Wrack My Brain
| "Wrack My Brain" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Wrack My Brain by Ringo Starr.jpeg US single picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Ringo Starr | ||||
| from the album Stop and Smell the Roses | ||||
| B-side | "Drumming is My Madness" | |||
| Released | 27 October 1981 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||
| Length | 2:21 | |||
| Label | RCA (US) Boardwalk (UK) | |||
| Songwriter | George Harrison | |||
| Producer | George Harrison | |||
| Ringo Starr singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Wrack My Brain" on YouTube | ||||
"Wrack My Brain" is a song by the English musician Ringo Starr as the lead single from his 1981 album Stop and Smell the Roses, written and produced by former Beatle George Harrison.
The song became Starr's final Top 40 hit of his career, as well as his last single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background
[edit | edit source]"Wrack My Brain" was written by George Harrison to explain his frustration with the music industry and the pressure to produce hits.[2]
In the liner notes of Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr, Starr wrote the following about the song:
George wrote that one. I was watching a lot of TV then, as he writes in one of the lyrics of the song. Also I was probably going insane too. George thought this song would be good for mr. It's a song I know he'd never do. So it gave George more freedom and it was a bit looser than something that he would do for himself.
— Ringo Starr, in David Wild, Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr, [3]
Reception
[edit | edit source]Billboard called it a "short, catchy pop tune" and stating that "This is Ringo's most instantaneously memorable tune in some time."[1] Record World stated that you "can't help but love Ringo here, as he sings of a stifled romance on this initial single from his new LP."[4]
Release history
[edit | edit source]The song has been released on Starr Struck: Best of Ringo Starr, Vol. 2 and Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr.[5]
Personnel
[edit | edit source]According to author Simon Leng, except where noted:[6]
- Ringo Starr – drums, vocal
- George Harrison – guitars, backing vocal
- Herbie Flowers – bass, tuba[3]
- Ray Cooper – piano,[3] percussion, vocoder,[3] backing vocal
- Al Kooper – piano,[3] electric guitar[3]
Charts
[edit | edit source]| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] | 32 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[8] | 10 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[9] | 38 |
References
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- ^ "Ringo Starr – Wrack My Brain" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ^ "Ringo Starr – Wrack My Brain". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ "Ringo Starr Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
