The Story and Meaning Behind "Early 1970," Ringo Starr's Take on The Beatles' Strained
For anybody wondering about the state of relations among the four Beatles following the announcement of their breakup in 1970, Ringo Starr came through with an update. He did it via the song “Early 1970,” a B-side that revealed Starr’s desire for amity among the four men.
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What was the song about? How did the song play into Ringo Starr’s post-Beatles music strategy? And how did it reveal the rift that separated Paul McCartney from other members of the group at the time? Let’s go back in time to find out about “Early 1970.”
Ringo Starr took a different path than his fellow Beatles in how he resumed his recording career after the group’s breakup. Instead of coming out of the gate with a high-profile solo debut, Ringo released a pair of low-key covers albums in 1970 that indulged his love of standards (Sentimental Journey) and classic country songs (Beaucoups of Blues).
From there, he decided to focus a bit more attention on his budding career as an actor in motion pictures. But he wanted to keep his toes in the water, so to speak, in the rock and roll world so that people wouldn’t forget about him. That’s why he decided to go the non-album single route for his lone release in 1971.
That single turned out to be a giant hit. “It Don’t Come Easy” displayed Starr in focused and decisive form as a singer on a propulsive track that doled out world-weary wisdom. Meanwhile, for the B-side, he chose a song that he first started working on with bassist Klaus Voorman while both were involved in sessions for the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. Later, George Harrison would help Starr finish the song, which was ironic because Harrison is one of the song’s chief topics.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
