Report: New live Ringo album

I went ahead and ordered the Ringo "Extended Versions" CD from the website. The cover follows the same format of other "Extended Versions" titles, with the "Extended Versions" logo at the top, with a picture of Ringo (presumably from the 2001 tour, in any event it is a more recent shot from the last few years) and then below that the name of the artist and a listing of a few of the songs. Also, below that at the bottom, it states "The Encore Collection." The CD features no booklet. The cover is just one sheet, with the back of the cover showing the same information as the back cover of the jewel case.

I'm not sure exactly why this series is titled "Extended Versions." I've seen and heard a few other releases from this line. It appears to simply be a case of BMG finding various live recordings of artists and repacking them as "Extended Versions". On these releases, only on the back cover in small print does it state "Recorded Live." Since Ringo's All-Starr Band is only a live unit, this is already obvious. But for other groups, it seems as though they package it with the biggest hits to lead some folks to believe the CD is a "Greatest Hits" CD rather than a live recording, which in some cases with this series, are not particularly great-sounding.

In any event, this 10-track CD features some songs that were not included on the previous King Biscuit CD or DVD. Five of the tracks on "Extended Versions" were not included on the King Biscuit CD: "Karn Evil 9" from Greg Lake, "I Still Love Rock N' Roll" from Ian Hunter, "Love Bizarre" from Sheila E., "Everlasting Love" from Howard Jones, and "It Don't Come Easy" from, of course, Ringo. The other five tracks are found on the previous CD release. Notable on this new CD is the lack of any tracks from Roger Hodgson, while he was given more tracks (three) than anybody other than Ringo on the King Biscuit CD.

I didn't do an immediate A/B comparison to the other CD or DVD, but this "Extended Versions" CD has a pretty lousy mix. The mix is way too wet, way too much reverb/echo put on everything. Add to that the fact that they mix the crowd noise way up, even during the songs, and at times this CD almost sounds like just a really good audience recording! It is a soundboard recording (I'm assuming!), presumably mixed from the multi-tracks just like the other CD and DVD. But this mix is not particularly impressive.

Still, at $8.99, this is a must-buy at least for Ringo and All-Starr Band completists. The mix is not so bad that the CD is unlistenable, it just isn't to my liking. I recall the previous King Biscuit releases featured mixes with too much echo/reverb, but as I said, I didn't do an A/B comparison right away to see if there are any differences with this "Extended Versions" CD. One other note of interest: At the bottom of the flip side of the cover, below the tracklisting, it states "All tracks P2001 Pet Rock Records. Courtesy of Pet Rock Records". I don't know who "Pet Rock Records" is associated with, but I would have to assume that the King Biscuit label has some sort of connection to BMG that allows this release.

My overall impression: This is really only for completists, but at a price of only $8.99, it stands on its own as a decent and enjoyable collection of songs. If they were charging $15 or even more, I'd be much more critical.

Update (5/20/03) Thanks for all your email responses today confirming this is indeed a new live Ringo album. You wouldn't know it, however, since the album basically surfaced under the radar -- hardly anyone knows about it. Here's info from Tom in Colorado:

The Beatlefan website says that "Extended Versions" was an "almost stealth" release, and (www.towerrecords.com) claims to have it in stock, listing a 4/7 release date. No other stores seem to have heard of it, however. I called our local Tower and they didn't stock it.

"Ringo Extended Versions" is already released. I picked up a copy of this disc last week at my local fye store in the suburbs of Philly. However, it was the only copy they had, and I haven't seen the disc anywhere else. I'm pretty sure that all of this is taken from the Chicago show, same source as the King Biscuit disc and the DVD. Yellow Sub is definitely Chicago. Keep up the good work- Chris

(5/19/03) There's an unconfirmed report that BMG will release a new live All-Starr Band album called "Ringo and His All-Starr Band - Extended Versions" with material not on the original album. The track listing, according to this Mott the Hoople news board, features the following: Yellow Submarine, Karn Evil 9, It Don't Come Easy, Still Love Rock n Roll, Act Naturally, Photograph, Love Bizarre, With A Little Help From My Friends, Glamorous Life and Everlasting Love. No venue is listed. (Thanks to Ed Felman.)