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[Moogmodule]

Finished the listen through. I must admit I was rather tired of it by the end. Ringo's voice, while better than I expected, just doesn't have enough colour and variety to make him listenable over a long stretch. A couple of songs that suit him, fine.

The arrangements were professional and accomplished. A little over the top in parts.

It's a bit of fun though. I'm sure his mum loved it.

[Bobber]

Finished the listen through. I must admit I was rather tired of it by the end. Ringo's voice, while better than I expected, just doesn't have enough colour and variety to make him listenable over a long stretch. A couple of songs that suit him, fine.

The arrangements were professional and accomplished. A little over the top in parts.

It's a bit of fun though. I'm sure his mum loved it.

That about sums up how I feel about the album. 

[tkitna]

Sentimental Journey

1. Sentimental Journey – Typical 20’s sounding tune with the piano, drums, bassoon or whatever the hell it is.  His voice isn’t great here as one can imagine.  There is some ELO sounding robotic background singing at some points which is weird.  An alright song that I can live with, but I’m sure there’s better offerings out there.

2. Night And Day – Huge jazz beginning.  Love the stand up bass.  Just imagine Ringo doing Sinatra and you’ve pictured this song.  Great drumming by the orchestra drummer.  Great sax solo too.  This song suited Ringo’s singing better than the first one.  I like it.

3. Whispering Grass (Don’t Tell The Trees) – Slower classical beginning with the orchestra.  Lots of strings and a tune that plods along.  I do not like Ringo’s voice on this one.  Its weak sounding and you can feel the limitations.  This song cries out for a voice with more range.  I like the acoustic guitar or ukulele strumming along in the middle part.  I would pass on this one.

4. Bye Bye Blackbird – Starts off with the banjo and then the band kicks in and sounds good with the drums and bass.  I dig this tune.  Sounds like one the Beatles would actually do.  Fun song.  The background vocals singing along with Rino are loose and really needed to be tightened up.  Dig the trumpet on this song too.  I like it and its probably my favorite off the entire record.

5. I’m A Fool To Care – Bass and trombone together to start this one out.  Slow jazz number.  Lots of instruments doing their thing while Ringo sings in a quiet tone.  Switches to some more aggressive jazz at the 1:52 mark for a little bit and then back to the slow paced thing.  Short and inoffensive, but not much else.

6. Stardust – Chimes start us out here with the brass and strings coming in strong.  Another slower jazz tune.  I actually like Ringo’s voice on this one though.  I love the huge drumming dynamics at the 2:00 mark only to settle back in shortly after.  I like this one.

7. Blue, Turning Grey Over You – Awesome big band opening.  Great jazz shuffle once the singing starts.  Love it.  Crazy how good the orchestra musicians are.  Damn if I don’t want a whiskey neat right now.  Ringo sings a little higher at points then he’s comfortable with I think, but he pulls it off.  Nice song.  Hit me daddy.

8. Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing – Bass sounds awesome with the flutes.  Dig the percussion, but there’s a blip every once in awhile that I believe is an electric guitar that bothers me.  Backing vocals are female and male singers.  I like that.  Nice piano solo in the middle.  Love the Vibraphone being played too throughout the song.  Good stuff.

9. Dream – Don’t like Ringo’s voice here.  Slower, kind of pop classical song here, if that makes any sense.  Melodic in a way, but it drags in the same voice.  Picks up at the 1:20 mark with a walking bass line.  All in all, this one would be a pass.

10. You Always Hurt The One You Love – Love the pace of this one, but the constant vibraslap needs to go.  I cant enjoy this song because of it.  It isn’t played in the middle break with the sax solo and so forth that I can tell and then there it is again.  Pass.

11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You – Quicker paced song with a cool bass line.  Love the piano and there’s even some electric guitar and organ playing going on.  Man the bass player kicks on this one.  Sounds like an early Buckinghams song.  One of my favorites.  Piano player gets off in parts too.  I like it.

12. Let The Rest Of The World Go By – Slower song that almost reminds me of classical/country if there ever was such a thing.  Love the female background vocals.  This song would be a great lullaby in my opinion.  Something to play for the kids before bed time or something to gaze at the stars by.  I really dig it.


Conclusion – I cant tell you how long its been since I’ve played this.  I also cant tell you how much I enjoyed it.  I seriously am in the mood to take my wife dancing right now (if I did stuff like that).  This record took me back to a time where things seemed a lot simpler and I believe that’s what it was intended for.  Sure Martins orchestra can get a bit ham fisted sometimes in the playing and production, and Ringo isn’t the best crooner in the world, but it’s a solid product overall.  I’m glad I listened to it and it might stay out for awhile.  Hey, I’m as surprised as you.

[Ollier]

How's the flu?

[tkitna]

How's the flu?

It took 4 days to get over and I'm still coughing, but the worst is over.  Thanks for asking.  Hope you had a great holiday Ollie.

[Mr Mustard]

I recently completed the gargantuan task of listening to EVERY Beatles/former Beatle CD that I own, in order*, every time I made a car journey.

*When I say "in order" that means all The Beatles discs, followed by all George's output, then all John's, followed by Paul's, finishing up with Ringo....

So the Starr turn is still relatively fresh in my mind.... and let's just say I tend to prefer his later stuff!

He famously recorded this debut album for his mum, and let's hope she enjoyed it because, like John, I found it a bit of an embarrassment. I'm not really one for the big band sound at the best of times - vaguely tolerable with a gifted crooner at the mike, but Ringo is certainly not that - his flat Scouse warble and dreadful phrasing really is completely out of its depth with these sort of numbers. With two exceptions...

The title track, Sentimental Journey is an endearingly undemanding plodder with which Ringo copes rather well - indeed his droll drawl is neatly tailored to the required vocal delivery. Nice.

And the best track on the album? By a country mile, Bye Bye Blackbird - a singalong bursting with FUN - and nobody does fun better than Ritchie!

Everything else has been covered better by everyone else!

[tkitna]

Yeah, 'Bye Bye Blackbird' is the highlight of the record.  I actually enjoyed the record when I listened to it, but my son and I dig the crooner style of music, so it was a bit easier for me I would say.