[Sentimental Journey Piano Pdf Free
Hanne Rylaarsdam
Sentimental Journey is the debut solo album by English rock musician Ringo Starr. It was released by Apple Records in March 1970 as the Beatles were breaking up. The album is a collection of pre-rock 'n' roll standards that Starr recalled from his childhood in Liverpool. As a departure from the experimental quality that had characterised solo LPs by George Harrison and John Lennon since 1968, it was the first studio album by an individual Beatle to embrace a popular music form.
Starr began recording Sentimental Journey in London in October 1969, in response to Lennon's private announcement that he was leaving the Beatles. He recruited George Martin to produce the sessions and used different musical arrangers for each song. Starr made a promotional film for the song "Sentimental Journey", in which he performed with an orchestra and dancers at the Talk of the Town nightclub. The cover of the album shows Starr in front of a pub in the Dingle area of Liverpool, where he grew up.
The album's impact was compromised by Paul McCartney's refusal to delay the release of his solo debut, McCartney, and by McCartney then initiating the group's break-up. Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics and confusing Beatles fans through its choice of music, Sentimental Journey charted inside the top ten in the United Kingdom and peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States. The album was a forerunner to standards collections by artists such as Harry Nilsson and Linda Ronstadt, and to the vogue from the late 1990s onwards for rock artists such as Bryan Ferry, Rod Stewart and Boz Scaggs to embrace big band music.
I was lost for a while. That's well-documented ... And I just thought of all those songs that I was brought up with, all the parties we'd had in Liverpool at our house and all the neighbours' houses ... So I called George Martin and said, "Why don't we take a sentimental journey?"[1]
Despite his limited songwriting experience, Ringo Starr was encouraged to make a solo album by his Beatles bandmates. His mother Elsie Starkey and stepfather Harry Graves also supported the idea when Starr visited them at their Liverpool home.[2] His mother said that Starr had a good singing voice.[2] He first considered making a country music album,[3] but then decided to record a collection of old standards that would reflect his mother's favourite songs.[4] The tapes from the Beatles' January 1969 Get Back film project captured Starr expressing a wish to make an album of standards.[5]
The recording for Sentimental Journey was initially sporadic, as Starr was involved in other musical activities through to the end of 1969.[19] These included participating in sessions for Leon Russell with George Harrison in October.[20] He also played drums on Harrison's productions for Apple Records artists Doris Troy[21][22] and Billy Preston.[23]
The session musicians on the album were credited as the George Martin Orchestra.[24] Although many of the arrangements incorporated drums and other rock instruments, Starr's role was confined to that of lead vocalist.[25] Preston played keyboards on some of the songs.[21] Aspinall recalled inviting some of the arrangers to create the backing tracks themselves, with their chosen musicians, and that the tapes were then sent to London for Starr to add his vocals.[26] EMI engineer Phil McDonald was the main recording engineer in London,[3] and Geoff Emerick prepared some of the mixes for the album.[27] Sessions began on 27 October,[28] when Starr, backed by an orchestra, recorded "Night and Day" at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios).[29] Martin conducted the orchestra from an arrangement by Chico O'Farrill.[5] The track was mixed the same day.[30][nb 3]
The next session took place on 6 November at Wessex Sound Studios.[29] Starr and the orchestra, conducted by Martin, recorded "Stormy Weather", although the song was omitted from the album.[34] The following day, they recorded the backing track for the McCartney-arranged "Stardust",[35] which nearly earned the album the title of Ringo Stardust.[18] On 14 November, Starr added his vocal to "Stardust" and began recording "Dream".[36] Arranged by Martin,[37] the latter was finished on 18 November at Trident Studios.[38] The backing track for "Blue, Turning Grey Over You", from an arrangement by jazz bandleader Oliver Nelson,[39] was taped on 28 November and completed on 4 December, although Starr did not record his vocal until early in 1970.[40]
Returning to other projects, Starr spent time promoting The Magic Christian, a film in which he co-starred with Peter Sellers.[41] This included being filmed at several London locations for a BBC2 documentary devoted to him, for the show Late Night Line-Up.[36] He also appeared on With a Little Help from My Friends, an all-star television tribute to Martin that was first broadcast on the ITV network on 24 December.[42][43] For the latter, Starr lip-synched to his Abbey Road composition "Octopus's Garden" in a Yorkshire Television studio on 14 December,[42] after recording a new vocal at EMI on 8 December.[44][nb 4] On 3 January 1970, he joined Harrison and McCartney to record "I Me Mine" and add overdubs to "Let It Be", for their inclusion on the album accompanying the documentary film from the Get Back sessions, now titled Let It Be.[45]
On 14 January, at Olympic Sound Studios, Starr recorded his vocals for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" and "Sentimental Journey".[46][47] The backing track for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" had been taped at A&M Studios in Los Angeles on 26 December, when Jones conducted a 27-piece orchestra playing his arrangement.[27][48] The Perry-arranged "Sentimental Journey" was also recorded in the US late the previous year;[49] the backing featured an unusual mix of instruments, including a "talking guitar" solo.[50] On 26 January, Starr and his wife Maureen Starkey left for the US to attend the premiere of The Magic Christian[51] and promote the film.[52][nb 5]
Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter write that after the intermittent recording since October the previous year, work on Starr's debut album began "in earnest" in early February 1970.[27] From this point, EMI's Studio 2 became the main location.[27] A 3 February session was devoted to a remake of "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing", since Jones and Martin were unhappy with the previous recording.[56] Jones flew to London to work on the new version;[56] Starr recorded a vocal that day, only to replace it on 5 February.[57][nb 6] More time was spent on "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" than on any other song, as strings were then added to the remake on 17 February, followed by backing vocals and further instrumentation on the 19th.[59]
On 9 February, Starr added his vocal to Bernstein's arrangement of "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?",[60][49] which had been taped at A&M on 3 February.[61] At Martin's urging, Starr recorded an improved vocal part on 18 February.[61] "I'm a Fool to Care" was recorded at EMI on 11 February.[60] Voormann, the song's arranger,[62] conducted a 15-piece jazz orchestra[63] and Starr added his vocal track.[60] On 12 February, a 31-piece orchestra and a chorus of nine singers recorded Les Reed's arrangement of "Let the Rest of the World Go By". Starr added his vocal that day but then replaced it on 18 February.[60][64] On 17 February, Francis Shaw conducted a 15-piece string section as a final addition to "I'm a Fool to Care".[48] Following the 18 February overdubbing session, Starr taped an early version of his rock song "It Don't Come Easy" (then titled "You Gotta Pay Your Dues"), with Harrison directing the musicians.[60][nb 7]
On 20 February, final mixing took place on "I'm a Fool to Care", "Let the Rest of the World Go By", "Sentimental Journey"[66] and "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?"[67] Starr recorded his vocal for "Blue, Turning Grey Over You" on 24 February.[54] At De Lane Lea Studios the following day, Johnny Dankworth conducted a 20-piece orchestra on his arrangement of "You Always Hurt the One You Love";[56] Starr then added his vocal to the track.[54] The songs "Autumn Leaves" and "I'll Be Looking at the Moon" were thought to be outtakes from the February 1970 sessions and were subsequently sought out by collectors.[68] According to Madinger and Easter, however, studio documentation does not support their existence, and the two songs were merely listed as candidates for inclusion in a contemporaneous magazine article.[67][nb 8]
Starr and Martin moved to Morgan Sound Studios on 5 March, at McCartney's suggestion.[54] They taped the basic tracks, with a 36-piece orchestra, for "Whispering Grass (Don't Tell the Trees)", arranged by Ron Goodwin,[69] and the Gibb-arranged "Bye Bye Blackbird".[54] Goodwin and Gibb each conducted the orchestra and Starr added vocals to both songs.[70] On 6 March, recording for the album was completed at Morgan,[54] with the addition of saxophone (played by Dankworth), drums and piano on "You Always Hurt the One You Love".[56][71] This and four other tracks[54] were mixed that evening at EMI Studios.[71]
The album was first announced in December 1969 with the title Ringo Stardust.[72] Beatles historian Bruce Spizer comments on the aptness of the eventual title, since Starr was "literally taking his fans on a sentimental journey" through his choice of songs.[3]
The LP cover consisted of a photograph by Richard Polak, showing the Empress pub in Dingle,[73] the area of Liverpool where Starr grew up.[74] The Empress was his local pub as a young man;[75] according to author Alan Clayson, in past decades, all of the album's standards would have been sung by happy patrons in the bar there.[15][nb 9] A photo of Starr dressed in a tuxedo was superimposed so that he appears to be standing at the door to the pub. The figures in the windows are his relatives,[76] superimposed from family photos.[61][nb 10] The back cover had a photo of Starr in casual clothing, standing outside a building and gesturing towards the wall. The track listing, with the name of each arranger, and other album credits appear in white as if printed on the wall.[61]
795a8134c1