Beaucoups Of Blues

[tkitna]

Beaucoups of Blues

Ringo'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 pissed 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.

[Moogmodule]

 ha2ha

I've got to listen to this now.

[KelMar]

Writing your review as you're listening is an excellent technique Todd. I could just feel the tension building! 

[Fab4Fan]

Lol! Thanks for the review! At one point in time (the mid-'90s?) I actually liked this album (or, at least, quite a few of the songs). I gave it a listen (or attempted to) about a month ago and I questioned what I liked about it back in the '90s. The album boasts quite a lot of top notch Nashville/country musicians but the meld just never occurs.

Now, in fairness to Ringo, this album was recorded in only two days (if I remember correctly) and Ringo had to learn the songs in the morning then record the finished product in the afternoon of the same day. If he had more time to play around w/ and work on his vocal stylings maybe it would have turned out more positively?

Silent Homecoming, with better vocals, could have been a powerful track (great lyrics, imo).

As for Jerry Reed, that dude was awesome and he was always quite the character! I can listen to Amos Moses anytime, anyplace, anywhere and it always makes me smile!

! No longer available

[Bobber]

Beaucoups of Blues

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.

Haha! That really made my day (and it's only just begun!). Sorry Todd. Shall I pick it up from here again? 

[tkitna]

You get the next one Cor.  Maybe we can switch off.  Luckily, Ringo's offerings are better from here on out.

[Bobber]

I listened to Beaucoup Of Blues today once again while I was driving out of Amsterdam today. It really is a dreadful album. I wonder how it was received at the time it was released. Barry, do you remember?

[KelMar]

I listened to Beaucoup Of Blues today once again while I was driving out of Amsterdam today. It really is a dreadful album. I wonder how it was received at the time it was released. Barry, do you remember?

I was curious too so I checked with our friend Wikipedia. Make of this what you will.

Reception and aftermath

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source    Rating
AllMusic    4/5 stars
Robert Christgau    B
The Essential Rock Discography    5/10
MusicHound    4/5 stars
Q    3/5 stars
Rolling Stone    (favourable)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide    2/5 stars

Writing for Rolling Stone, Charles Burton remarked: "If Beaucoups of Blues reminds one of any record, it's Nashville Skyline, only instead of being lovable, spaced-out Bobby Dylan in front of those luxurious Nashville backups, it's lovable Richard Starkey who is crooning his heart out."[25] In an interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone on 8 December 1970, John Lennon called the album "a good record," but qualified that comment by saying he "didn't feel as embarrassed as I did about [Starr's] first record."[27]

In Melody Maker, Richard WIlliams remarked on Starr's limitations as a vocalist but found that his "conviction and charm" were such that Beaucoups of Blues "forces one to abdicate from any hip posture and admit, just this once, to sheer uncomplicated enjoyment." Williams acknowledged the key roles played by Drake and guitarist Chuck Howard, before concluding: "One can imagine ... that Ringo had a ball making this album. I had a ball listening to it."[28]

Although it was only moderately successful at the time, some critics have since stated that Beaucoups of Blues is one of Starr's best albums. Bob Woffinden wrote in his 1981 book The Beatles Apart: "Ringo took his chance well and his homely lugubrious voice suited those typically maudlin country songs like a charm. It's one of the best Beatle solo albums."[29] Among reviews of the 1995 reissue, Q magazine described it as "always likable and original" and "a collection of contemporary country songs, delivered by Ringo Starr in a languidly melancholic style curiously reminiscent of Michael Nesmith."[24] Mojo editor Paul Du Noyer admired the "stellar cast of country players" on the recordings and added that "the groove is loose and fluent."[30]

[Bobber]

Loose and fluent. Mmm. Alright. That looks like a pretty good review in those days.

[tkitna]

You know, the album really may not be that bad, but my dire hate for country music killed it before it even started.

[Bobber]

You know, the album really may not be that bad, but my dire hate for country music killed it before it even started.

I don't know. A last listen yesterday before it really returns to the attic. Without You and $15 Draw are the only two songs worth a listen. The rest all sounds the same. No surprises. Ringo sounds tired overall, or should I say 'uninterested'. Coochy Coochy is a nice bonus track and works well. From what I've read, I know that Ringo worked with some fine musicians on this album, an The Jordanairs (sp?) were there. Was this really the best they could do?

[Kevin]

It don't seem right critiquing Ringo albums. Its a bit like reviewing your kids fridge art. He had so little to work with, tried his darndness and the results are nicely harmless.
As side projects go definitely preferable to Wonderwall or Two Virgins. And it seems something he'd always wanted to do. But I can't take his work seriously enough ( and I'd be confident to say he didn't expect anyone to) to be negative about it.
The guy had to do something.

[tkitna]

It don't seem right critiquing Ringo albums. Its a bit like reviewing your kids fridge art. He had so little to work with, tried his darndness and the results are nicely harmless.
As side projects go definitely preferable to Wonderwall or Two Virgins. And it seems something he'd always wanted to do. But I can't take his work seriously enough ( and I'd be confident to say he didn't expect anyone to) to be negative about it.
The guy had to do something.

He has 6 or 7 albums I take real serious.  They are just down right good.  That's me though.

[nimrod]

Just listened to this album for the first time and have to say its what I expected.

It sounds like a very good band of professional musicians led by a singer who is 2nd rate (especially on the title track)

I like Ringo - just not as a singer

[Fab4Fan]

Loose and fluent. Mmm. Alright. That looks like a pretty good review in those days.

I thought the reviewer was referring to the lady from the track "Woman of the Night".