Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part Two

Album 2 - Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part Two

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1. Sentimental Journey (Bud Green/Les Brown/Bon Homer)
2. Night And Day (Cole Porter)
3. Whispering Grass (Fred Fisher/Doris Fisher)
4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Mort Dixon/Ray Henderson)
5. I'm A Fool To Care (Ted Daffan)
6. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish)
7. Blue, Turning Grey Over You (Andy Razaf/Thomas "Fats" Waller)
8. Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing (Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster)
9. Dream (Johnny Mercer)
10. You Always Hurt The One You Love (Allan Roberts/Doris Fisher)
11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (Scott Wiseman)
12. Let The Rest Of The World Go By (Ernest Ball/Karen Brennan)

The seventh song on the album (and the first of Side Two as it was) is the brilliant composition by Fats Waller and Andy Razaf entitled Blue Turning Grey Over You, made famous by Louis Armstrong.  This version was arranged by Oliver Nelson, who was one of the most sought after arrangers at the time, having worked with the likes of King Curtis, Roy Haynes, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich and, well the list just continues to go on.  Those are some absolute legends there for sure.  Being a very seasoned arranger by this time, his treatment of the music to this song is much faster paced and show tune style (for want of a better phrase) than any version that I have heard (Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Billie Holiday).   I think that it works incredibly well, and is a great opening to the second side.  I’m sorry but as something from that time I am looking at it from that angle because that was how it was back then.  People looked at records back then as Side One and Side Two, so they had to think of how to give the listeners something to grab their attention.

The eighth song on the set is a song that I have personally always loved in the various versions that I have heard.  The fantastic Love Is A Many Splendored Thing written by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, which was originally released by The Four Aces in 1955.  Here it is arranged by Quincy Jones, which has a fantastically soulful feel to it.  It has that amazing classic arrangement that he is always so known for with the absolutely lush vocals and sweepingly soulful orchestration.

Quincy Jones

I’ll just mention in passing that I am very much of a fan of this album, now that I have listened to it a good few times, and hadn’t actually listened to it before researching for this blog series.  I can see where people would have been surprised with this album, because they were used to him being Beatle Ringo.  If people had thought about it though, then it wouldn’t have been that much of a surprise.  After all, there is the arrangement for the song Good Night on The Beatles’ White Album, where Ringo was singing to a lush orchestral arrangement.

The Pied Pipers

Now I will be completely honest and say that I never knew the song Dream until I heard this album, as in the Johnny Mercer song first released by The Pied Pipers in 1945.  Here the arrangement is credited to George Martin, and it is a beautiful song and arrangement.

Following this is the 1944 Mills Brothers song You Always Hurt The One You Love, arranged by the late great John Dankworth, English jazz arranger, saxophonist and clarinettist.  Strangely enough it is the second song on the set that is a Doris Fisher co-write (the other being the earlier Whispering Grass), this time having co-written with Allan Roberts.  For this arrangement, Dankworth decided to give it a very laid back approach, giving the backing music a smooth and lilting mood.

The penultimate song on the set is a song that is absolutely timeless.  Have I Told You Lately That I Love You was actually first released in 1946 by Lulu Belle and Scotty Wiseman, having actually been written by Scotty himself.  Here the genius of Elmer Bernstein (yes you heard me right – the guy behind The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Ghostbusters, et al) has given the song a fantastically exciting and much faster arrangement than I had previously heard personally, and I think it gives the song a completely different approach that still works, but makes it more celebratory in feel maybe rather than the usual laid back arrangements where it is someone sombrely saying “I haven’t said it for so long, but let me just let you know that I really do love you.”  It is a great way to make the song stand out.

Finally the last song is the 1944 Dick Haymes song Let The Rest Of The World Go By, here arranged by the great Les Reed who wrote the classic songs Delilah (Tom Jones), The Last Waltz (Engelbert Humperdinck), and There’s A Kind Of Hush (Herman’s Hermits/The Carpenters).  It’s one of those songs that like the perfect ending to an album, something that Ringo would do a lot on his solo releases (thinking of You & Me Babe on his self-titled third album as just one example).

Even though the album isn't exactly what you might expect from an ex-Beatle, it is full of beautiful arrangements that, for the most part, compliment the songs and the artist perfectly.  It also features some great contributions from the famous arrangers.  In a way that also brings in the fact that a lot of the time when Ringo goes to his famous friends for help, he succeeds in issuing something that is first rate.  Just look at the the eponymous third album where he gets help from all three of the other ex-Beatles, as well as Marc Bolan (T Rex), and the list is endless.

This in no way is a put down of Ringo, but rather the fact that he can bring out top rate material, and that it usually means him having "a little help" from his friends.

Links -
Billie Holliday version of Blue Turning Grey Over You
The Pied Pipers performing Dream - a video clip
A couple of fascinating insights from the Beatles Bible website - First article/Second article
Dick Haymes performing Let The Rest of the World Go By in a video.

Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part One

Album 2 - Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part One

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US Amazon - MP3 / CD

1. Sentimental Journey (Bud Green/Les Brown/Bon Homer)
2. Night And Day (Cole Porter)
3. Whispering Grass (Fred Fisher/Doris Fisher)
4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Mort Dixon/Ray Henderson)
5. I'm A Fool To Care (Ted Daffan)
6. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish)
7. Blue, Turning Grey Over You (Andy Razaf/Thomas "Fats" Waller)
8. Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing (Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster)
9. Dream (Johnny Mercer)
10. You Always Hurt The One You Love (Allan Roberts/Doris Fisher)
11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (Scott Wiseman)
12. Let The Rest Of The World Go By (Ernest Ball/Karen Brennan)


So, the first one past the post then with an album was Ringo.  He needed something to do, and so he discussed with George Martin the idea of recording an album full of standards as a gift basically to his mother, using songs that she always loved and that were sung at home when she was growing up.

Actually, it’s funny looking at this album now considering that McCartney is releasing an album full of standards a few days after I am typing this out.  That plus Ringo has just this week released a new album himself, but I digress.  However, some people are bemoaning about the fact that McCartney is recording a bunch of old time songs that allegedly The Beatles and their like were supposed to have been usurping, but I obviously don’t agree with that opinion, and in fact believe that a lot of material from then added to that rich field of compositions, rather than toss it all aside.  Anyway, I’ve gone off subject.

George Martin brought in his own orchestra to play all of the music, with some assistance from un-credited performers.  Another idea that was utilised was for each song to be arranged by different people.  The song Stormy Weather was recorded using an arrangement that Paul McCartney had come up with, which featured both McCartney and Harrison playing apparently, but this song wasn’t issued for some reason.

The opening song is the title track, first made popular by Doris Day in 1945.  This arrangement has a very old style musical feel to it, up until the voicebox use in the instrumental break.  This arrangement is by Richard Perry, who would go on to himself produce Ringo’s acclaimed eponymous third album.

Following this is the absolute classic Cole Porter song Night & Day.  Originally this song was released by Fred Astaire and Clair Luce in 1932).  This arrangement of the song is by Chico O’Farrell and is sort of between the Sarah Vaughan version and the Frank Sinatra / Nelson Riddle arrangement from 1956.  It is probably one of my favourite arrangements on the whole album.

Ringo with wiife Maureen plus Maurice Gibb and Lulu

The third song on the set is the Fred & Doris Fisher composition Whispering Grass originally released by The Ink Spots in 1940.  This arrangement is by Ron Goodwin, and has a beautiful feel to it with the classical guitar and absolutely lush orchestration that rises and falls, comes out and returns, allowing the song to breathe.  I suppose that in the UK a lot of people know this song by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies from the British comedy series It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

The fourth song on the set is the song Bye Bye Blackbird.  Written by Mort Dixon and Ray Henderson, it was first released by Gene Austin in 1926.  This Maurice Gibb (yes, of The Bee Gees) arrangement is very much in the traditional music hall tradition, starting with banjo and vocal, and then being joined by double bass, swing time drums, and eventually the full orchestra.

Ted Daffan’s composition I’m A Fool To Care, originally released by Les Paul & Mary Ford in 1954, is here arranged understatedly by Manfred Mann bassist and long time Beatles’ friend Klaus Voormann, with some cracking syncopation.

George Martin, Paul McCartney & Ringo

Finally the sixth song (and the original end of Side One to the vinyl and tape) is the Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish composition Stardust (strange in a way considering that Ringo would be in a film with title some four years later).  For this song it says on Wikipedia that George Martin arranged this song, but on the album sleeve it says that it was arranged by Paul McCartney.  It is a beautiful song, beautifully played by all involved.  The dispute about McCartney having arranged this is that the originally recording logs show the arranger to have been Martin rather than McCartney.  Other than the fact that someone may have been credited when someone else should have been, it still doesn’t deter from it being a lovely song.

Links -
Miles Davis Quintet - Bye Bye Blackbird
Joe Cocker - Bye Bye Blackbird
George Jones & Gene Pitney - I'm A Fool To Care ( specially for my friend Drew)
Nat King Cole - Stardust (Had to put this, especially since you can see him singing - love it)
Henry Mancini - Stardust (who doesn't love the Mancini?)