Beaucoups of Blues

During Ringo Starr's tenure with the Beatles he had dabbled with country music: he sang lead on the Beatles version of Buck Owens's country hit "Act Naturally", co-wrote the country-influenced track "What Goes On" and wrote the country song "Don't Pass Me By".{{cite book|last=Jackson |first=Andrew Grant |title=Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of the Beatles' Solo Careers |year=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-8222-5 |edition=illustrated |page=11}} Before these recordings, Starr's championing of the genre inspired the band's move towards country music on their 1964 album Beatles for Sale.{{cite book|last=Miles|first=Barry|author-link=Barry Miles|title=The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years|year=2001|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|isbn=0-7119-8308-9|page=179}} While playing on sessions for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass in May–June 1970, Starr met American pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake, whom Harrison had arranged to fly to London to play on some of the tracks.{{cite book|title=The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970–2001|publisher=Music Sales Group|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7119-8307-6|editor1=Miles, Barry|edition=reprint|location=London|editor2=Badman, Keith}}{{cite book|last=Schaffner|first=Nicholas|title=The Boys from Liverpool: John, Paul, George, Ringo|year=1980|publisher=Methuen|location=New York|isbn=978-0-416-30661-3|edition=1st|page=[https://archive.org/details/boysfromliverpoo00scha/page/162 162]|url=https://archive.org/details/boysfromliverpoo00scha/page/162}} Starr had to pick up Drake from the airport so that the pair could record with Harrison; Drake noticed the number of country albums Starr had in his vehicle. Realising Drake's deep connection to country, Starr asked him if they could collaborate on an album together. Drake told Starr his musician friends could compose more than an album's worth of material in a week, which Starr thought was "impossible".{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=83}} Starr was very keen and agreed. Starr promptly flew to Nashville on 22 June.

Starr's original idea was to have the sessions take place in England and send the master tapes of the finished tracks to Drake. However, Drake convinced him to have the sessions take place in Nashville instead.{{cite web|last=Andrade |first=Rodrigo de |url=http://whiplash.net/materias/cds/116229-ringostarr.html |title=Resenha – Beaucoups of Blues – Ringo Starr |publisher=Whiplash.net |date=4 April 2010 |access-date=4 July 2013|language=pt}} All of the tracks were cut in three days, on 25, 26 and 27 June 1970, at Music City Recorders. Sessions were engineered by Scotty Moore.{{cite book|editor1=Madinger, Chip |editor2=Easter, Mark |title= Eight Arms To Hold You – The Solo Beatles Compendium |year=2000|publisher=44.1 Productions, LP|location=Chesterfield, MO|isbn=0-615-11724-4|edition=first}} All the material for the album was written purposely for Starr.{{refn|Starr wrote a song that he intended to record for Beaucoups of Blues, "Band of Steel", but gave the song to Guthrie Thomas for his album Lies and Alibis (1976).{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=332}}|group="nb"}}{{cite book|last=Rodriguez |first=Robert |title=Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980 |year=2010 |publisher=Backbeat Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87930-968-8 |edition=illustrated |page=145}} Guitarist Charlie Daniels recalled the sessions as "pretty typical Nashville sessions. You know, three songs in three hours. It was go in, sit down and work. Here's the songs, here's the chords, let's get it done. It was not a Beatles-type leisurely session. It was work."{{cite web|last=Ghianni |first=Tim |url=http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Cover_Story/2008/07/03/Nashville_Starr/ |title=Nashville Scene – Nashville Starr |publisher=nashvillescene |date=3 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080710100158/http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Cover_Story/2008/07/03/Nashville_Starr/ |archive-date=10 July 2008 |access-date=1 September 2013}}

{{centred pull quote|We did the album in two nights. ... I was only there three days recording. I'd learn five songs in the morning and I'd go and record five songs that night. It was really good.|author=Ringo Starr|source=}}

Starr sang a duet with Jeannie Kendall on the track "I Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way". Also recorded during the sessions was the B-side to the title track, "Coochy Coochy",{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=175}} which originally ran to 28 minutes in length. The sessions went exceedingly well, according to Starr, who has said that they recorded "a few other tracks that we didn't put out" and ended the sessions with two long jam sessions, one lasting 18 minutes and the other 20 minutes. Session drummer D. J. Fontana recalled that Starr "never varied from that tempo. He had the greatest conception of tempo I've ever heard in my life. I have never heard anybody play that steady in my life, and that's a long time." Acetate discs of the album, which were titled Ringo in Nashville, were sold at an auction in August 1992, featured a different track order and included songs not featured on the released version of the album.{{refn|One such unreleased track is "The Wishing Book"; recorded on 26 June.{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=283}}|group="nb"}} It was clear to all that Starr's vocals were much more suited to the genre of country than the old standards that characterised Sentimental Journey. For Starr, making Beaucoups of Blues had fulfilled a lifelong ambition.{{cite book|last=Rodriguez |first=Robert |title=Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980 |year=2010 |publisher=Backbeat Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87930-968-8 |edition=illustrated |pages=5, 144}}

• 25 June 1970 (6PM-9PM): "Woman of the Night"; "Without Her"
• 25 June 1970 (10PM-1AM): "Beaucoups of Blues"; "Love Don't Last Long"; "Waiting"
• 26 June 1970 (6PM-9PM): "I'd Be Talking All The Time"; "$15 Draw"
• 26 June 1970 (10PM-1AM): "Wine, Women And Loud Happy Songs"; "The Wishing Book"
• 27 June 1970 (6PM-9PM): "Fastest Growing Heartache in the West"; "Silent Homecoming"; "Loser's Lounge"
• 27 June 1970 (10PM-1AM): "I Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way"; "Coochy-Coochy"; "Nashville Freakout" (aka "Nashville Jam")

Beaucoups of Blues was released on 25 September 1970 in the UK{{refn|UK Apple PAS 10002{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=184}}|group="nb"}} and on 28 September in the US.{{refn|US Apple SMAS 3368{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=185}}|group="nb"}}{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |pages=184, 185}} The title track was released as a single only in the US, backed with the non-album track "Coochy Coochy" on 5 October 1970. As with Sentimental Journey, the fan base was bemused by Starr's abrupt change in style. Beaucoups of Blues did not perform nearly as well as its predecessor, missing the UK charts and reaching only number 65 in the US.{{cite web| url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5522|pure_url=yes}}| title=Ringo Starr |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=23 June 2012}} The album fared better in other countries, peaking at number 34 in Canada,{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=kdnqdepe5ruee373b5l154cc93&q1=ringo+starr&q2=Top+Albums%2FCDs&interval=20|title=Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada – Top Albums/CDs|magazine=RPM|access-date=23 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023231944/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=kdnqdepe5ruee373b5l154cc93&q1=ringo+starr&q2=Top+Albums%2FCDs&interval=20|archive-date=23 October 2012|url-status=dead}} number 33 in Australia,{{cite book | title = Australian Chart 1970–1992 | author = David Kent | isbn = 0-646-11917-6 | year = 1993 | publisher = Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. | author-link = David Kent (historian)}} and number 21 in Norway.{{cite web|url=http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Ringo+Starr|title= norwegiancharts.com Ringo Starr discography|access-date=23 June 2012}}

Album cover design and Art direction, John Kosh with The front cover of Beaucoups of Blues, according to Sorrells Pickard, was taken outside musician Tracy Nelson's (Mother Earth – The Blues Broads) smokehouse in Nashville by Marshall Fallwell, Jr. The back cover featured a photo of a large majority of the musicians that appeared on the album. In light of the tepid commercial reaction, Starr would refrain from further album releases for the time being, preferring to concentrate on his second vocation, film acting. On 18 October, Apple announced that a second album of the Nashville recordings would be released;{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=114}} however, the album never materialised. Beaucoups of Blues was remastered and reissued on CD in 1995, on 1 May in the UK,{{refn|UK EMI CDPAS 10002|group="nb"}} and on 1 August in the US.{{refn|US Apple CDSP 8 32678 2|group="nb"}} This edition came with two bonus tracks: "Coochy Coochy" and a jam with all the musicians titled "Nashville Jam".

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |last1=Ruhlmann |first1=William |title=Beaucoup of Blues – Ringo Starr |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/beaucoups-of-blues-mw0000123990 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501132425/https://www.allmusic.com/album/beaucoups-of-blues-mw0000123990 |archive-date=1 May 2021}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = B{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: S|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=S&bk=70|access-date=13 March 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite book|first=Colin|last=Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn)|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|page=1984}}

| rev4 = The Essential Rock Discography

| rev4Score = 5/10{{cite book|author=Strong, Martin C. |year=2006|title=The Essential Rock Discography|publisher=Canongate|location=Edinburgh, UK|page=1028|isbn=978-184195-827-9}}

|rev5 = MusicHound Rock

|rev5score = 4/5Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 1082. {{ISBN|1-57859-061-2}}.

|rev6 = Q

|rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news |title=Ringo Starr Beaucoups of Blues|work=Q|page=147|date=July 1995}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7Score = {{Rating|2|5}}Brackett, Nathan, with Hoard, Christian (eds) (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Fireside. p. 777. {{ISBN|0-7432-0169-8}}.

| rev8 = The Village Voice

| rev8Score = B{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=7 January 1971|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cg15.php|title=Consumer Guide (15)|newspaper=The Village Voice|access-date=26 January 2019}}

|noprose=yes

}}

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."{{cite magazine|last=Burton |first=Charles |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ringostarr/albums/album/312686/review/5943443/beaucoups_of_blues |title=Ringo Starr: Beaucoups of Blues |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=29 October 1970 |access-date=28 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002091631/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ringostarr/albums/album/312686/review/5943443/beaucoups_of_blues |archive-date=2 October 2007}} 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".Badman, p. 16.

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."{{cite book|editor-last=Hunt |editor-first=Chris |year=2005|title=NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980 |publisher=IPC Ignite!|location=London|page=39}} In his combined review of all the former Beatles' 1970 solo releases, Geoffrey Cannon of The Guardian rated Beaucoups of Blues as his favourite, saying: "The result is superb. Not because Ringo is a good singer, but because, this time, he's let himself be used well. People who work with men like Pete Drake and Charlie McCoy don't go wrong."{{cite news|first=Geoffrey|last=Cannon|title=Ringo Stars: Geoffrey Cannon on the Beatles' Solo Albums |newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 December 1970}} Available at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/ringo-stars-geoffrey-cannon-on-the-beatles-solo-albums Rock's Backpages] (subscription required). Writing in Saturday Review magazine, Ellen Sander described the LP as "so protective and perfect a presentation of a vastly underestimated singing talent" and paired it with Harrison's All Things Must Pass as solo albums that "delight in their individuality while recognizing, but not relying on, a former mode of expression".{{cite magazine|last=Sander|first=Ellen|title=Rock 1970: A Level of Excellence|date=26 December 1970|magazine=Saturday Review|page=38}} Village Voice critic Robert Christgau believed Starr was trying to impersonate Buck Owens while singing flat, if not entirely faint, but concluded that "both the songs and Pete Drake's production bespeak a high-quality obsession – the music sticks. And Ringo is still Ringo, which means he's good at making himself felt."

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."{{cite book | title = The Beatles Apart | author = Woffinden, Bob | isbn = 978-0-906071-89-2 | year = 1991 | location=London |publisher = Proteus Books | author-link = Bob Woffinden}} 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". Mojo editor Paul Du Noyer admired the "stellar cast of country players" on the recordings and added that "the groove is loose and fluent."{{cite news|last=Du Noyer|first=Paul|title=Ringo Starr Beaucoups of Blues|work=Mojo|date=July 1995|page=113}}

• Ringo Starr – vocals, acoustic guitar; drums on "Nashville Jam"
• Chuck Howard – guitar
• Charlie Daniels – guitar
• Jerry Kennedy – guitar
• Dave Kirby – guitar
• Sorrells Pickard – guitar
• Jerry Reed – guitar
• Jerry Shook – guitar
• Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar
• Pete Drake – pedal steel guitar, producer
• Roy Huskey – upright bass
• Buddy Harman – drums
• D. J. Fontana – drums
• Jim Buchanan – fiddle
• George Richey – fiddle
• Grover Lavender – fiddle
• Charlie McCoy – harmonica
• The Jordanaires – backing vocals
• Jeannie Kendall (of The Kendalls) – backing vocals on "I Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way"
• Scotty Moore – engineer

In 1976 Starr sang with Guthrie Thomas on Starr's own "Band of Steel" on Guthrie's album Lies and Alibis. The song was considered for inclusion on Beaucoups of Blues.{{cite book|last=Harry |first=Bill |title=The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia |year=2004 |publisher=Virgin Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-0843-5 |page=332}}

In 2012 Starr sang with Ray Wylie Hubbard on a cover of Starr's own "Coochy Coochy", on Hubbard's acclaimed album The Grifter's Hymnal.{{cite web | url=http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4849 | title=The Grifter's Hymnal Review | work=Country Standard Time | accessdate=2 December 2014 | author=Wooldridge, Robert}}

; Footnotes

{{reflist|group="nb"}}

; Citations

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|type=album|79232|name=Beaucoups of Blues}}
• [http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pas10002.html JPGR's Beaucoups of Blues site]

{{Ringo Starr}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1970 albums

Category:Ringo Starr albums

Category:Apple Records albums

Category:EMI Records albums

Category:Country albums by English artists

Category:Albums produced by Pete Drake