“But That’s Another Story” Said Ringo…

As we had already recorded the main theme there was not much we could do regarding the music, until we got the episodes to work on.

 I was still managing Ringo’s studio, and we had just finished his album “Old Wave” with Joe Walsh from the Eagles producing. Joe brought his own engineer over from America, Jim Nipor, a lovely guy, and a terrific engineer.

There were always lots of top musicians around, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, John Entwistle, Joe, and Ringo to name a few. It was amazing working with a lot of my musician heroes and all in one room.

After a short break it was on to Thomas the Tank Engine, series one.

Ringo didn’t want to work in a London studio, understandably he wanted to record the narration for Thomas in his own studio, which was part of his house, Tittenhurst Park. He didn’t want any strangers around, so they were closed sessions meaning no one was allowed in except Britt and me.

Tittenhurst Park                                                                                                                          

Startling Studios

Britt was producing and I was engineering. As soon as we heard Ringo narrating, we knew she had chosen the right person for the job, he was perfect.

The Royal Berkshire Hotel was literally over the road from Tittenhurst Park so Britt would often stay there so we could get an early start or a late night if needed as Britt lived just outside Southampton at the time which would have been quite a commute.

The Royal Berkshire Hotel

We would start work around 10 in the morning and work through until lunchtime. Then Britt and I would listen to the performances and if necessary, record any pick=ups with Ringo in the afternoon. Once we were happy, we would piece them all together ready for the editors to make final adjustments against the visuals.

Computer based recording wasn’t available back then, so this was all done on ¼” tape and editing was done with a razor blade and an editing block   – extremely high tech.

I cannot tell you the number of times I grovelled in the bin for a piece of tape confidently thrown away by mistake.

There were so many funny outtakes, that would be wonderful to hear now but sadly all destroyed at the time, for obvious reasons. And Britt took all the scripts and notes back to her office.

We recorded about three episodes a day so including pick ups and editing the whole narration for the series took us about two weeks. I don’t think I got a credit for recording the narration, so it’s been a secret until now. With the narration done it was on to the music.

Thankfully, the studio was no longer open to outside clients and Ringo wasn’t too busy, so I had lots of spare time to work on the music. Junior and I would start work mid-morning and work late into the night.

Ringo would often pop his head round the studio door to share a joke and have a listen, he was so supportive and always good for a laugh. He could not resist playing so though I can’t remember what tracks he played on, he may have played tambourine or claps or even Toby’s Bell on some of them.

When I was writing the theme, I based it very loosely on Mean Mister Mustard by The Beatles as I had this idea that one day Ringo would sing a version of it, how great would that have been to get a Beatle to sing one of my songs, but sadly that never happened. Still, it’s a terrific instrumental track and known all over the world, by not only the kids, but mums, dads and grandparents alike.