Photograph (Ringo Starr song)
"Photograph" is a song by English rock musician Ringo Starr that was released as the lead single from his 1973 album Ringo. Starr co-wrote it with George Harrison, his former bandmate from the Beatles. Although they collaborated on other songs, it is the only one officially credited to the pair. A signature tune for Starr as a solo artist, "Photograph" was an international hit, topping singles charts in the United States, Canada and Australia, and receiving gold disc certification for US sales of 1 million. Music critics have similarly received the song favourably; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic considers it to be "among the very best post-Beatles songs by any of the Fab Four".[1]
"Photograph"
"Down and Out"
24 September 1973
4:00
The lyrics are a reflection on lost love, whereby a photograph is the only reminder of the protagonists' shared past. Starr and Harrison began writing the song in the South of France in 1971, during a period when Starr was focused on developing his acting career. They first recorded "Photograph" late the following year, along with the single's B-side, "Down and Out", during the sessions for Harrison's Living in the Material World album. The officially released version was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Richard Perry. It incorporates aspects of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound through the presence of multiple drums and acoustic guitars, as well as an orchestra and a choir. Aside from Starr and Harrison, the musicians on the recording include Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keys, Jim Keltner, and Spector's musical arranger, Jack Nitzsche. Starr made a promotional film for the single, shot at his and wife Maureen Starkey's home, Tittenhurst Park.
"Photograph" has appeared on Starr's compilation albums Blast from Your Past and Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr, and live versions have featured on releases recorded with his All-Starr Band and with the Roundheads. In November 2002, a year after Harrison's death, Starr stated “the meaning has changed now of course” before performing "Photograph" at the Concert for George – a performance that was an emotional highpoint of the event. Engelbert Humperdinck, Camper Van Beethoven, Cilla Black and Adam Sandler are among the artists who have covered the song.
Release[edit]
Apple Records released the single on 24 September 1973 in America and on 19 October in Britain.[60][nb 6] Starr made a promotional film for "Photograph", in which he mimed to the song while walking through the grounds of Tittenhurst Park,[62] the Berkshire estate that he had recently purchased from former bandmate John Lennon.[63] To circumvent the BBC's ban on lip-synching, Starr placed his hand over his mouth for part of the song,[10] making it impossible to tell whether he was singing or merely miming.[62][nb 7] The single's picture sleeve consisted of a photo by Barry Feinstein that showed Starr's head poking through a large star made of silver foil.[64] The same image, which author Bruce Spizer terms "the Ringo starfish", appeared on the single's face labels and on those of the Ringo LP.[64]
The album's release followed in November 1973,[65] with "Photograph" sequenced as the third track, preceding the Harrison-written "Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)".[66] Opposite the printed lyrics for "Photograph" inside the album booklet, a lithograph by Voormann depicted a framed picture on a shelf or desktop, in which Starr looks dejectedly at a framed picture of a woman.[67] In his personal life at this point, the album's release coincided with the failure of Starr's marriage, partly as a result of Harrison and Maureen conducting an affair.[68] The friendship between the two former bandmates soon recovered,[22][69] but Starr and Harrison did not officially write another song together after "Photograph".[70]
Commenting on the context in which Starr's song of "beautiful sadness" was released in the United States, 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".[20] Rodriguez comments on the precipitous timing of the single, as it "capitaliz[ed] on the year's nostalgia craze",[25] while news of Starr recording with each of his former bandmates during the Ringo sessions provided further impetus.[17] In late November, "Photograph" topped America's Billboard Hot 100 for one week.[71] It was Starr's first number 1 hit on that chart as a solo artist[72] and Harrison's third there as a composer since the Beatles' break-up in 1970.[73][74]
"Photograph" was also number 1 in Canada and Australia, while in Britain it peaked at number 8.[75] In Rodriguez's words, the single "did a good job of setting the table" for Ringo,[25] which also enjoyed considerable commercial success.[17][40] On 28 December 1973, "Photograph" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America,[76] signifying US sales of 1 million.[77] It was Starr's second such award, after "It Don't Come Easy".[78]
Reception[edit]
Record Mirror predicted a "giant smash" for the single, saying that listeners would be singing along with it "for the next ten years ... at least". The reviewer praised the way the arrangement built to include "jangling piano", "booting sax", choir and strings, yet with "nothing overdone so as to take away from the song".[79] Cash Box described the single as a "moderate paced rocker with a strong blues feel and good vocal performance". The reviewer said the song was "already one of the hottest records in the country" and predicted a top-five hit.[80] Record World called it a "strong pop tune" with "solid Richard Perry production."[81]
In his album review for Rolling Stone, Ben Gerson highlighted "Photograph" as one of the "three most wonderful songs" on Ringo, along with the Lennon-composed "I'm the Greatest" and the Harrison–Mal Evans collaboration "You and Me (Babe)".[82] Gerson wrote that the song's intro provided an effective "pull on the listener" and that, while the lyrics had a sorrowful quality, "the effect is warming".[82] Billboard's LP reviewer lauded Perry's "stunning production" on "the best Ringo album ever", adding: "We all know already that 'Photograph' has got to be a No. 1 single this month, right?"[83]
Although less impressed with Ringo, Alan Betrock wrote in Phonograph Record: "It's also clear when you reach 'Photograph' that Side One is the undisputed champ of the album. Jack Nitzsche has thrown in a lot of his past influences here, including the Famous School of Phil Spector castanets, lesson No. 2."[84] Betrock concluded: "'Photograph' is one of those rare pop records that grows stronger with each play, and will be covered and revived for years to come (I'll lay you 50–1 it appears on the next Andy Williams album)."[84]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic views "Photograph" as a "gorgeous collaboration" between Starr and Harrison, and a track that "ranks ... among the very best post-Beatles songs by any of the Fab Four".[1] Robert Rodriguez describes it as "an elegantly produced ballad" and Starr's "signature tune as a solo artist".[85] Rodriguez continues: "The ersatz Wall of Sound somehow managed not to swamp the lead vocal and Harrison harmony, while embodying the best qualities of the Beatles' singles: hummable and familiar, yet fresh and enduring."[86] In his 1977 book The Beatles Forever, Nicholas Schaffner wrote of how the song's "grand, sweeping arrangement" was reminiscent of Harrison's "own recent cosmic productions".[17]
Author Elliot Huntley similarly recognises the extent of Harrison's influence on this and other tracks on Ringo while rueing that "Photograph" was the only formal co-composition by the two ex-Beatles.[87] Huntley describes the song as the album's "stand-out track" and "by a country mile, the commercial high-point" for Starr as a songwriter.[21] Former Mojo editor Mat Snow views it as "perhaps the single best song of [Starr's] career" and the "emotional heart" of the album.[88]
Cover versions and references[edit]
Engelbert Humperdinck and the Ray Conniff Singers each released recordings of the song in 1974. Robert Rodriguez highlights this as unusual, in that other artists were covering a Starr song, but also ironic that Humperdinck included it on his album My Love, named after McCartney's 1973 song of the same name.[122] The following year, London-based recording engineer David Hentschel covered "Photograph", along with all the other tracks on Ringo,[123] for his album Sta*rtling Music.[124] The latter, an experimental work featuring Hentschel on ARP synthesizer,[125] was the first release on Starr's short-lived record label, Ring O' Records.[126]
A cover version of the song by American alt rock band Camper Van Beethoven appeared on their 1993 rarities compilation Camper Vantiquities.[127] Canadian band Sloan made mention of "Photograph" in their 1996 single "The Lines You Amend", the lyrics of which refer to a song "... about photographs / Sung by Ringo Starr / Especially in the chorus part / You always said, 'Now don't you start'."[128]
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".[129] While Starr's original recording appeared on the soundtrack to Funny People, a cover by the film's leading actor, Adam Sandler, is available as an iTunes bonus track with the album.[130]
According to Bruce Spizer:[45]