I Wanna Be Santa Claus

Ringo Starr

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 19, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 19, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000028TVA
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,125 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Forget that Ringo was the funny Beatle. For our purposes, he's the Christmas Beatle. Ringo is the only member of the Fab Four to release an album of holiday music and, if this 12-song collection is any indication, Richard Starkey has certainly found his niche. This elegantly sparse production finds Ringo re-roasting old chestnuts such as "Winter Wonderland" and "White Christmas" with his zany, playful, rollicking sense of humor. Jazzy flourishes, rockabilly piano, and Scottish bagpipes go a long way toward lifting these classics out of mothballs. And the skinbeater in him makes "The Little Drummer Boy" irresistible. Even better are the six songs he and Mark Hudson (of the Hudson Brothers) penned for the disc, especially the sophisticated "Christmas Eve," which conjures up the ghost of Cole Porter. Aerosmith's Joe Perry provides soaring guitar work on two cuts, while former Eagle Timothy B. Schmit provides candy-cane sweet vocals throughout. As an added treat, Ringo covers the Beatles' "Christmas Time is Here Again." --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Beatle Solo Album since Cloud 9 or Tug of War!, December 12, 1999

By	Michael Goodman (Astoria, NY United States) - See all my reviews

We just listened to the new Ringo Christmas album all the way through and had a good time with every track! The production is as Sgt. Peppery as any Beatle solo effort(totally appropriate for a Christmas record!), his vocals better than ever-obviously he's having a great time and he KNOWS he's making a great album. His new tunes are great and the Christmas cornerstones give him a chance to do some boogie and country,plus his drumming is better than ever! The last track sounds uncannily like a George song that George himself should have been writing all these years! The Hudson Brothers are the perfect support for Ringo as well, 3 nutty brothers who sing great harmony(like that "other" group!). Ringo co produced and co wrote(xmas standards excepted) the entire album and the even the cover is phenomanal! GO RINGO!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Ringo!, December 9, 1999

By	Bernard Perusse (Beaconsfield, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews

There's a moment in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that defines this disc: our favourite drummer flubs the words ("He said `Santa'.... No, he didn't, he said `Rudolph'....") and proceeds to laugh it off. Throw in a version of The Little Drummer Boy that owes as much to Back Off Boogaloo as to the original carol, a rockin' Winter Wonderland that quotes from one of his recent albums and a whole array of infectuously- performed seasonal tunes, both new and standard, and you get exactly what you came for: a good time. This disc evokes the spirit of his 1973 album Ringo and 1993's sadly-underrated Time Takes Time. And, best of all, Starr's trademark precision drumming is recorded with a great sonic crackle. All in all, a perfect anecdote to your Celine Dion-variety Christmas sap.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beatles never did break up, November 6, 1999

By	"scottaw66" (Stowe, PA USA) - See all my reviews

I am convinced that with this release of "I wanna be Santa Claus" that the Beatles breakup was the biggest hoax EVER. This cd is perhaps, Ringo's most innovative, charming and fun album he has ever produced. It's not just your run of the mill "Bing Crosby" Christmas album. Ringo plays drums with such vitality that maybe he WAS right when he said he was "the greatest drummer on Earth". For example, on "The Little Drummer Boy", Ringo plays drums ala "Back off Boogaloo". Who would if thought that you could get the house rocking to that song? Well, Ringo found a way. The song "I wanna be Santa Claus" starts with a Beach Boys sound, then ends in a "Revolution #9" kind of way. Speaking of the Fab Four, Ringo covered "Christmas Time is here again" with the same fun filled energy of 30-some years ago.

What more can be said except Ringo's vocals are better than ever and this is an album that can be listened to all year 'round. So go and get this cd- don't expect too much- and you'll get a Beatles Christmas album.