| "Ringo" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Lorne Greene | ||||
| from the album Welcome to the Ponderosa | ||||
| B-side | "Bonanza" | |||
| Released | October 1964[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1964[2] | |||
| Genre | Country[3] | |||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Don Robertson Hal Blair | |||
| Lorne Greene singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Ringo" is a popular song written by Don Robertson and Hal Blair. It was a hit single for Canadian-born actor Lorne Greene in 1964. It reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard charts on December 5, 1964, as well as garnering the same spot on the "Easy Listening" chart, where it retained the position for six weeks.[4] The single also peaked at #21 on the Hot Country Singles chart.[5] In Canada, it hit #1[6] on the RPM top singles chart on December 7, 1964.
The song's sole sung lyric is performed by a male chorus while the verses are a spoken-word, first-person account of a Western lawman and his friendship with a notorious gunfighter, known only as Ringo. Greene described the song as about "Johnny Ringo the outlaw", though the account in the song differs from Ringo's life.[7] The song's spoken word format (with a chorus intoning the title of the song) had been used to great effect in 1961 for Jimmy Dean's hit single, "Big Bad John".
- ^ "Ringo / Bonanza - Lorne Greene". 45cat. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
- ^ Bronson, Fred, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, Billboard Books, 1992, p. 161
- ^ Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "The Beatles - "I Want To Hold Your Hand". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 45.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 108.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 143.
- ^ 1964's Biggest Canadian Hits | Canadian Music Blog
- ^ Mary Campbell. "Hit Parade is Topped by Stone Age Presley." Brunswick (GA) News, December 16, 1964, p. 10.