The Story Of Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr’s “Lost” Collaboration

When recording his ninth solo album in 1987, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr attracted a number of famous musicians, including Bob Dylan, to participate in the recording. Sadly, the finished product has never been released to the public.

With the help of producer Chips Moman, whom he met in the Bahamas, Starr mapped out his album’s future. For this, his first album in more than four years, the drummer traveled to Memphis in February 1987 to begin recording. They continued to work diligently on the album for the following two months. Reported guests at Three Alarm Studios included Carl Perkins, Dave Edmunds, and Eric Clapton.

But there was something dark happening around the recording process. Ringo testified about the depths of his alcoholism, claiming he drank up to 16 bottles of wine a day while making the album. For this reason, Starr did everything in his power to stop the record from being out, as it reminded him of the dark times. However, Moman tried to recover his losses by secretly releasing the album without Ringo’s knowledge, which resulted in a heated legal battle.

Though Starr’s personal problems help to explain his opposition to the album’s publication, he has been unable to prevent its leakage. The Bob Dylan duet “If I Knew Now What I Knew Then” was subsequently bootlegged. Unfortunately, only Ringo can be heard on this recording, and Dylan’s part is absent.

You can check it out below.