John Lennon didn’t think he was the most thoughtful musical producer in the world, but he called out Ringo Starr’s producer for being “too painstaking.” That’s quite the take, considering the producer in question gave us some of Ringo’s best albums. He was also behind popular tunes from Carly Simon and Harry Nilsson.
John Lennon slammed Ringo Starr’s producer, Richard Perry
During a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone, John said rumors that he took a long time to complete The Beatles’ songs were false. “I don’t want to make myself so painstaking that it’s boring,” he said. “But I should (pause) maybe t’ink a little more. Maybe.
“But on the other hand I think my criticism of somebody like Richard Perry would be that he’s great but he’s too painstaking,” he said. “It gets too slick and somewhere in between that is where I’d like to go.” Love it or hate it, Perry’s style is undeniably slick.
John Lennon said he hadn’t produced much music on his own by 1975
John then reflected on himself as a producer. “I’ve only produced two albums of me own, actually, completely on me own,” he said. “And I find something out each time. I’m a learner at production, although I’ve been at this business so long and I used to produce my own tracks with the help of George Martin and Paul McCartney and George Harrison and everybody else.
“I would be in charge of me own tracks,” he continued. “But really to produce a thing all on me own — I’ve done very little. I keep finding out all the time — what I’m missing that I want to get out of it.”
How Ringo Starr’s biggest album and its singles performed on the pop charts
Perry is a great producer, having worked on Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” and “Nobody Does It Better,” Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” and Harry Nilsson’s questionable novelty hit “Coconut.” He’s not as well-known as Phil Spector, George Martin, or Mutt Lang, but Perry encapsulated the sound of 1970s soft rock better than any other producer.
Perry might be most famous for producing the album Ringo. That album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, making it Ringo’s highest-charting release. It stayed on the chart for 37 weeks. The album gave us two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles (“Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen”) and another top 5: “Oh My My.” After “You’re Sixteen” fell off the chart, Ringo never had another chart-topper in the United States.
According to The Official Charts Company, Ringo reached No. 7 in the United Kingdom and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks. There, “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen” both hit the top 10 but “Oh My My” was not released as a single. Perry went on to helm Ringo’s successful follow-up Goodnight Vienna, which includes the hits “Snookeroo,” “No No Song,” and “Only You (And You Alone),” but the two artists parted ways after that.
John wasn’t the biggest fan of Perry but he’ll always have a place in the history of 1970s music.
