— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) December 25, 2020ADDED: From Craig Brown's "150 Glimpses of the Beatles":
Alone of all the Beatles, Ringo possessed no talent for composing. But one day, in a sudden flash of inspiration, the germs of a song entered his head, as if from nowhere. He worked on the song for three hours, and presented it to the other three the next day. After an awkward silence, they felt obliged to point out that it had already been written and recorded by Bob Dylan.
Brown doesn't say what Dylan song this was. But what song could it have been? It would have to have been something simple. But what? I try to think of a simple Bob Dylan song from the 1960s, and I think "I Want You," because that's a simple sentiment: "I want you/I want you/I want you/So bad."
I have somewhere else I want to go with this post, but writing out the chorus like that, I'm smacked in the head with the realization that a non-Ringo Beatle did in fact write — and record — that very song originally written by Bob Dylan, same title and all: "I Want You." Lyrics: "I want you, I want you so bad."
Did no one feel obliged to tell John Lennon that Bob Dylan had already written and recorded that song? No, obviously not. And it's not as if Lennon fleshed out the song. His "I Want You" hardly has any lyrics. It's just "I want you so bad/It's driving me mad" repeated.
Originally, I was going to say that Ringo couldn't possibly have believed he'd written "I Want You" because it has complicated Dylanesque lyrics: The guilty undertaker sighs/The lonesome organ grinder cries/The silver saxophones say I should refuse you... But Lennon's "I Want You" shows how Ringo might have done it. Just use the chorus. The chorus is perfectly simple.
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32 comments:
Happy Christmas from Mt. Dora, FL, where it is currently 38 degrees! (And I left Wisconsin for this?)
Ringo Starr, I immediately thought professional wrestler.
Merry Christmas to all. Yes, we hit the upper 30s in Sarasota this morning. Not going for a walk on the beach until later. Cold front sent from our friends in the upper Midwest. It was 75 yesterday.
Thanks.
I can picture Ringo thinking he wrote "You ain't goin' nowhere." It feels like a Ringo song already.
I am Laslo.
Merry Christmas to all, from my post in balmy California where is is 21 degrees this morning. It might get above freezing...hoo haah. Ah well. The rib roast in the oven will warm us up today.
Re: Ringo. Doesn't matter if he can compose. A band is NOTHING without a good drummer.
EDIT: Check the weather report for today. It will get above freezing and we might have SNOW for Christmas! Or slushy rain.
I rather think that fortune has smiled on Ringo Starr.
https://mobile.twitter.com/EmeraldRobinson/status/1342263440031662080
Merry Christmas to Ann, Meade, the neighbor's dog they keep stealing, and all that read and comment on this wonderful blog.
May your day be filled with warmth and fulfillment.
The Wexford Carol with Alison Kraus, Yo Yo Ma, and Natalie McMaster.
Merry Christmas from New England where it's warm and the rain is washing away the snow.
Creativity is hard. Try making up a melody that is original. I've tried, and just about everything the least bit melodic is a close analog or a copy of something I've heard. Merry Christmas.
Bob Dylan's songs are a scam. The lyrics are just word salad.
Well I heard he took you sailing,
In that yacht he calls a boat,
And you love the way the wears his hair,
And the way he clears his throat.
From Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
- Bob Dylan Lyrics Generator
Yellow Submarine certainly sounds like Ringo wrote it.
Peter Jackson is coming out with a Beatles session movie/documentary; preview - skip ahead to about 1:30
Am paraphrasing from something I heard on the radio recently.
Apparently Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) would get hammered on drugs/alcohol (go figure) and listen to music.
One day his band-mate was with him and Tyler had him listen to a song, and told him that he loved it, and that Aerosmith should do a cover of it.
The bandmate replied, 'That's us, you idiot.'
Not the sharpest knife, but at least his daughter was hot : )
"Re: Ringo. Doesn't matter if he can compose. A band is NOTHING without a good drummer."
Well, yeah, but they don't pay royalties on a tight beat. It's only a Northern Song.
I think Ringo and George were my favorite Beatles...
George was fantastic as a solo performer, while I thought Lennon and McCartney were busy being 'rock stars.'
And Ringo just always looked rally happy to be there...
And let’s not forget how George Harrison borrowed the phrase "something in the way she moves" from a song by fellow Apple Records artist James Taylor.
"And Ringo just always looked rally happy to be there..."
"really"
"Bob Dylan's songs are a scam. The lyrics are just word salad."
Then why can't anyone else do it? It feels so casual and yet it sticks with you and feels important. "Stuck Inside of Memphis" is one of the best. You can't just slot in other words... even though it seems that he only pulled them right out of the air. That's what's so cool.
This reminds me of the SNL Beatles reunion offer (April, 1976): "...you can divide it any way you want, if you want to give Ringo a little less, that's up to you."
So “merry New Year” by Eddie Murphy in trading places was correct. The White guy was just being a racist “for correcting his English that sucks”
Re: Dylan...
Not a big fan of his singing, but as a writer he is pretty damn good, and this song wouldn't work at all as a cover by anyone else:
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People call, say "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all a-kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal
Greetings commenters! Hope everyone is feeling the peace and joy of the holiday! Special thanks to Professor Althouse, our gracious blogger and podcaster, and to her wonderful husband, Meade.
I like that line about a yacht he calls a boat. Maybe Dylan did more than just a commercial with IBM’s Watson, and lent them his bizarre genius. Ringo had the most success of all the Beatles as a solo artist at least as far as charting singles. Peace and love, peace and love, but no more fucking autographs.
Like a Rolling Stone is about the meanest angriest catchy tune I can think of. Vicious.
"Ringo had the most success of all the Beatles as a solo artist at least as far as charting singles."
Paul had 9.
George had 3.
John and Ringo had 2 each.
Of course, 'solo' would eliminate 'Wings' songs.
So George would be the king...
Charting, not necessarily chart topping. Ringo put out a ton of stuff in all kinds of musical genres, and did into the 90s and early aughts.
"Charting..."
I got the point the first time, but Ringo's stuff was so terrible.
I'd rather take quality over quantity.
The best song on every single one of Ringo's albums is better than the worst song on any Beatles album.
Same is true of John George and Paul.
To give George full credit - he was a real musician - the best song on each of his albums was better than all but the 2 worst songs on any Beatles album.
Well that is true of Ringo and Paul and John too (leaving out the experimental albums from John and George back in the day which nobody listens to any more).
The easiest Dylan song to compose if you have never heard a Dylan song is "Lay lady lay". There are four chords at most, a drunk at the piano could compose that song in 10 seconds, and I am sure quite a few times that has happened.
That being said, the words are good ---- big brass bed --- who says that to a woman????
It feels so casual and yet it sticks with you and feels important.
Which is also why you voted for Obama.
I penned those four lines while in high school in about 1975. Even back then, I was on to his schtick. My belief was confirmed when Joan Baez penned:
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
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