Ten takes of the song were recorded in a session lasting approximately 18 minutes. This group of sessions lasted until 27 March. and his wife Linda,

After finishing "Six O'Clock", Starr asked his chauffeur to buy some tap dancing shoes which Starr would use on "Step Lightly". Apple/Capitol Records released Ringo on 2 November in the US, and on 9 November by Apple/EMI in the UK.

The original cassette tape and 8-track versions of the album, as well as a small number of early promotional copies of the vinyl album, contained a longer version of "Six O'Clock". The record label on the original stock pressing of the vinyl album incorrectly lists the running time of "Six O'Clock" as 5:26, which may have led some to mistakenly assume that the original pressing contained the long version of the song. The label on the reissued vinyl album correctly lists the running time as 4:06. At the time of release, various reviews and press articles of the day stated that the longer version was "snuck" onto the tape duplicating masters at the last moment; this may have been done for the benefit of 8-track versions of the album, to make program two of the tape (on which the song appeared) the same approximate length as the other tracks. Artwork for a quadrophonic version was produced, but was never released. Additionally, the original artwork lists the second song, written by Randy Newman, as "Hold On" which was later corrected to "Have You Seen My Baby" in following pressings.

When Ringo was reissued on compact disc, the album included three bonus tracks: Starr's 1971 hit single "It Don't Come Easy" and its B-side "Early 1970", as well as the B-side to "Photograph", "Down and Out". The CD was released in the UK on 4 March 1991,Propelled by the international success of "Photograph", and speculation regarding the former Beatles working together on the same project, the album reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 7 in the UK, and No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, denied the top position by Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Ringo peaked at No. 1 on America's other albums charts, however, in Cashbox and Record World. The album was certified gold in America on 8 November and in Britain a month after its release there. Loraine Alterman of The New York Times described it as an "instant knockout ... [a] sensational album". In his review for Rolling Stone, Ben Gerson said that, on one hand, Starr's limited artistry and the abundance of star guests made the album "rambling and inconsistent", yet in terms of "atmosphere", "Ringo is the most successful record by an ex-Beatle. It is not polemical and abrasive like Lennon's, harsh and self-pitying like Harrison's, or precious and flimsy like McCartney's, but balanced, airy and amiable."

Track listing

Notes:

  • "Have You Seen My Baby" is listed as "Hold On" on the record label.
  • Cassette pressings contain an extended version of "Six O'Clock" running 5:26. While the LP contains a shortened version running 4:05, the center label incorrectly lists the duration as 5:26.
  • Digital releases, as well as some CD pressings, place "Down and Out" as the fourth track, in between "Photograph" and "Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)".

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

  • Ringo Starr – lead vocals, drums; percussion (track 4)
  • George Harrison – electric guitar (tracks 1, 4, 10), acoustic guitar (track 3), backing vocals (tracks 3, 4)
  • Vini Poncia – acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 10), electric guitar (track 5), backing vocals (tracks 4, 6), percussion (track 8)
  • Jimmy Calvert – acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 7), electric guitar (tracks 5, 6, 9)
  • Robbie Robertson – electric guitar (track 4)
  • Steve Cropper – electric guitar (track 7)
  • Marc Bolan – guitars (track 2)
  • Klaus Voormann – bass guitar (all tracks)
  • Paul McCartney – "kazoo" vocal solo (track 5), piano, synthesizer, flute & string arrangements, backing vocals (track 8)
  • Linda McCartney – backing vocals (track 8)
  • John Lennon – piano, backing vocals (track 1)
  • Billy Preston – organ (tracks 1, 6), piano (track 6)
  • Garth Hudson – accordion (track 4)
  • Levon Helm – mandolin (track 4)
  • Rick Danko – fiddle (track 4)
  • James Booker – piano (track 2)
  • Nicky Hopkins – piano (tracks 3, 5, 10)
  • Tom Hensley – piano (track 9)
  • Gary Wright - piano (track 13)
  • Jim Keltner – drums (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 9)
  • Milt Holland – percussion (tracks 2, 9), marimba (track 10)
  • Lon & Derrek Van Eaton – percussion (track 3)
  • Tom Scott – horns & arrangements (tracks 2, 6, 7, 9, 10)
  • Chuck Findley – horns (track 9)
  • Bobby Keys – saxophone (track 3)
  • David Bromberg – banjo, fiddle (track 4)
  • Harry Nilsson – backing vocals (track 5)
  • Martha Reeves – backing vocals (track 6)
  • Merry Clayton – backing vocals (track 6)
  • Richard Perry – backing vocals (track 9)

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Chart (1973–74)

! Peak<br/>position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| align="center"| 2

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)

| align="center"| 21

|-

|-

! scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)

| align="center"| 2

|-

!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| align="center"| 10

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)

| align="center"| 1

|-

! scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| align="center"| 1

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Chart (1973)

! Peak<br/>position

|-

! scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| align="center"| 39

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Chart (1974)

! Peak<br/>position

|-

! scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| align="center"| 15

|-

|-

! scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| align="center"| 30

|}

Certifications

Cover version

An instrumental version of the album was produced by David Hentschel and titled Sta*rtling Music. Sta*rtling Music was the first release on Starr's label, Ring O' Records; released on 18 April 1975 in the UK,