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Whilst looking up something on YouTube I happened to come across Ringo Starr singing ‘Photograph’. Very touching and moving, plus gave me a new appreciation of Ringo.
Some comments:
George Harrison died on 29 November 2001 from cancer which had spread to his brain. He was aged 58.
On 29 November 2002, on the first anniversary of his death, the Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London as a memorial to George Harrison. The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton.
Apart from musos who played a selection of mostly Harrison's songs, from both Beatles and post-Beatles eras, generally staying faithful to Harrison's arrangements, the remaining members of Monty Python performed comedic items. Ringo Starr and Pail McCartney performed, as well as Harrison's son Dhani Harrison (in the white top in the video clips and in the photo below), Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston and numerous others.
The full concert can be viewed on YouTube at:
Ringo comes out at the 48:10 mark.
Ringo's opening words:
“What a band, what an opening night. I loved George, George loved me, and I’d like to do two numbers for you tonight. One that George and I wrote together, it’s called ‘’Photograph’ . . .and the meaning’s changed now of course. And he loved Carl Perkins so we’re going to do ‘’Honey Don’t.’”
It's very sad listening to the lyrics of Photograph in the context of a tribute to George Harrison.
Link to Ringo singing Photograph without the full concert:
Link to Honey Don’t:
Lyrics:
"Photograph"
Ev'ry time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph
And I realize you're not coming back anymore.
I thought I'd make it the day you went away,
But I can't make it
Till you come home again to stay.
I can't get used to living here,
While my heart is broke, my tears I cried for you.
I want you here to have and hold,
As the years go by and we grow old and grey.
Now you're expecting me to live without you,
But that's not something that I'm looking forward to.
I can't get used to living here,
While my heart is broke, my tears I cried for you.
I want you here to have and hold,
As the years go by and we grow old and grey.
Ev'ry time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph
And I realize you're not coming back anymore.
Ev'ry time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph
And I realize you're not coming back anymore.
Ev'ry time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph
And I realize you're not.
About the song:
Ex-Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison began writing "Photograph" on a luxury yacht in the South of France in May 1971. Starr had hired a yacht, the Marala, for the duration of the Cannes Film Festival, after attending Mick Jagger's wedding in St Tropez with his wife, Maureen Starkey. The Starkeys were then joined in France by Harrison and the latter's wife, Pattie Boyd, for the Monaco Grand Prix.
This period coincided with Starr's first success as a solo artist, with the Harrison-produced single "It Don't Come Easy", although he continued to focus on his career as a film actor, beginning with a role in Blindman (1971).
Another guest on the Marala was Cilla Black, singer and a friend of the Beatles since the 1960s. She recalled Starr and Harrison playing "Photograph" during an evening get-together, with "everyone on board" contributing ideas for the lyrics. In her autobiography, Step Inside Love, Black says she had hoped to record the song for a single later in 1971, only to be told by Starr: "No, it's too bloody good for you. I'm having it myself."
Ringo’s personal life at the time of the album's release coincided with the failure of Starr's marriage, partly as a result of Harrison and Ringo’s wife Maureen conducting an affair. The friendship between the two former bandmates soon recovered, but Starr and Harrison did not officially write another song together after "Photograph".
Commenting on the context in which Starr's song of "beautiful sadness" was released in the United States, writer Alan Clayson describes "Photograph" as having been a popular request on radio playlists "for a nation still awaiting the return of many of its sons from Vietnam, following the January cease-fire".
"Photograph" topped America's Billboard Hot 100 for one week.] It was Starr's first number 1 hit on that chart as a solo artist and was also number 1 in Canada and Australia, while in Britain it peaked at number 8.
According to the Concert for George website: "Ringo Starr caught everyone with a tear in their eye with a rendition of 'Photograph' “.
Colin Larkin, writing in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music, describes "Photograph" as "wonderful" and says that the "poignant" Concert for George rendition "highlighted Starr's great ability to love, and in turn, be loved".
Starr sang "Photograph" at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014] during which he and Paul McCartney, as the two surviving ex-Beatles, were honoured with the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award. Rolling Stone reported on Starr's performance of the song: "Backed by a massive full band, he bounced around the stage while old black-and-white photographs showed on a big screen behind him." The images were taken from Starr's recently published book; also titled Photograph, it consists of photos from his personal collection, dating back to the 1950s.
Cilla Black eventually recorded "Photograph" for her 2003 album Beginnings: Greatest Hits & New Songs. Music critic Bruce Eder describes it as a version that "she jumps into head first at her most soulful". Hear her version at:
According to one comment: “Nice, but I think Ringo Starr's original version has more soul to it.” I fully agree.
Ringo Starr and George Harrison, 1961
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