Word: ringo
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Grand Ole Opry time? Shucks no. Just a new Apple LP by that latest convert to the Nashville Sound, Ringo Starr of the Beatles. Called Beaucoups of Blues, it features Drummer Ringo as the singer of twelve mostly sorrowful country ballads that are a far and dusty cry from Hey Jude, Get Back or even Octopus's Garden...
...mostly in and around the Apple recording studios, the film concentrates heavily on Paul McCartney, so much so that the billing might be changed to "Let It Be, starring Paul McCartney and some other Beatles." There are flashes of John dancing with his wife Yoko Ono, and George and Ringo picking out Octopus Garden on guitar and piano, but most of the good footage belongs to Paul. He is the one who seems to be running the recording sessions, and he is surely the one who gets to sing-mostly in lingering closeups-all the great songs, like...
...with a de-escalation of what might be called rock music's group consciousness and a rising enthusiasm for solo artistry. Though the other Beatles are said to disapprove of McCartney's project, in recent months John Lennon has cut four albums by himself, Harrison two and Ringo one. Obviously, as talented a composer and performer as McCartney could not sit idly by while all that was going...
...while we are on the subject of nasality, let it be said that the use of Ringo Start is a barren promotional gimmick. His role (Youngman Grand, Sir Guy's adopted son) was contrived expressly for the movie version and is superfluous from beginning to end. The same puppy-dog non-acting that complements flashiness so well in Hard Day's Night and Help is sheer stupidity (which is not inappropriate) in Magic Christian. The only thing cheaper than Ringo's name on the theatre marquee is Raquel Weich's above it. Her lucrative, careermaking breasts quivered expressively throughout...
...Magic Christian's promoters have topped their competition in substituting flesh (whether on Raquel's chest or Ringo's face) for substance. But if you'd like to get what the movie has to offer before it comes to TV (no more than a year), just drop a dime into a public urinal and watch someone...