Goodnight Vienna

Goodnight Vienna is the fourth studio album by Ringo Starr. It was recorded in the summer of 1974 in Los Angeles, and released later that year. Goodnight Vienna followed the commercially successful predecessor Ringo, and Starr used many of the same players, including Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Robbie Robertson, Harry Nilsson, and producer Richard Perry. The title is a slang phrase meaning "it's all over".
Background and recording
While all three other former Beatles had contributed to Ringo (1973), only John Lennon contributed to Goodnight Vienna.
On 17 June 1974, Starr called Lennon, who was about to record his Walls and Bridges album, and asked him to write a song he could include on his next album. Lennon wrote what became the title track, "Goodnight Vienna". A demo of "(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" was recorded by Lennon on 28 June, with the session musicians from Walls & Bridges and sent to Starr in advance of the sessions. Besides writing and playing piano on the title track, Lennon suggested Starr cover The Platters' hit "Only You (And You Alone)" playing acoustic guitar and providing a guide vocal for Starr to follow. Starr's versions of both "Only You (And You Alone)" and "(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" were recorded at a session produced by Lennon. Elton John also contributed a track, "Snookeroo", co-written with Bernie Taupin. Harry Nilsson gave Starr the track "Easy for Me", which he later recorded his own version of for his Duit on Mon Dei album.
Release
"Only You (And You Alone)", backed with "Call Me", was issued as an advance single from the album in the US on 11 November 1974, before the album was released. In the US the song reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Goodnight Vienna was released on the same day as the "Only You (And You Alone)" single in the UK on 15 November. The album reached only number 30 in the UK, and would be Starr's last chart album in his homeland until 1998. The album was released in the US on 18 November, and peaked at number 8, ultimately going gold, and its reviews were generally favourable. It was also originally released in quadrophonic. A promo film for "Only You (And You Alone)" was aired on Top of the Pops on 19 December. On 27 January 1975, "No No Song", backed with "Snookeroo", was released in the US, reaching number 3. Nearly a month later, on 21 February, "Snookeroo" was released as a single in the UK, backed with "Oo-Wee".
On 2 June, a special edit of "(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" and "Goodnight Vienna (Reprise)" was released as a single, backed with an edit of "Oo-Wee", in the US. The cover artwork for Goodnight Vienna was based on a still from the classic 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Starr's head replacing that of actor Michael Rennie shown standing behind the robot Gort. Rennie's character was the alien Klaatu.
A television commercial, which featured a voiceover from Lennon, depicted the album cover's flying saucer (with Starr) over Los Angeles—landing on the roof of the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood. The commercial was produced by Vidtronics Company Inc. and directed by Stanley Dorfman. Starr returned the favour and did the voiceover for the commercial for Lennon's Walls and Bridges album. Immediately after filming the commercial, on 14 November 1974, the promo film for "Only You (And You Alone)" was filmed. During the video Starr and Nilsson mimed to the song, on top of the Capitol Records Building. A lightweight flying saucer and a forty-foot robot named 'Gort' were placed on the building, accompanied by Starr in a spacesuit, and Nilsson sitting in a rocking chair smoking a cigarette in a brown dressing robe, reading that morning's Los Angeles Times, with a front-page photo showing Starr in his space costume. An orange-clad marching band, and forty actors (who formerly played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz) danced below them at street level. The video aired on BBC TV's Top of the Pops show, on 19 December.
Goodnight Vienna was reissued in the US, this time by Capitol in February 1981. The album was remastered and reissued on CD on 30 November 1992 in the UK, and on 23 March 1993 in the US, with three bonus tracks: 1972 hit single "Back Off Boogaloo", its B-Side "Blindman" and an extended version of the McCartney-penned "Six O'Clock", a shorter version of which had earlier appeared on the LP version of Ringo.
Track listing
Side one
"(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" (John Lennon) – 2:35
"Occapella" (Allen Toussaint) – 2:55
"Oo-Wee" (Vini Poncia, Richard Starkey) – 3:45
"Husbands and Wives" (Roger Miller) – 3:34
"Snookeroo" (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) – 3:27
Side two
"All by Myself" (Poncia, Starkey) – 3:21
"Call Me" (Starkey) – 4:07
"No No Song" (Hoyt Axton, David Jackson) – 2:33
"Only You (And You Alone)" (Buck Ram) – 3:26
"Easy for Me" (Harry Nilsson) – 2:20
"Goodnight Vienna (Reprise)" (Lennon) – 1:20
1992 bonus tracks
"Back Off Boogaloo" (Starkey) – 3:22
"Blindman" (Starkey) – 2:46
"Six O'Clock (Extended Version)" (Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 5:23
Personnel
Ringo Starr – lead vocals, drums, percussion
Jim Keltner – drums
John Lennon – piano, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Carl Fortina – accordion
Richard Bennett – electric guitar solo
Dennis Coffey – guitars
Steve Cropper – electric guitar
Jesse Ed Davis – electric guitar
Vini Poncia – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Robbie Robertson – guitars
Alvin Robinson – guitar
Lon Van Eaton – guitars
Klaus Voormann – bass guitar
Richard Perry – bass guitar, backing vocals
Dr. John – piano, backing vocals
Elton John – piano
David Foster – piano
Tom Hensley – electric piano
Nicky Hopkins – electric piano
Lincoln Mayorga – piano
Billy Preston – electric piano, clavinet
James Newton Howard – synthesizer
Gary Wright – keyboards
Chuck Findley – horns
Bobby Keys – horns
Trevor Lawrence – horns
Lew McCreary – horns
Steve Madaio – trumpet
Madeline Bell – backing vocals
Lesley Duncan – backing vocals
Jean Gilbert – backing vocals
Jimmy Gilstrap – backing vocals
Joe Greene – backing vocals
Ira Hawkins – backing vocals
Clydie King – backing vocals
Lynda Laurence – backing vocals
Harry Nilsson – backing vocals
May Pang – backing vocals
Masst Alberts – backing vocals
Derrek Van Eaton – backing vocals
Cynthia Webb – backing vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notes
References
External links
JPGR's Goodnight Vienna site
1974 albums
Ringo Starr albums
Apple Records albums
Albums produced by Richard Perry
Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders