After The Beatles (1970-1984)
After the announcement of
breakup of The Beatles on
10 April 1970, Starr released two albums before the end of that year.
Sentimental Journey featured Starr's renditions of many pre-rock standards and included the production talents of
Quincy Jones, George Martin and McCartney, among others. His next album,
Beaucoups of Blues, put Starr in a country context, and included renowned
Nashville session musician
Pete Drake. He scored hit singles with "
It Don't Come Easy" (1971) and "Back Off Boogaloo" (1972), the latter of which was his biggest UK hit, peaking at #2. He achieved two #1 hits in the US, with "
Photograph" (co-written with Harrison) and "
You're Sixteen" (written by the
Sherman Brothers of
Mary Poppins fame).
He also participated in
The Concert For Bangladesh organized by Harrison in 1971, as well as drumming on Harrison's
All Things Must Pass and
Living in the Material World, Lennon's
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and
Yoko Ono's early solo work. Indeed, his song "Early 1970" (the
B-side of "
It Don't Come Easy") voiced a hope that he could remain friendly and play music with all three of his former Beatles band mates. Starr then made his debut as a film director with the
T. Rex documentary
Born to Boogie. Starr became firm friends with T. Rex frontman
Marc Bolan and during the period of filming the documentary, Starr released the single "
Back Off Boogaloo".
Starr remains the only Beatle to have failed to top the UK singles charts as a solo artist, although he did chart two number one singles in the US. He is also the only Beatle to have failed to top the UK album listings, his highest position being #7, achieved in the UK with both
Sentimental Journey and
Ringo; the latter reached #2 in the US charts, giving Starr his highest album position there.
In 1971, he started a furniture company with designer Robin Cruikshank. Starr's own avant-garde designs included a flower-shaped table with adjustable petal seats and a donut-shaped fireplace.
The 1973 album
Ringo remains his biggest-selling record. Produced by
Richard Perry with participation by the other three former Beatles on different tracks, Starr became the most commercially successful ex-Beatle at that time. The album
Goodnight Vienna followed the next year and was also successful. Hits and notable tracks from these two albums included "
Photograph" and "
You're Sixteen" both reaching number one on the US charts, and "I'm The Greatest" (written by Lennon) from
Ringo, and "
Only You (And You Alone)" and "No No Song" from
Goodnight Vienna. In late 1975 these singles and others were collected for Starr's first greatest hits compilation,
Blast from Your Past, which was also the last album to be released on
Apple Records.. During this period, he became romantically involved with
Lynsey De Paul and inspired her prophetic song "If I Don't Get You, the Next One Will". He also played tambourine on a song that De Paul wrote and produced for
Vera Lynn, called "Don't You Remember When".
Starr's recording career subsequently diminished in commercial impact, although he continued to record and remained a familiar celebrity presence. Starr signed with Atlantic Records in the mid 1970s, and in 1976 the album
Ringo's Rotogravure was released. While it did feature a minor hit single, the album sold only fairly well. In fact, Rotogravure turned out to be Starr's last top 40 album in the US to date peaking at #28 on Billboard and the Single turned out to be the last top 40 single in the US in the 70"s "A Dose of Rock And Roll". This caused the label to revamp Starr's formula; the results were a curious blend of disco and '70s pop. The album
Ringo the 4th (1977) was a commercial disaster, and Starr soon signed with Portrait Records. His stint with
Portrait began on a promising note: 1978 saw the release of
Bad Boy, as well as a network TV special. Sadly, neither were very popular, and Starr did not release another album with Portrait.
In 1975, Starr founded his own record label called Ring O'Records, and four albums were released on the label between 1975 and 1978 (
Startling Music by
David Hentschel, Graham Bonnet by
Graham Bonnet, Restless by
Rab Noakes and a re-release of an
Apple Records album,
The Whale by
John Tavener) as well as 16 singles by artists such as:
Bobby Keys, Carl Grossman, Colonel Doug Bogie, David Hentschel, Graham Bonnet,
Suzanne, Johnny Warman, Stormer, Rab Noakes and
Dirk &
Stig (the last being names of characters from The Beatles pastiche band "
the Rutles", created by
Eric Idle and
Neil Innes).
In 1980, Harrison wrote "
All Those Years Ago" for Starr to sing on his album
Can't Fight Lightning which was later released as
Stop and Smell the Roses. Starr did the track but told Harrison that he was uncomfortable with it because of the lyric content and the vocal range. Harrison sang a re-written version himself, including it on his 1981 album
Somewhere in England following Lennon's murder. Starr, along with Paul and Linda McCartney, played on Harrison's version. Starr was interviewed by
Rolling Stone and
Musician around this time.
Stop and Smell the Roses was a well regarded album, but again did not sell particularly well. The Harrison-penned "Wrack My Brain" became Starr's last Top 40 single to date. Coincidentally perhaps, Lennon had also written a song for Starr to use on
Roses: "
Nobody Told Me". However, following the murder, Starr did not feel comfortable recording the song; it was released posthumously under Lennon's name on the album
Milk and Honey.
After Lennon was murdered in 1980, Starr and his girlfriend
Barbara Bach flew to
New York City, to comfort Lennon's widow
Yoko Ono. They were noted for having done so, while McCartney and Harrison did not.
Although Starr had regularly guested on Lennon's and Harrison's solo efforts, and had had all three of his ex-colleagues guest on various records of his own, it was not until 1982 that he first was asked by McCartney to participate in recording sessions (for the
Tug of War album). As was also evident with Harrison's "All These Years Ago", Lennon's death had in fact led to a public showing of reconciliation between the remaining Beatles.
Old Wave, produced by
Joe Walsh, was released in 1983, but the album was only released in
Germany, Canada, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Holland (their copies were imported from Germany with a Dutch sticker attached), Scandinavia, Australia and
Brazil (the album finally saw belated US release on CD in 1994).