Customer Reviews

Stop & Smell the Roses

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is an exellently recorded album re,issue on cd.Production and sound quality are top notch! Ringo chooses top notch musicians as well. Including Paul McCartney,George Harrison,Stephen Stills,Al Kooper,Jim Keltner,Ron Wood and he even get's Paul's wife Linda and his own wife Barbra in on the act with some background vocals. Stop and Smell the Roses is a fun album to listen to. Great Vibes going on here! All the original ten songs are included plus several bonus tracks. Every song is a gem,except for a couple of the bonus tracks which are somewhat weak. I am positive that Ringo had fun recording this album. You can hear it as well as feel it. Especially the title cut stop and smell the roses. Check out Ringo's ad libs towards the end of the song. The song drumming is my madness features Ringo's love of the drums. He double's up with fellow drummer and freind Jim Keltner. Back off Boogaloo and Your a Dead Giveaway in particular offer their great drumming patterns. Many of the songs are produced and mixed by Paul McCartney,George Harrisson,and Stephen Stills which can account for why the recordings sound so good. I can not understand why this Ringo album is out of stock? Final thoughts: Stop and Smell the Roses is a rare gem,a diamond in the rough,a great catch,a true Ringo classic! In my humble opinion it deserve's to be placed right at the top of the all time Ringo favorite's. If you can buy it new or used Go For It. You wont be dissapointed. Enjoy!

Unfortunately this album is out of print as I've worn out several vinyl copies over the years. This is another album where Ringo brings together the likes of Paul McCartney and George Harrison for another collaborative effort. "Wrack my Brain" is an excellent track as is "Stop and Smell the Roses" which is classic Ringo and makes me smile every time I pass a man in a Porsche! "Drumming is my Madness" is another great track with wonderful horn arrangements. Can't wait for this to be available on CD and when it is, buy it! p.s. Another great Ringo album is Old Wave which unfortunately didn't have a U.S. distributor when it came out. But, I've got a copy which is an effort by Ringo and Joe Walsh. If you can find it, get it. It is Ringo at his best!!!!

I bought this LP new when it first came out and loved it then, and like it even more now on CD with some great bonus tracks. This album is as good as 'Ringo' and other great Ringo albums such as 'Goodnight Vienna', 'Time Takes Time', 'Vertical Man'. Good song writing, strong playing. The 'new' 'Backoff Boogaloo' on this album is awesome and full of hints and references to Ringo's earlier solo days and the Beatles. 'Dead Giveaway', 'Nice Way', 'Wrack My Brain', and bonus tracks, 'Brandy' and 'Wake Up" (with Ron Wood and Keith Richards) are well worth the purchase of this album. It is a Gem, buy it!!

One of Ringo's strongest, most energetic albums, in the same class as "Ringo" or " Old Wave" (also a very underestimated album). The mixing is very good with a crystal clear sound, the songs are great and the way he sings them is great, too, his voice sounding much better than on the seventies'albums. Ringo's drumming, on some songs in collaboration with Jim Keltner, is brilliant, completely focused as always. The album opens like an explosion with three strong tracks: "Private Property" by McCartney, "Wrack My Brain" by Harrison and "Drumming Is My Madness" by Harry Nilsson. Then another McCartney number, "Attention" - maybe not as strong, followed by the lovely, humorous and intelligent "Stop And Take The Time To Smell The Roses" by Ringo and Harry Nilsson. The second side of the LP version (which is the one I have) is not quiet as intense as the first side, but still filled with nice songs, especially the Ringo and Ron Wood co-written "Dead Giveaway". I would love to get hold of the CD with all the extra tracks, which I haven't heard. This is a lovely and exciting record from an interesting period of Ringo Starr's career. Please Record Company: start printing it again!

this is total rip off bootleg version of a good album. its not in stereo and the sound is terrible. save your money. im sure Ringo is not not aware of this reissue

This is one of Ringo's best solo efforts. I always liked Ringo's solo stuff especially when the material fits with his image or personality. This was accompished with a little help from his friends, Paul McCartney, George Harrison,Harry Nilsson and others. My favorite tracks are "Drumming is my Madness", "Attention", "Wrack my Brain", a 'new' version of "Back of Boogaloo" (featuring a tour of references to Beatles and earlier solo songs), and the title track. As others have mentioned, great adlibbing by Ringo on that. The price of the album is worth it just for the adlibbing! Ringo, a fan of country music, included a version of a favorite, "Sure to Fall".

This album was mostly recorded in mid 1980 and released just 2 months after John Lennon was killed. While it doesn't include a corny cash-in tribute song to his Beatle brother, the album with its good natured feeling, had a real positive effect after such sadness. How typical of Ringo!

I'm a big Beatles fan, although, I'm the first to admit that most of Ringo's post-Beatles recordings are pretty lame. The "Ringo" album is hands-down his best, followed by the very good "Goodnight Vienna". IMO, I think that "Stop and Smell the Roses" is his 3rd best album, but that still isn't saying a whole lot.

The first five songs are all pleasant Ringo pop tunes, highlighted by "Wrack My Brain" and the catchy "Stop and Take the Time To Smell the Roses". The second five songs (what would have been Side B on the original vinyl), unfortunately, aren't nearly as memorable. He turns out a decent performance of "Sure To Fall" (handled by John and Paul in the Beatles' BBC days) and the re-make of "Back Off Boogaloo" is decent, but not near as good as the original. The rest is just filler. And filler on a Ringo album is hard to bare.

Still, I think this album deserves more credit than it's given. Certainly, it deserves another re-issue as one of Ringo's most essential albums. It should be pointed out that *none* of the Beatles were making good music when this album was released in 1980 (John's half of "Double Fantasy" notwithstanding Yoko's half). In fact, none had made a good album since at least '72 or '73. Ringo in the early 1980's isn't much worse than Paul, John, or George during the same period. But, unlike the others, Ringo managed to retain most of his talent and charm a decade after the breakup.

The late-70's/early-80's is a lowlight of the Beatles solo years. But, if you are a die-hard fan and want to know what the Beatles were up to during this lost period, "Stop and Smell the Roses" is a good place to start.

It is an amazing, wonderful record; great songs from Paul and George for Ringo. Old tune of Back off Boogaloo is lovely in new clothes, Dead Givaway is co-written with Ron Wood and all together with the surprising bonus tracks it is really a lovely long player. Not even for Ringo fan's.

The title track, co-written with buddy Harry Nilsson, is a hoot, as is bonus track 'You Can't Fight Lightning', but the rest of the album is rather lame, unless you go for old-time crooners and Harrison/McCartney throwaways. Hard to believe that his next album, `Old Wave', would be such a huge improvement, with a few Beatlesworthy originals/covers and some non-Beatle-ish classics. Trouble is, it was only released in Canada and Germany. So `Stop and Smell...' was pretty well IT for Ringo in the 1980s. Until he dried out and took his first All-Starr band on the road. That would be the first step toward the highly successful regeneration of his recording and performing career.

Not one of his best, but I have always liked it. Funny, nostalgic, enjoyable as every Ringo's album. "Wrack my Brain", "Attention" and "Private Property" are the strongest tracks, but the rest are pretty good too, especially the then new version of "Back off Boogaloo", with the great intro from "It don't come easy". Listening to it is always a pleasure.