Customer Reviews

Ringo's Rotogravure

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Another review here on Amazon is incorrect. Only John and Paul are on this album with Ringo. George is NOT on it. (he only wrote a song on it, he didn't perform on it) It seems to me that Ringo didn't care a whole lot about this album along with every other album from 1975 up until "Time Takes Time" in 1992. It is not a horrible album. There are songs like "A dose of rock and roll" and "Hey baby" that are very listenable but, unless you are a die hard fan and are collecting all of Ringo's stuff, beware. For one thing even if Paul, John and Eric Clapton are on this album they are pretty much buried in the mix and are not the main focus of the album. I'm not much of a fan of the production and mixing. I think it sounds hollow and... a bit over produced at the same time. It sounds dated. And there seems to be a severe lack of good song writing.(the other 3 former Beatles contribute songs but are very forgettable). I must say that even with my negative review here... it's still Ringo so I have to own it.

It is true that, on the whole, "Ringo's Rotogravure" is Starr's weakest effort. But it is still quite good, great in places. I think Ringo relied a bit too much on outside writers, who for the most part failed to give him great material. Another problem with this album is the murky mix and lifeless production. The album just seems directionless, a problem which Ringo would resolve on all future releases.There is a genuine Ringo classic on here, the self-penned country ballad 'Cryin'. A lovely track, with none other than Sneeky Pete Kleinow from The Flying Burrito Brothers on his pedal steel. This represents one of Ringo's finest forays as both writer and singer, and 'Cryin' alone justifies buying this cd. There really aren't any other tracks that match it, but 'Pure Gold', 'A Dose Of Rock n' Roll' and 'Lady Gaye' are good songs well suited for Ringo. The George Harrison-penned 'I'll Still Love You' is a strange ditty that initially may be off-putting but grew on me. "Ringo's Rotogravure" is a fine album, but not quite up to the quality of his other albums. Not the place to start with Ringo, but necessary for his fans.

Back in the golden days of pop music, the popular vocalists like Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole would experiment with a variety of styles to keep their fans interested. As these artists were in demand as great singers and interpreters, their fans usually got what they wanted and expected. If you try hard enough, you can actually imagine Perry Como singing RINGO'S ROTOGRAVURE in his fun-loving 50's style and doing a pretty good job with it. The problem with this album is that Ringo is not exactly a great singer and he is primarily associated with The Beatles and rock and roll. At the time this album was recorded, did anybody bother to question who the potential audience was? Senior citizens might like the songs but not the singer, while the younger generation isn't exactly grooving to "You Don't Know Me At All" and "Las Brisas", among others. I do like to hear Ringo sing and I enjoy many of these songs. However, other songs like " I'll Still Love You" and "This Be Called A Song" are just plain boring. All too often in their solo work, Ringo, John, Paul, and George never tried to meet the standard of quality they set as The Beatles. Ringo's Rotogravure is an example of that, but I still recommend this album for all Ringo fans.

Although it sticks to the "all-star" formula, this album is not as good as "Ringo" or "Goodnight Vienna", that's for sure. But it features at least one great song, "I'll Still Love You", written by George Harrison at the end of the 60's but not released until this album. "Pure Gold" by Paul McCartney is also quite enjoyable, "Cryin'" is a nice country song well-suited for Ringo's voice, and I must admit I've got a kind of perverse pleasure listening to "Las Brisas", where Ringo is backed by a mariachi band ! It's certainly not the first Ringo Starr album you've got to buy, but it's not as bad as some might say.

Full of forced fun and inebriated ineptitude, the best thing about Ringo's Rotogravure was the inner sleeve spread which featured snapshots of all of the usual suspects in Ringo's crowd at the time (Harry Nilsson, Van Dyke Parks, Dr. John, Danny Kortchmar, etc.) eating food in various, often imaginative ways. For example, John Lennon is eating take-out Chinese with chopsticks, Nilsson strikes a stautesque pose with a bunch of grapes placed in a strategic position, Kortchmar is shown taking a bite out of Nilsson's then current LP, "...That's The Way It Is", you get the idea... If Rotogravure had been half as much fun as its center spread, then we would have had another "Ringo". However, that was not the case.

On the plus side, it's pretty hard to screw up that party perennial "Hey Baby", and Ringo does a servicable job...Richie's own "Cryin' " wouldn't have sounded out of place on "Beaucoups of Blues" and "Lady Gaye" (a rewrite of a song by schoolteacher Clifford T. Ward that went Top Ten in the UK in 1973) is pleasant enough. But the all-star contributors format that served "Ringo" and "Goodnight Vienna" so well really let Ringo down this time. His Beatle buddies in particular should have been ashamed of themselves for turning in the lame efforts they did. "Cookin'" has the distinction of being one of the most ordinary, lackluster songs Lennon ever committed to paper; perhaps if someone with ideas had been on board instead of the efficient but uninspired Arif Mardin, then it could have been saved...Paul's contibution, the doowopish "Pure Gold" (kin to "Oh! Darling" and "Call Me Back Again" in everything except execution) fails to register, and George's "I'll Still Love You" was a hand me down (original title "When Every Song Is Sung") that by the time Cilla Black (twice) and Mary Hopkin had finished with it, was very ragged by the time Ringo got around to it. However, it is nicely arranged, if a bit ponderous, and is the best of the three. Eric Clapton didn't do him any favors, either, with the sluggish "This Be Called A Song" which sounded like a reject from the No Reason To Cry period.

So if you're thinking about picking this one up, be warned: it's a mostly dismal affair. Nobody sounds like they're on the same page here, and Ringo sounds like he couldn't care less as long as someone pointed him at the mike and handed him a lyric sheet. If the CD version doesn't reproduce the aforementioned center spread, then you can dock this another star and mark off another reason to buy!

Ringo's Rotogravure is truly a huge step down from "Ringo" and "Goodnight Vienna". His 3 brothers from the Beatles each penned a song and to me, at least, "Pure Gold" was the best of the three.

Rotogravure isn't really a bad album (Ringo the 4th takes the cake there). I found myself putting a couple of the tracks on repeat (Pure Gold, A Dose of Rock 'n Roll and Cryin') while some of the other tracks I didn't care for that much such as Cookin'.

I bought the album because from the samples, it sounded OK for $11 (bundled with Ringo the 4th). That, and I love Ringo to death and feel he is an underappreciated talent. But this album is only for HUGE Ringo fans and completists.

As usual the other Beatles helped Ringo out but this time Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Dr. John, and countless others lent their hand in this good effort. I think that Ringo should have stayed with Richard Perry as his producer instead of switching to Arif Mardin but it all worked out ok in the end. The end result is a nice listen. You will enjoy it. Five stars for fun.

Well, I admit this is not my favorite album, but it is my favorite artist! For some reasons, I do think every beatles fan should buy this album. Why? Here are the reasons.

I know it's been said many, many times, but, Ringo realized this album with a little help from his friends. But was it really necessary? I don't Think so. Sure, the songs Paul McCartney gave him is sweet, John Lennon's quite funny and Geroge Harrison's a real masterpeice, (In fact, it's better than anything who's in his All Things Must Pass album pherhaps it has been written in the same period) The songs that really catch my attention are the little variety numbers that Ringo had fun makin' and writin'. Just think of Cryin', a little blues number (it makes us regret that he let others write the country songs on Beaucoup Of Blues) and Las Brisas. Otherwise, there's a cool cover of Hey Baby and the beautiful balld You Dn't Know Me At All.

OVERALL: Ringo's voice won't reach his peak until his recent records but it's ok, Production by Arif Madrin isn't the best fittin' for Ringo's work, the large variety of musical styles shows Ringo's very polyvalent and there's a lot of funny photographs in the booklet, so enjoy! ^^

HAVE WE ALL GONE NUTS? This fun album has an average customer rating of 2 1/5, while Unfinished music part two has an average customer rating of three. WHAT?!!! This album has the same customer rating as Two Virgins, GOOD GRIEF! This album is far better than it's low reputation.

I think everyone is missing the point. Take this album for what it is, HEAPS of fun. Like, this album is SO much fun. It's a throback to fifties pop. Remember the vocal groups of the fifties, most of these songs are a throwback to that. There's also a lot of doo-wop and even 50's country-ish ballads represented. Actually, I could compare a lot of this material to the Tommy Edwards version of 'It's all in the game'. My favourte songs are Pure Gold, You don't know me, This be called a song, A dose of rock n roll, Las Brisas and Crying.

I always had a soft spot for the sad Beatle, and bought his vinyl albums when they came out back in the 1970's. The first few were fun, but right around this album - Rotogravure - they started to lack a little of the soul that the early ones had, which made up for Ringo's limited singing ability. Arif Mardin produced this one and is not as good as "Ringo" or "Goodnight Vienna', which were both produced by Richard Perry. I enjoyed hearing the songs on Rotogravure, which I had not heard for 20 years. Which says something. And I may not reach for this album again anytime soon. But it was fun from a nostalgia point of view. If you are looking for a good album to hear for the first time, I would have to say you should look elsewhere.