Goodnight Vienna

Infobox Album | Name = Goodnight Vienna
Type = Album
Artist = Ringo Starr


Released = 15 November 1974
Recorded = August 1974
Genre = Rock
Length = 33:40
Label = Apple Records/EMI
Producer = Richard Perry
Reviews = *"Rolling Stone" (not rated) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ringostarr/albums/album/121537/review/5943726/goodnight_vienna link]
*"Allmusic" Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9fpxqu5ldte link]
Last album = ""Ringo""
(1973)
This album = "Goodnight Vienna"
(1974)
Next album = "Blast From Your Past"
(1975) |

"Goodnight Vienna" is the fourth solo album by Ringo Starr. It was recorded in the summer of 1974 in Los Angeles, and released later that year. It 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.

However, while all three other Beatles had contributed to "Ringo", only John Lennon contributed to "Goodnight Vienna". Like "Ringo", "Goodnight Vienna" also became a hit, though a slightly less successful one.

An advance single from the album, Starr's cover version of The Platters' "Only You (And You Alone)", reached #6 on the U.S. charts, before the album was released in November. "Goodnight Vienna" peaked at #8 in the US, ultimately going gold, and its reviews were generally favorable. A second single, "No No Song" reached #3 in the American charts. However, the album reached only #30 in the UK, and would be Starr's last chart album in his homeland until 1998.

The cover artwork for "Goodnight Vienna" was based on a still from the classic science fiction film "The Day the Earth Stood Still", with Starr's head replacing that of actor Michael Rennie. Rennie's character was the alien Klaatu, a name later adopted by a Canadian band falsely rumoured to be the Beatles under a pseudonym. In the movie, Klaatu had come to Earth to deliver the message that the entire planet needed to adopt peaceful ways, a message that comports with Ringo's personal mantra "peace and love."

"Goodnight Vienna" was remastered and reissued on CD in 1992 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 ""Ringo"".

Track listing

#"(It's All Da-Da-Down To) Goodnight Vienna" (John Lennon) – 2:35
#*"Featuring John Lennon on opening count-in and piano and Billy Preston on clavinet."
#"Occapella" (Allen Toussaint) – 2:55
#*"Featuring Dr. John on piano"
#"Oo-Wee" (Vini Poncia/Richard Starkey) – 3:45
#*"Featuring Dr. John on piano"
#"Husbands and Wives" (Roger Miller) – 3:34
#*"Featuring Carl Fortina on accordion."
#"Snookeroo" (Elton John/Bernie Taupin) – 3:27
#*"Featuring Elton John on piano and Robbie Robertson on guitar."
#"All By Myself" (Vini Poncia/Richard Starkey) – 3:21
#*"Featuring John Lennon on guitar"
#"Call Me" (Richard Starkey) – 4:07
#*"Featuring Klaus Voormann on bass guitar & David Foster on piano."
#"No No Song" (Hoyt Axton/David Jackson) – 2:33
#*"Featuring Harry Nilsson on backing vocals and Nicky Hopkins on electric piano."
#"Only You (And You Alone)" (Buck Ram/Ande Rand) – 3:26
#*"Featuring John Lennon on guitar, Billy Preston on electric piano and Harry Nilsson on backing vocals."
#"Easy For Me" (Harry Nilsson) – 2:20
#*"Featuring Lincoln Mayorga on piano."
#"Goodnight Vienna (Reprise)" (John Lennon) – 1:20
#*"Featuring John Lennon's intro, 'OK, with gusto, boys, with gusto!"'

External links

* [http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pcs7168.html JPGR's "Goodnight Vienna" site]