Sentimental Journey
Ringo Starr's early post-Beatlesolo efforts revealed an artist who seemed to revel in both his newfound artistic freedom and the chance to prove just how underestimated he may have been. WhileJohn Lennon,Paul McCartney, andGeorge Harrisonwere making music not dissimilar to their recent Beatles past, Starr undertook two wildly disparate projects, this Tin Pan Alley tribute to some of the American songbook's most cherished standards (cut to please his parents, according to legend) and the straightforward country & western collectionBeaucoups of Blues. Though it confounded many a critic at the time of its release,Journeyhas a relaxed, strangely melancholy feel, even if Ringo seems to be occasionally waltzing through some of the arrangements (undertaken by an all-star roster of producer/arrangers, includingGeorge Martin,Elmer Bernstein,Quincy Jones, and Paul McCartney). Hardly the greatest post-Beatles release, but certainly one of the oddest and least expected.--Jerry McCulley