Sentimental Journey (1970)
1. Sentimental Journey 2. Night and Day 3. Whispering Grass 4. Bye Bye Blackbird 5. I'm a Fool To Care 6. Stardust 7. Blue Turning Grey Over You 8. Love is a Many Splendid Thing 9. Dream 10.You Always Hurt the One You Love 11.Have I Told You Lately 12.Let the Rest of the World Go By
By the end of the 1960s, it was no longer a question of if The Beatles would explore solo ventures—it was merely a matter of when. The internal strains were well-documented, and it seemed inevitable that each of the four would begin sketching out their post-Beatle identities. For Lennon, it was political provocation and primal confession. For McCartney, domestic charm and soft experimentation. For Harrison, spiritual depth and guitar-driven grandeur. And for Ringo Starr—arguably the least musically prolific of the quartet—it was... an album of 1940s standards.
Sentimental Journey, released in 1970, was a puzzling choice. While the title and cover (a photograph of the Liverpool pub where Ringo was born above) clearly aimed for nostalgic intimacy, the project felt curiously out of step—not only with the moment, but with Starr’s own emerging post-Beatle persona. It was, by any measure, an odd debut: a collection of big-band-era songs more associated with parental record collections than with the countercultural revolution The Beatles had helped spark.
The decision might have been defensible if it had been framed as kitsch or recontextualization, but Starr approached the material with sincerity. Unfortunately, sincerity could not compensate for vocal limitations. Ringo, always a charming and reliable Beatle, was never a singer of great range or interpretive power. And these songs—iconic, melodically rich, and deeply associated with legendary vocalists—required both.
The arrangements, it must be said, are competently executed. The record enlisted multiple high-profile producers and arrangers, including George Martin, Quincy Jones, and Paul McCartney himself. Each track was tailored to a different musical team, yet the results somehow feel homogenous—pleasant but lifeless. One is left with the impression that the sessions were arranged first, and Ringo’s vocals added later as an afterthought.
The material itself is largely untouchable: Night and Day, Blue, Turning Grey Over You, Stardust. But familiarity is a double-edged sword. These songs carry weight, and unless a singer can bring something revelatory—or at the very least, charmingly idiosyncratic—the risk is that they collapse under their own history. Starr, with his good-natured but flat delivery, simply can’t elevate them. The record, while well-intentioned, feels less like a sentimental journey and more like a polite detour.
It’s difficult to determine the intended audience. Younger listeners, still enmeshed in the afterglow of Woodstock and psychedelia, would have found little of interest here. And older listeners, for whom the repertoire was deeply familiar, were unlikely to be swayed by a Beatle’s take—especially one known more for drumming than crooning.
In the end, Sentimental Journey remains a curiosity—a document of one Beatle’s attempt to pay tribute to his past, even as his band’s present was dissolving. It isn’t unlistenable. It isn’t offensive. But it is ultimately forgettable. A charming misfire from a lovable performer stepping tentatively into solo terrain.