Welcome to Classic Cadillac Records!  I visually grade all my records as accurately as possible and will never grade anything above Near Mint unless it's still sealed.  Please note that a visual grade can differ from a play grade, and am happy to spot check a record upon request.   All orders are shipped within 1 business day (usually sooner) and packed with extra care to ensure fast, safe arrival.  Please look closely at all pictures, read all relevant details and ask any questions you may have before buying.  I offer a full 30-day return policy on everything I sell, so buy with confidence!  And most importantly, thanks for looking! Sentimental Journey by  Released27 March 1970Recorded27 October – 26 December 1969 and 14 January – 6 March 1970Studio, , , ,  and , London; , Los Angeles Length34:03 chronologySentimental Journey
(1970)
(1970)

Sentimental Journey is the debut album by English rock musician . Released in 1970 as  were breaking up, Starr was the third member of the group to issue a solo recording (after  and ). Sentimental Journey is notable for being the first studio album of what might be termed "conventional" music by a member of the band, compared to the experimental, soundtrack or live releases of his two band mates. 's debut, , would follow three weeks after Sentimental Journey's release. Recording of the album was completed in early March 1970, with Sentimental Journey being rushed out a few weeks later to avoid clashing in the shops with the Beatles' impending final album  in May.

Background

The idea for a solo album first came from the rest of the Beatles, who said that Starr should do a solo record, despite his minimal songwriting abilities, and later from his mother Elsie Starkey and step-dad Harry during one day at their Liverpool home. His mother said that Starr had good vocals. The plan was to create an album of standards that would reflect his mother's favourite songs, even asking them and other members of his family to choose the tracks. Starr engaged the services of Beatles producer  to helm his solo debut, shortly after the Beatles'  (1969) came out.

I wondered, what shall I do with my life now that it's over? I was brought up with all those songs, you know, my family used to sing those songs, my mother and my dad, my aunties and uncles. They were my first musical influences on me. So I went to see George Martin and said: 'Let's do an album of standards, and to make it interesting we'll have all the arrangements done by different people".

— Ringo Starr Recording

Starr had one song each arranged by different musicians, ranging from fellow-Beatle Paul McCartney, and Martin himself to , , ' , , and Elmer Bernstein among others, as Starr thought the album would have a flavor to it. Author Bill Harry states that on 1 October 1969, Starr asked  to write an arrangement score for ""; the finished score arrived to Starr on 6 October. However,  received credit for the arrangement.

Sessions for the album began on 27 October, on which Starr, backed by an orchestra, recorded the track "Night and Day" at . The track was also mixed the same day. The next session didn't take place until over a week later, on 6 November at , recording a track that currently remains unreleased, "". The following day, the backing track for the McCartney-arranged "" was recorded, which nearly earned the album the title of Ringo Stardust. On 14 November, Starr added his vocal to that track, and started developing the track ""; arranged by Martin, the song was finished on 18 November at . The backing track for "Blue, Turning Grey Over You" was recorded 10 days later on 28 November, and then completed on 4 December, the vocals for the track weren't recorded until later in the new year.

Shortly after recording "Blue, Turning Grey Over You" Starr went on a trip to the US, and went on to record lead for the Jones-arranged "" on 26 December, at . The first session in the new year, 1970, for the album was held on 14 January, at . There, vocals for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" and "" were laid down, the latter was arranged by Perry. The next session took place nearly a month later on 3 February 1970, at Abbey Road Studios, where the backing track for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" was remade, featuring an orchestra, and Starr laying down a new vocal track for the song. Starr re-recorded his vocals for the song on the 5th. Starr recorded vocal overdubs on "" on both 9 and 18 February 1970, the track was arranged by . On 11 February, the orchestra for "I'm a Fool to Care" was conducted by Voorman, who also arranged his version of the song at Starr's request. On the same day, Starr added his vocal track to the song. A day later, the backing track, and Starr's vocal, for "Let the Rest of the World Go By" were recorded; the track was arranged by . Nearly a week later, on 18 February, overdubs were added to the song.

That same day, the vocals for both "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" and "Let the Rest of the World Go By" were re-recorded. Following this, an early version of "" was recorded during a late-night part of the session, under the title "Gotta Pay Your Dues". Two days later, "I'm a Fool to Care", "Let the Rest of the World Go By" and "Sentimental Journey" were mixed. On 24 February, over a week later, Starr's vocal was recorded for "Blue, Turning Grey Over You". Now moving to  a day later, the -conducted orchestra had made the backing track for "", on to which, Starr added his vocal track the same day. Some time in February, the unreleased tracks "" and "I'll Be Looking at the Moon" were recorded; eventually finding their way onto . Moving again, this time to  on 5 March, at McCartney's suggestion, the orchestra-laden "" and "" (the latter arranged by Maurice Gibb) were taped. On 6 March, work was done on "You Always Hurt the One You Love" by Dankworth adding drums, piano and saxophone; this and four other tracks were  on the day. The following day, further overdubs were added to "I'm a Fool to Care".

Release and aftermath The Empress pub, which was pictured on the album cover.

Sentimental Journey was released in the UK on 27 March 1970, and in the US on 24 April 1970. It received fair reviews upon its release, although many critics found the idea of Starr covering standards a bit odd considering his musical background. His fame in the Beatles was all that was required, however, to get it all the way to number 7 in the UK – with no single release to promote it – and number 22 in the US. The album sold 500,000 copies in the US within the first two weeks of release.

Among his fellow Beatles, in an interview with 's Johnny Moran,  described Sentimental Journey as "a great album" and "really nice". Conversely,  told  editor  in December 1970 that he was "embarrassed" by Starr's debut. Starr later said of Sentimental Journey: "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."

The album cover consisted of a photograph by Richard Polak, showing a pub, The Empress in Dingle, Liverpool, located close to Starr's place of birth. The superimposed figures in the windows of the pub are Starr's relatives. To promote the album, Starr appeared in a promotional film, which was directed by , of the album's title track. The clip aired on the TV show Talk of the Town on 15 March, and on , hosted by , two weeks later. In the US, it appeared on .

A  was released in February 1981 by Capitol. Sentimental Journey was remastered and reissued on CD in 1995, on 1 May in the UK, and on 15 August in the US. The music video for the title track appeared on the CD/DVD version of .

Reception Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingC–5/103/5(unfavourable)

In his review for Rolling Stone,  called Sentimental Journey "horrendous" but "classy". John Gabree of  considered that the impressive cast of musical arrangers were merely "compensating for the fact that Ringo can't sing" and dismissed most of the material as "some of the tiredest junk ever written".

Music critic  said it was "For over-fifties and Ringomaniacs". In , authors  and  called the album "a gawky, badly sung, overly sentimental selection of moribund mambos. All are dispensable."

More recently,  of  has written of the album: "Savaged by some critics, it's really not all that bad. But it ain't rock & roll, it's not what Ringo does best, and it's not an essential part of anyone's collection, Beatles fan or otherwise".

 music critic  reacted more favourably: "Backed by full  and occasional strings, Ringo poses as a  , with surprisingly good results." Riley added that that album had "a deceptively easy feel, and the strongest moments ... ('' and '' ...) confirm his fundamental appeal as a personality."

Track listing Side oneNo.TitleWriter(s)ArrangerLength1.""Bud Green, , Ben Homer3:262.""2:253."", 2:374."", 2:115."I'm a Fool to Care"2:396."", 3:22Side twoNo.TitleWriter(s)ArrangerLength1."", 3:192."", 3:053.""2:424.""Allan Roberts, 2:205.""Scott Wiseman2:446."Let the Rest of the World Go By"Ernest Ball, Karen Brennan2:55