Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr once worked in the studio together – but the results were lost. The genial drummer is a much-loved figure, and he toasts his birthday today – July 7th – as a matter of fact. Entering into the CLASH time machine, we’re focussing on Ringo’s solo sessions during 1987, a fateful star-studded venture that sadly remains on the cutting room floor.
The proposed album would have been Ringo’s first solo album in four years, and resulted from a meeting with producer Chips Moman in the Bahamas. The two then decamped to Memphis, Tennessee, recruiting some all-star friends in the process. Sessions included Eric Clapton, Dave Edmunds, and rockabilly icon Carl Perkins, who all ventured to Three Alarm Studios.
Reportedly, Bob Dylan also took part – on a version of his own ‘Wish I Knew Now What I Knew Then’. Sadly, Ringo wasn’t in a good way during these sessions, with his drinking spiralling out of control. Going sober, he decided not to release the record, due to its links to darker times in his life.
A court case followed, with the drummer ordered to pay $74,354 to regain control of his masters from Moman – and it’s never been officially released. — — Chatting to the Celebrity Playlist podcast back in 2010, Ringo recalled that fateful session. “We could do this for the rest of the week just on Bob Dylan.
This song (‘When The Deal Goes Down’) is really emotional, ‘Maggie’s Farm’ is another one of my faves too,” Starr said. �.
