John Lennon Said 1 of Ringo Starr’s Albums ‘Embarrassed’ Him
By the time The Beatles publicly announced their breakup, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison were all working on solo projects. Lennon publicly shared his problems with each of his former bandmates’ releases. He admitted that he was more of a fan of Starr’s second solo album, mostly because it didn’t embarrass him as the first had. Lennon was far too harsh on his bandmate in his effort to separate himself from The Beatles.
The Beatles’ drummer released his first solo album in 1970
After The Beatles broke up, Starr felt lost. He had worked with the band for nearly a decade and suddenly had to reshape his entire career.
“I was lost for a while,” he said, per the book Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr. “Suddenly the gig’s finished that I’d been really involved in for eight years. ‘Uh-oh, what’ll I do now?'”
Toward the end of 1969, he contacted Beatles producer George Martin about a new project.
“I called George Martin and said, ‘I’m going to do an album of standards that will get me out of bed, out of the house and get me back on my feet.'”
McCartney was one of the musical arrangers for the album, but it was Starr’s first time working without the rest of The Beatles in years. He was grateful that the album, Sentimental Journey, got his solo career moving.
“We had Quincy Jones and all these great arrangers, but if it did nothing else it got me off my bum, back into recording,” he said. “The great thing was that it got my solo career moving — not very fast, but just moving. It was like the first shovel of coal in the furnace that makes the train inch forward.”
John Lennon was not a fan of Ringo Starr’s album
While Harrison praised Starr’s first solo effort and McCartney worked on the album, Lennon didn’t have anything positive to say about it. When discussing Starr’s second album, Beaucoups of Blues, Lennon said he liked it better than Starr’s first effort.
“I think it’s a good record. I wouldn’t buy any of it, you know,” he told Rolling Stone in 1971. “I think it’s a good record, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear ‘Beaucoups of Blues,’ that song you know. I thought, good. I was glad, and I didn’t feel as embarrassed as I did about his first record.”
He said it wasn’t personal; he didn’t like most of the Beatles’ solo efforts. He didn’t even like many of The Beatles’ songs.
“It’s hard when you ask me, it’s like asking me what do I think of … ask me about other people, because it looks so awful when I say I don’t like this and I don’t like that,” he said. “It’s just that I don’t like many of the Beatles records either. My own taste is different from that which I’ve played sometimes, which is called ‘cop out’ to make money or whatever. Or because I didn’t know any better.”
John Lennon was too hard on Ringo Starr
Lennon made multiple negative comments about his former bandmates. He turned his nose at their solo albums and once said that The Beatles made meaningless background music.
It’s likely that many of these comments were part of Lennon’s effort to separate himself from the band. The Beatles’ level of fame meant people would always associate Lennon with the group, but he tried to set himself apart. Unfortunately, this often came at the expense of his former bandmates.
Starr maintained a friendly relationship with Lennon, but the comments must have stung. Lennon should have offered a polite appraisal of the album like Harrison or not commented on it at all. He once expressed concern for Starr’s career, and making disparaging comments about it was no way to help his former bandmate.
