Old Enough to Forget

This was a record I was pretty excited to find. It was the UK pressing, and the gatefold was laminated and looked absolutely pristine. This was also an album I'd never heard. I knew it existed, but honestly I always thought it was a throwaway album kind of like Sentimental Journey that had come out in the spring of 1970. I think one of the reasons I was so casually dismissive was it would be three years before Ringo would regroup and release his self titled album in 1973, which more or less coincidentally aligned with when I really started paying attention to music. Honestly for a long time I had assumed Ringo was his debut. The album is extra ordinary. I mean, this is a love letter to classic country, and Ringo seems so at home it's disarming. There's always been something special about Ringo's voice. It's an odd thing in many ways, but his ability to convey so much emotion and warmth is disarming. His confidence and charm are absolutely infectious. For those who ...

It's a strange thing to think that his original 1957 album, considered the best selling Christmas album of all time, had at one time gone out of print. The geniuses at RCA must have figured if they ditched the hymns and added two new songs, "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" and " Mama Liked The Roses" they'd be able to replicate the success of the original release. So they put it out on their budget label Camden and released it in mono (I'm guessing the original recordings were in mono, so no harm no foul). Considering I'd never seen it before, I'm guessing the classic red album is still the preferred version. Nostalgia is a strange thing. While I never had the original on vinyl, I did get the CD thirty years ago and that's the version I'm most familiar with - hymns and all. Still, for a buck finding this was pretty cool. I have to admit there were several copies in the bin some in truly horrific shape. I kinda split the middle and swappe...