#WRACK MY BRAIN FOR PLUS#

Recording moved to Devonshire Sound Studio in Hollywood on 11 August. Following on from a brief holiday, Starr and Bach flew to Los Angeles on 27 July. They also recorded the song 'You Can't Fight Lightning', which Starr wrote after he and Bach were nearly struck by lightning.

#WRACK MY BRAIN FOR PLUS#

With Wings then in limbo and McCartney II just released, McCartney booked time with Starr to record three songs: 'Private Property' and 'Attention' (both McCartney originals) plus a cover of ' Sure to Fall'. Starr started sessions in France for a new album, at this point titled Can't Fight Lightning, on 11 July, at Super Bear Studios, lasting until 21 July. Starr asked McCartney whether he would like to play on and possibly produce Starr's next album, to which McCartney agreed. Soon after meeting soon-to-be second wife Barbara Bach on the film set of Caveman in early 1980, Ringo Starr met fellow former-Beatle Paul McCartney, and his wife, Linda, at a hotel while they had earlier visited the 33rd annual Cannes Film Festival, on 16 May. However, the home demo remained unreleased until it was included on the 1998 John Lennon Anthology compilation. Lennon wrote the song specifically for Starr, and wanted him to record it for his next album.

The song has the characteristic country style that Starr loved so much, and was recorded on a cassette tape with Lennon's vocals, his acoustic guitar and a drum machine. While visiting John Lennon at his Dakota apartment, Starr was given a demo of 'Life Begins at 40' by Lennon. Stop and Smell the Roses was reissued in 1994 with six bonus tracks. Starr was devastated by that news, so he decided not to record either song. John Lennon had been due to participate in the recording, having offered Starr the songs 'Life Begins at 40' and ' Nobody Told Me', but he was murdered in New York a month before the sessions were to have taken place. After the label withdrew its support, the project lay dormant until he signed with the RCA subsidiary Boardwalk Records in 1981. The album began life in mid 1980 as Can't Fight Lightning, while Starr was signed to Portrait Records.

It also includes contributions from Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson, Ronnie Wood and Stephen Stills. The album includes the hit single 'Wrack My Brain', written and produced by George Harrison, but otherwise failed to find commercial success. Released in October 1981, it followed the twin commercial failures of Ringo the 4th (1977) and Bad Boy (1978). Stop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by English rock musician Ringo Starr.

Wrack my brain for