Beaucoups of BluesRingo’s country album. I hate country music, but love me some Ringo, so let’s see how this one turns out.
1.
Beaucoups Of Blues - A country waltz is how I would describe this. Ringo’s voice doesn’t sound too bad. It sounds like Ringo. Some steel guitar in the background and the usual fiddle and so forth. The background vocals grate on me. Hate the bass singer. Need to mention the harmonica. Of course there needs to be one of those. Seriously, this song stinks. Its slow and everything I hate about country music.
2.
Love Don’t Last Long – Starts with some electric and acoustic guitar together with some piano. Another slow song. Harmonica in the background throughout. Your best bet with this song is to listen to the lyrics as Ringo tells a story. That should distract you from the actual music some. Its pleasant enough if you like slow, old country music, but I don’t.
3.
Fastest Growing Heartache In The West – Great, a slow country shuffle. The steel slide and fiddle is getting to me. I don’t know how I’m supposed to explain this music really. Its just old style country. The bass is the best part of this song and it’s simple, plodding playing. This sucks.
4.
Without Her – There’s a high pitched violin note being played under the guitar and drums in the beginning that’s actually nice. This song is slower, but has some melodic qualities. I like the electric guitar playing throughout. Ringo’s voice sounds tired here, but I like the song. Reminds me of something you would here Elvis sing. I wished he did. Best effort so far.
5.
Woman Of The Night – Very beginning reminds me of ‘Tangled Up In Blues’. Ringo’s voice is wearing on me at this point. The snare drum sounds really good. The steel guitar is sucking the life out of me pretty quickly. Hate that sound. I do like the chorus around the .47 mark. Wish the harmonica wasn’t present in this song. Falls right along the lines of being acceptable.
6.
I’d Be Talking All The Time - Great, another steel, slide heavy song. The time is weird for me. It’s a 4/4, but the walking bass line almost makes me think it’s a cross between a shuffle and waltz. Maybe I’m losing my mind at this point. 1:57 mark old Ritchie name drops with ‘Ringo be talking’,,,,Lol. 2:14 it sounds like he coughed, sneezed, and had a conniption fit all at the same time. Sounded like me trying to hit a high note in the shower, and that’s not good.
7.
$15 Draw – Ohhhh,,,,1,,,2. Starts off with a count in and you can hear something being hit like a music stand and then it goes into some pretty cool guitar playing. Funky. The steel guitar even gets a pass. This song has a decent pace and I’m actually into it. I like it. A bit monotonous after awhile, but its still the best I’ve heard so far. Not bad. Must be Jerry Reed playing the guitar as Ringo goes into a ‘When Your Hot Your Hot’ spiel.
8.
Wine, Women and Loud Happy Songs - Oh good, another slow waltz type song. I can just see the country folks doing the two step to this one. Just your basic, cookie cutter, country song. Awful.
9.
I Wouldn’t Have You Any Other Way – Yawn. Yet another slow one, but this one has piano along with Ringo being accompanied by a woman singer (Jeannie Kendall). Sad thing is her voice is almost as annoying as Ringo’s on this tune. I’m a beaten man right now.
10.
Loser’s Lounge – The tempo finally picks up a little. Song has all the elements of what makes country music poison to my ears, but this song sounds like something that Ringo would sing so I guess it works on that level. I hated it, but would choose this one over most everything else.
11.
Waiting – This isn’t going to end well. How do I know this? It didn’t start well. Another slow assed song with an abundance of that steel, slide guitar. I’m starting to get p*ssed off now. Terrible. Don’t forget the fiddle solo. Oh there it is. My ears are crying.
12.
Silent Homecoming – Wait, decent guitar with some good sounding drums. Ringo’s voice is atrocious, but the music is enjoyable. The guitar sounds like a harpsichord. Sounds like a cross between something the Wrecking Crew would play and the Partridge Family. Cripes, I’m losing my mind. This song is not strong by any account, but its one of the better ones here.
Bonus tracks: I dont feel like I’ve suffered enough yet
1.
Coochy Coochy – Nice drum beat. Guitars sound decent. I like the bass line. Harmonica solo though. Sounds like Canned Heat. It’s a nice break from the normal country sounding crap, but it doesn’t do anything. Just a solid beat throughout with every instrument at their disposal performing some sort of solo.
2.
Nashville Jam – As the song title suggests. Just a bunch of noodling. There’s worse on the album, but this is really nothing. Just an organized jam that doesn’t do a good job of even that.
This album isn’t for me as you may have guessed. I was torn between chucking it across the room or slicing my wrists with it at some point, but I made it through. It truly is a painful listen. Damn you Cor. You weren’t too busy. You were just trying to get out of listening to this. Whatever. I took one for the team. Lol.
