry's, appearing on Flash Harry most recently Horns were handled by a quartet put together by New Orleans tenor saxophonist Jerry Jumonville. Bruce Paulson, besides his session work, did trombone playing nightly in Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show band, and had played on several Nilsson albums, including Flash Harry, alongside Jerry Jumonville. Jim Gordon had played with Jumonville on Bonnie Rait’s Home Plate album, as wel as appearances on numerous gigs for Linda Ronstadt and others, Lee Thornburg and his trum- pet were known around town, and he later joined the Tower of Power. The session was booked at mammoth Evergreen Studios (today known as “Ground Control”) in Burbank, and took place on November 4 from 2pm to I Ipm. The entire band played live in cavernous Studio A, normally used to record orchestras and large bands (like this one). Evergreen was 2 reknowned state-of-the-art 24-track (and larger) facility which had produced numerous platinum albums by such artists as Cher, Barry Manilow and, most recently, Paula Abdul. The session was engi- neered by Rick Riecio, who, with numerous fim and television credits, had first worked with Nilsson on the “Pepeye” film soundcrack. He was assisted by 2nd engineer Mike Hatcher. The session has been described by al involved as nothing less than a wild party scene, with Ringo and Harry, notorious joke- sters, constantly cutting up and doing “bits” with Van Dyke Parks. Riccio rolled tape and somehow managed to get completed takes done. It wasn't easy. “Harry walked in and told the horn players, ‘We don't have any charts, Just be briliant!,” recalled Joe Lala. Jumonville and his group eventually decided it would be best ifthe four of them waited outside in the studiolounge until the rest had recorded the basic tracks, which took nearly 8 hours! Parks later wrote out some chords for them to play, which then closed the session. “It was absurd. It was a wonder any of us lived through it!” says Keltner. “Stop and Take the Time to Smell the Roses,” written by Harry and Photo courtesy Una Ntson Ringo, was a light-hearted laugh, with Ringo ad-libbing some hilarious advice on how to enjoy life, not all of which made it onto the final release (lead vocals for this and another track were actualy recorded a month later in the Bahamas) Originally, the line about the Rolls Royce read much differently: "Stop when you're in your Ford Cortina - you know it's accident prone! Nobody likes you! Talk to a man in a Rolls Royce - he knows how to live!” The Ford Cortina line was changed nearly a year later out of Boardwalk Records chief Neil Bogart’s concern for the Ford Company and the reputation of their not.so-luxury car model, Through some careful editing, Riccio took phrases from the deleted line and cut them together, making the line now read “You know when you're accident prone - nobody likes you!” (listen for the edit after the first “you") The song was topped off by a wonderful, old-time banjo played by Dennis Budimir. Ringo and Harry Wilsson, “Drumming Is My Madness,” was a tribute to Ringo and his first love, which was written by Harry, partially during the record- ing. The song features Tackett repeating the song's characteristic guitar rif, with lead by Zito. There are also a few rare drum breaks with Starr dueling with his partner Keltner, or should | say “Thunder” and “Lightning.” Ringo had long ago ‘come up with the nicknames for the pair. “One day | walked into a session,” recalls Keltner, “and he'd had these T-shirts made up with ‘Thunder’ and ‘Lightning’ on them!” Before the first break, Ringo shouts “Rizz off!” Riccio explained: “Whenever Hatcher or | would ask for a piece of equipment, we'd say ‘Gimme that rizz over there.” (Ringo had obviously hung around the control room a bit too much!) For the second break, says Riccio, "Ringo said, I want it to go mad there,” prompting the short duel between him and jim, Riccio later added a bubbly flute solo to finish the tune “Back Off Boogaloo” was a funky reworking of Starr’s 1972 hit single (it actually opens with the opening rif from his previous single, “It Don't Come Easy"), with some classy Beatle lyrics interwoven into the background. The background vocals were arranged and sung by Harry and Riccio (which were overdubbed nearly a year later!), with Harry and Ringo also adding a few accent vocals. It is Nilsson's voice belting out the high screams, with Ringo providing the low, funky “Back of, | say, back off boogaloo.” Overdubs were added by Harry and Riccio a few days later, and the songs were then mixed, at least temporarily George Harrison had been working on his own new album (which would later be tiled Somewhere in England) since the early Spring, at his home studio, FPSHOT (Friar Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames). Engineering was handled by Beatle vet- eran Phil McDonald. The album, following on the heels of 1979's Top 20 LP George Harrison, was essentially completedby October. However, Warner Bros. Records, the distributor for George's Dark Horse label, requested some changes to the album, which Harrison begrudgingly began in November. Ray Cooper, Elton John's and more recently Eric Clapton's) wonderful percussionist, was asked by George to assist in the producer's seat for these new sessions. Cooper (Who, incidentaly. appeared in the on-screen “band''in Nilsson's “Popeye” movie, a one of the “Falcons") suggested that George bring in a different group of musicians, hopefully al British The first to be added was bassist Herbie Flowers. Flowers had played on most of David Bowie's early hit albums, including Space Oddity and Diamond Dogs, as wel as providing the trademark bassline in Lou Reed's “Take 2 Walk on the Wild Side.” Flowers, in turn, suggested American keyboardist Al Kooper, who, despite not being British, had an illustrious career dating back into the 605. Kooper had played with the likes of Bob Dylan, the Blues Project, Blood Sweat and Tears and the 1968 Super Session with Stephen Stils, and later went on to produce the first three of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s chart-busting LP's before developing a solo career. His typical selection of unusual keyboards were a welcome addition to the sessions Ringo, meanwhile, had returned from the States on November 10, and asked Harrison to contribute to his own album Harrison obliged, writing a song especially for the occasion. The group, with Ringo drumming, recorded together from November 9 t0 November 25 at Friar Park “Weack My Brain,” the album's first single, has one of those fast, bouncy, Pythonesque rhythms, typical of Harrison at the time, which just seems to get catchier with every listening, With almost a “Monster Mash” feel to i, the song features some tasty lead guitar by George, alternating acoustic guitars, and another unusual addition - a tuba - by Herbie Flowers. Flowers had been playing the instrument since 1955 and his days in the Royal Air Force, and pulled it out of the closet under unusual circumstances (this quirky tune seemed to fic that category). Ringo performs some of his highest-register singing to date (accompanied by George on the verses), and the song closes with Ray Cooper's spooky vocoder pronouncing “Ringo bran!” “The second song the group recorded was the old 1950's tune, “You Belong to Me,” which had been a hie for Dean Marti, Jo Stafford and, eventually, the Duprees. The recording features more of Cooper's fascinating overdubs, with vocoder and other processed vocals givin it an unusual “mechanized! feel, copped off by a charming vocal by Ringo. ‘Another song was begun during these sessions, though there appears to be a difference of opinion as to its intended destina- tion, Besides the two songs mentioned, basic tracks for Harrison's “All Those Years Ago” were also recorded during that week, At the time of the song's release by Harrison in May 1981, Ringo described the song as originally recorded for his album, but pulled later by Harrison. Ray Cooper, however, who co-produced the song has a different recollection. Was the song intended for Roses? “Absolutely not,” says Ray. “It was always a George song. And it was always 2 tribute to John Lennon, even earlier in the year when it was written.” (Only one person knows the truth, and he’s not telling!) Regardless, Harrison would continue work on the song, adding vocals and other overdubs with Cooper, Flowers and Kooper as late as December 8. He would soon need to change the lyrics. Harrison and company “pre-mixed” the two completed titles and sent the tape off to Dee Robb at Cherokee in Los Angeles, along with a hand-written note explaining to Dee what was to be done to complete the songs. His recording with George completed, there was one more stop to make for Ringo to full his plan of an album produced by his three former-bandmates. On November 12, John Lennon released his first studio album in over five years, and it was already shooting up the charts. He was out in public, he was doing interviews. But Ringo and John had hardly spoken or seeneach other over the last several years, with John’s seclusion for family life long ago haven taken precedence over music busi- ness activity (his session on Ringo’s Rotogravure in 1976 was, until the summer of 1980, his last step into a recording stue dio), Ringo wasn't 100% sure Lennon would contribute to his album, but, earlier in the year, he asked. To his pleasant sur- prise, John said yes. Ringo flew to New York City on November 26, and John and Yoko met Ringo and Barbara in their hotel room at the Plaza Hotel the day after Thanksgiving, November 28. The meeting was an emotional one for all, as one can imagine. John brought Ringo a demo tape he had made of the four songs to be recorded, one of which was “Life Begins at 40,” a fact of life the two now shared. (The identities of the remaining three songs are today unknown, though a demo of Lennon's “Nobody Told Me" Contains an intro with Lennon introducing the song saying, “This one's for Ringo!”) Ringo left shortly thereafter to head for the Bahamas, where, with Harry Nilsson, he recorded a few vocal overdubs for Nilsson’s tracks at a local facility, Compass Point Studios. On Sunday evening November 30, Ringo, Harry and engineer Paul Jarvis spent a half hour listening to playback of Harry & Ringo’s three tunes, planning out work for the following four days In a lengthy session the following night, December | (from 7:30pm until 4 in the morning), Ringo recorded his hilarious vocal for "Stop and Take the Time to Smell the Roses,” engineered by Steven Stanley, assisted by Bahamian native Kendal Stubbs (engineer of Robert Palmer and Talking Heads fame). Why did the session take so long? The same problem Riccio had at Evergreen: "Lots of joking and kidding around,” says Stubbs, The recording’s best take still contained a few things which would not cece Fev tai make it onto disc. The “Look for a man in a Porsche” line was origi- nally followed by “P** it, brother, let's get out and walk!” The line was carefully masked by a “crash” sound effect before the tape left the Bahamas. A few improvements were made in overdubs after the origi- nal take, double tracking Ringo's lead vocal in places, replacing his ‘pening “Stop” line, and adding the “Stop before the light turns green” and “Stop in the name of the law!” lyrics [Ringo's original vocal, prior to these improvements, (and including the “Ford Cortina” ine) appears Con this disc as a bonus track (with only the “crash” added)] Starr also recorded his high and low vocals for “Back Off Boogaloo” at Compass Point, with Riccio and Harry's complementary Beatle lines at a later date (as it curns out, much later). Recording continued on Milsson, engineer Steve Stanley (‘oreground), December 2 & 3, with rough mixing taking place on December 4, after Unidentified (background) & Ringo at Compass which Nilsson went home, Business out of the way, Harry left, and Point Studies, Bahamas, Dee. 19 Ringo was joined by Barbara. The two settled down for what they hoped would be a well-deserved vacation after an exhaustive month Meanwhile, on December 7, Dee Robb called Lennon and arranged recording sessions for the following week to record the four new songs at the Record Plant in New York City. Everyone was excited. One day later, things changed. Now there were three.Back in LA, Harry Nilsson was working at the Scotti Brothers Studio in Santa Monica on a new single he and Rick Riccio were co-producing for Frank Stallone (Sjy's brother). Working at the sessions were Jim Keltner, Dennis Budimir, and Jesse Ed Davis. The band had taken a break, during which, oddly enough, Nilsson had begun writing a letter to Lennon. (Ricco, in fact, remem- bers Harry mentioning that the two of them would be meeting with John shortly to discuss recording an album of their own together:] Riccio received a phone call and somehow managed to give the horrible news to Nilsson about the death of his dear friend, Harry couldn't believe it, but after the truth set in, he began to cry, and the sessions stopped for a short period. Everyone stood around, stunned. Somehow Harry and Riccio miraculously managed to continue and complete the session for the night. Ringo and Barbara flew immediately to New York (accompanied by a new addition: bodyguards) to be with Yoko, but the incredible mob scene at The Dakota forced them to leave for Los Angeles the following day, where they stayed until Christmas The death of John Lennon had an incredible effect on everyone, but no more so than on Ringo, Paul and George. It brought new meaning to the word “fan”. It also had a devastating effect on the completion of Ringo's album, which he had hoped to finish with Lennon's recordings, and release in the Spring, The “three brothers” plan was over. Ringo all but lost heart for the project. Ringo's associate, Alan Pariser, picked up the reigns, briefly, and returned to Cherokee on December 19, where, with Dee Robb, the two somehow managed to get a lead vocal recording out of Ringo for “Nice Way,” as well as add some additional background vocals. Afterwards, Pariser and Robb produced mixes of the three Stills tracks, "Nice Way.” “Red and Black Blues” and “Wake Up” (labeled “Love Song/Wake Up"). “Nice Way" was trimmed down from 3:59 to 334, and that edit was marked as the "Master". ‘A few days later, on December 22, Ron Wood returned to Cherokee as well, and adopted “Wake Up.” Wood added a sec- cond pair of acoustic and electric guitars to the song, and a few weeks later, on January 16, returned with Ringo to record a new lead vocal and add another snare drum, as well as additional background vocals. Also during that week, Wood continued work on “Brandy,” adding another organ, and Oberheim and CS-80 keyboards on January 12, a new lead vocal by Ringo on January 14 and background vocals on January 16. Eleventh hour finishing touches on the two songs were added a few weeks later during final mixing. "Wake Up” was mixed on January 28. A day later, though, Keith Richard, another frequent visitor to Cherokee, dropped in on and recorded a guitar track, and the song was remixed on February 2, At the last minute, Dee Robb returned to “the other side of the glass,” on February |, adding a pair of rhythm guitars to the track, but it was eventually decided that “first was best.” and the original January 28 mix was selected as the Master (A version with Richard appears on this disc) "Brandy" was completed on February ‘4 with the addition of several electric and steel guitar overdubs by jeff “Skunk” Baxter. ‘After a brief period of recovery, Ringo had returned to Los Angeles in early January 1981 to add his final overdubs and super- vise final mixes for the album at Cherokee, On January 20, he and the Robbs began work, continuing through February 12, on “Dead Giveaway” (the long version), “Wake Up,” “Wack My Brain,” “You Belong To Me" (which involved cutting the song's intro from one take into that ofthe final mix), and “Brandy.” Existing mixes of McCartney's and Still's tracks remained unchanged. The Robbs also tried a mix of “Drumming Is My Madness,” which, at this poine, went unused. The best 10 of 15 completed tracks were selected, and a master reel was assembled of the final mixes on February 13, withPhoto cutesy San & Dee Robb “You Can't Fight Lightning” selected as the ttle track. Side | ran: “Attention,” “Private Property, ‘Wake Up" and “You Can't Fight Lightning.” Side 2 was: “Wrack My Brain,” “Dead Giveaway.” “Brandy.” “You Belong To Me” closing “Stop and Take the Time to Smell the Roses.” The tape was then taken to nearby A & M Studios where final mastering (pro- duction of an equalized and limited tape for record production) was completed on February 24, Ringo contacted reknowned album cover designer Tom Wilkes, who, among a multitude of other famous names, had designed George Harrison's first four record sleeves, and commissioned him to come up with 2 cover for the album. With “Lightning” as ngineer Dee Robl the album title, Wilkes decided on a “lightning” motif for the during final mixing for “€an't Fight Lightning” at Cherokee Studios, February 1981, sleeve. He set up a photo session with Israeli photographer Moshe Braca, who was popular in Los Angeles at the time. The cover would be simple and to the point: Ringo with lightning bolts coming out of his head, Easy enough. Wilkes, having grown up in Los Angeles, had visited the city's Grifith Observatory many times since he was a child, and knew of the museum's popular Tesla coil exhibit. So on February II, he paid his $10, and from midnight until Jam, Wilkes, Braca, and Ringo, who was joined by Barbara, took pic- tures. After a few shots, it was decided to add Barbara to the photos, and the selected image, indeed, had Barbara in it, ust below Ringo’s waist. Well it had a litle of Barbara in it- from her eyes up. It was decided later that it was better to show none of a beautiful woman than just a bit, so Wilkes decided the photo would be cropped when the final sleeve art was prepared. Unfortunately, the cover never got that far The photo and other business completed, Ringo left on February 15 for Montserrat in the West Indies to George Martin's AIR Studios, where Paul McCartney was working on his own new album, produced by Martin. Rumors spread quickly that a “Beatles reunion” was secretly taking place on the island, where the remaining three were supposedly concocting a tribute album to their late friend (Paul, Linda and Denny Laine actually did add background vocals to George's “All Those Years Ago,” on a tape secretly sent there by George). The Photo courtesy Tom Wikes “Can't Fight Lightning” album.island was subsequently swamped by members of the press, angering McCartney. Ringo had come to return the same favor Paul had given him the previous year, and, his work completed, he left four days later and returned co England. Ringo and Barbara spent most of March and April in the US. on a promotional tour for “Caveman,” often talking more about the upcoming Can't Fight Lightning album than the flm, which was due for release by United Artists on April 17. A tape of the album was brought to Ringo’s record label, Portrait in late February. Portrait's LA. A & R executive loved the album, but, ater returning from a trip to New York to play it for the CBS brass, the executive had a more lukewarm reaction Lukewarm wasn’t good enough. Ringo and his people were fairly upset that the company wasn't as excited as they felt was needed to properly promote the album, and decided to take their business elsewhere. The album was taken off Portrat's release schedule on March 26, and the label gave Starr a release in early April With the movie out, Ringo and Barbara were finally married on April 27 at London's Marylebone Registry, the same place Paul & Linda McCartney were married 12 years before. In attendance were the couple's closest friends, among them, of course, Paul and George and their wives. In the evening, a party was held at a London nightclub, at which the three played together briefly. Boardwalk Records founder Neil Bogart, meanwhile, was looking for artists for his fledgling label. After his previous label, Casablanca, had peaked with such acts as Kiss, Donna Summer and the Village People in the 1970's, Casablanca closed up shop, and Bogart decided to start again. He founded Boardwalk in September 1980, and, with a distribution deal with CBS, began building the label. In late May of 1981, he felt the label strong enough to go solo, and took Boardwalk from CBS into full independent distribution. In July, Ringo's people brought the tape of Can't Fight Lightning to Bogart, who was nothing less than ecstatic. In a telex to Ringo’s attorney, Bruce Grakal, Bogart exclaimed, “I want this album. | want this association with every bit of energy and every bit of excitement that | ever felt” That was the kind of energy Starr was looking for. Ringo came back to Los ‘Angeles on August 15, and on August 19, signed on with Boardwalk Besides CBS, Bogart had a relationship with another label, RCA. In order to make the deal affordable, Bogart’s arrangement allowed foreign rights (outside the USA) for distribution of the album to RCA. (In Germany, the record remained on Boardwalk, distributed by Bellaphon) Bogart also had a few suggestions about the album, and a second pass at the record's running order was made. With Neil's energetic zest for life, it was no wonder that his favorite track on the album was “Stop and Take the Time to Smell the Roses.” And, unknown even to his closest associates, Bogart was dying of cancer, making the song even more apropos. He selected the song as the album's first single, and, eventually it became the album's title, as well. it was a novelty song, and everyone involved hoped it would become a “breakout” hit. At the very last minute in late September, however, Bogart changed his ming, and went with George's “Wrack My Brain.” (A unique mix of the song appeared on the RCA Canada ver- sion of the single, for reasons unknown today.) Bogart also suggested swapping several titles on the album. Still's “Wake Up” and Wood's “Brandy” were dropped, along with Paul's “You Can't Fight Lightning,” in favor of "Sure to Fall,” “Drumming Is My Madness” and the new “Back Off Boogaloo.” At this time, Nilsson and Rick Riccio finally recorded their “Beatle interlude” lyrics for the song, adding them at Evergreen on September 3. It was also at this time that Bogart's concern over the “Ford Cortina” line in the “Roses” song was voiced, and he requested the line changed.‘At the last minute, Ringo called from England and asked Riccio to try a few last remixes on several titles (including those by Nilsson and McCartney, some of which, incidentally, Riccio had begun in late May 1981 during a mid- year rearrangement of the album: it was at this time that Lloyd's Green's pedal steel guitar was deleted from the mix of “Private Property”), and, with that completed, the master reels for the new LP were assembled, and pro- tection copies were made on September 14. Riccio brought the tapes to the Allen Zentz Studio, used on many occasions for CBS releases, where they were mastered and production lacquers were cut. With "You Can't Fight Lightning” dropped from the album, the old album cover design was dropped and a new one made to reflect the new “Stop” album title (Wilkes later used the cropped version of his photo on his design for Rhino's Starrstruek greatest hits LP, released in 1989). Veteran designer Kosh was commissioned for the new sleeve, Kosh had designed the last three of Ringo’s album covers, as well as, in his days in England, most of Apple's early LP and 45 sleeves, including Ringo's Beaucoups of Blues (His very first sleeve design, in fact, was The Beatles’ Abbey Road cover!), Kosh arranged for Ringo, during his August trip to Los Angeles, to have a photo session at the David Alexander Studio in Hollywood, ironically, across the street from the Capitol Records Tower, Ringo’s former “home”, The photo was taken by Aaron Rapoport, hired by Kosh. Ringo was dressed ina leather policeman’s uniform, and several shots were taken. The sleeve was to have one unique feature. “We originally wanted to use a ‘scratch 'n’ sniff coating on the roses on the front of the sleeve,” explains Kosh. “We found out, however, that the ‘scratch 'n’ sniff’ material had a fairly short shelf lif, so we opted for a perfume seal instead.” When the purchaser opened the shrink wrap on the album, he or she got a waft of roses up the nose! “Fill your noses,” as the song says, ‘Still from “Wrack My Brain.’ Ringo returned to England on August 24 and from September 16 to 18, hot two videos with the KEEFCO company for “Wack My Brain” and “Stop and Take the Time to Smell the Roses,” in various locations around London. The “Wack” video begins with Ringo napping beneath cone of the giant dinosaurs scattered around the grounds of Tittenhurst Park, Ringo's home in Britain. Upon awakening, he begins a curious trip through a veritable haunted house filed with ghouls, one of them played by his wife, The “Roses” video features our star, once again at Tittenhurst, preaching his message in a white coat and tails, switching to his cop uniform as he strolls along with a marching band down a runway and through a small town telling us to “wave to a man in a Rolls Royce” {also played by Ringo). The album and single were finally released on October 27 to a lukewarm Still from “Stto favorable reception. “Wrack My Brain” spent | weeks on Billboard's singles chart, peaking at No. 38, while the LP only reached No. 98. A second single, “Private Property” was issued on January 13 the following year, but had no chart activity A 10-minute promotional film, produced by McCartney's MPL Communications and directed by 10cc's Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, was filmed at Ewerts Studio in Southwest London from January 13 to 15, and again on January 18. The film, titled “The Cooler,” featured Ringo as a prisoner in a jail run entirely by women, one of them, of course, played by Barbara Bach (Ringo also, as one would expect, runs across several prisoners who bear a distinct resemblance to Paul McCartney), All three of Paul's album songs are featured in the film “The Cooler” premiered at Cannes in May, but did little to help sales of the album, The public, as well as Ringo, had moved onto other things. Stop and Smell the Roses is a fun collection of songs which, despite che number and variety of producers, fit snugly together, with no small thanks to the many talents behind them. To put the album into true perspective, Ringo put it suc- cinetly during “Caveman” press conference in Chicago on March 24, 1981. After being asked several brain-wracking “the- cry on life” questions, someone asked him what message the album had. Ringo replied, “Again with the messages! What, do you work for the post office!” There are no messages. Just rock and roll Matt Hurwitz, Good Day Sunshine Magazine Photographer: Linda Meaney © HPL Communications Ringe & Paul in costume for “The Cooler.”REISSUE CREDITS: REISSUE EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Tom Cartwright, Eli Okun SUPERVISING PRODUCER: Cheryl Pawelski COORDINATING PRODUCER: Matt Hurwitz LINER NOTES, RESEARCH & COMPILATION: Matt Hurwitz CLEARANCES: Dawn Van Patten DESIGN: Marlene Bergman's Firesign Design PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE: Margaret Goldfarb, Kathy Kinslow, Malia Kleppinger, Charles Levan, Frank Lopez REISSUE MASTERING: Jeff Rach SPECIAL THANKS: Bruce Grakal, Joan Woodgate, Alan Crowder, Graeme Perkins, Laurence Juber, Steve Lipson, Ray Cooper, Michael Stergis, Mike Finnigan, Stanley Johnston, Ken Weiss, Sherry Daly, Ron Wood, Joe Sample, Marion Wheeler, Jim Keltner, Lee Blackman, Una Nilsson, Rick Riccio, Dee & Bruce Robb, Sherry Manning, Kendal Stubbs, Alan Pariser, Tom Wilkes, Kosh, Aaron Rapoport, Mike Heatley, Andrea Sheridan, Dave Scherer, Charles F. Rosenay!!!, Tom Carswell, Ruthann Supnick, Lee Blackman, Colleen Graven, Cary Baker, Linda Richard, Michael Roden, Michael Schwartz, Pete Welding, and everyone at CEMA For comments or information on other The Right Stuff releases, please address all correspondence to: The Right Stuff, 1750 N. Vine St, Hollywood, CA 90028 Under license from Ringo Starr 1229676 (© 1994 Montego BV. © 1994 The Right Stuf Manuactced by Te Right Sut a sion of atl Recor, ne 1750 N Nine St, Hot}woed, CA 90028 [Alright eer, Unauterzed dipleationis vation of ppicabe ans12-29676