Monday, November 9, 2020

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCV--Ringo Starr: You Never Know

 Sappy story:  I was single for many years after my first marriage ended, and whenever it seemed hopeless that love would enter my life again...I'd play this week's tune.  Even sappier, the song's main theme, that life is a gamble and you never know when something or someone special will enter your life...most certainly came true with my life.  I'd say it's embarrassing, but the Beautiful Girl and I are eighteen years down the road now and it seems to be working out just fine....

For the fourth straight week I'm going to note that the artist biography will be short because what else could I possibly add about Ringo Starr that hasn't already been written--and then proceed to write a lengthy paragraph about his life anyway.  Of all the Beatles, Ringo was the one that probably would have been voted least likely to have much success as a solo artist, but he's fifty years down the road and has frankly had a hell of a solo career.  Like each of his fellow Beatles, he's a two time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is widely considered one of the five best rock and roll drummers of all-time.  He still tours regularly (well, when there's not a pandemic anyway) with his Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band group, which features any number of rock and roll veterans (Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Bill Preston, Bonnie Raitt, and Clarence Clemons to name but a very few).   Starr has won an Academy Award and Grammy Awards with his fellow Beatles, but in a first, he is the only Beatle to be nominated for an Emmy (Daytime Emmy for Shining Time Station, a Thomas the Tank Engine spin-off).  For his solo career, Starr has released 20 studio albums (with two top ten LPs), nine albums with his All-Starr Band, and 44 singles (with two #1's and six more top ten hits).  He celebrated his eightieth birthday earlier this year with a virtual concert.

Fun Fact:  Starr has been knighted, but he was given the honor by his real name, so he is Sir Richard Starkey instead of Sir Ringo Starr.  And I'm probably the only person on the planet who finds that interesting....

"You Never Know" was released in 1991 on the soundtrack to the mildly entertaining film, Curly Sue.  Neither the song or the album came anywhere near the Billboard charts.

As with "Watching the Wheels" by John Lennon from a few weeks back, "You Never Know" is not Starr's best single, but it's my personal favorite and so the rest of y'all are going to have to suffer with my choice.  As noted above, the song is an ode to keeping your eyes open for that four leaf clover that's going to change your life, and Starr sings it with all the happy-go-lucky charm that he can muster.  Both the music and the lyrics have a whimsical quality to them which fits with a song about keeping the dice rolling because that 7 might just hit on your next roll.  In the end, it's a sweet slice of pop music pie sung by a man who's seen his share of both the best and the worst of what life has to offer--and who knows that the rainbow is always just a rainstorm away.

Lyric Sheet:  "I never saw exactly where the road would lead me/One day I woke to find somebody needs me/I thought I'd taken luck as far as it would go/But then again you never know..."

Enjoy:



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