(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna

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"Goodnight Vienna"
US picture sleeve
Single by Ringo Starr
from the album Goodnight Vienna
B-side	"Oo-Wee"
Released	2 June 1975 (US only)
Genre	Rock
Length	2:58 (single version)
Label	Apple Records
Songwriter(s)	John Lennon
Producer(s)	Richard Perry
Ringo Starr singles chronology
"Snookeroo" (1975) "Goodnight Vienna" (1975) "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" (1976)
Goodnight Vienna track listing
show 11 tracks Side one "(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" "Occapella" "Oo-Wee" "Husbands and Wives" "Snookeroo" Side two "All by Myself" "Call Me" "No No Song" "Only You (And You Alone)" "Easy for Me" "Goodnight Vienna (Reprise)"

"(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" is a song written by John Lennon, and released by Ringo Starr as the opening title track to his 1974 album Goodnight Vienna. A brief reprise (in which Ringo thanks the band and addresses the listener) closes the album. Released as the third single, this version is a medley combination of the two. The single was released in the US on 2 June 1975.^{[nb 1][1]}

The title song features Lennon on opening count-in and piano, and Billy Preston on clavinet; and the reprise features Lennon's intro, 'OK, with gusto, boys, with gusto!'.

Composition and Lyrics[]

Written during Lennon's so-called "Lost Weekend" with May Pang, the lyrics depict the pair hanging out with cohorts (including Starr, Harry Nilsson and Keith Moon) in Los Angeles. The term "Goodnight Vienna" is English slang meaning "it's all over", and the slang term "bohunk" is a mildly derogatory term for an immigrant of Bohemian descent.

This was the second of five Lennon songs to be offered for inclusion on Starr's solo albums, (the others being "I'm the Greatest" from Ringo, "Cookin' (in the Kitchen of Love)" from Ringo's Rotogravure, and two unreleased songs intended for Stop and Smell the Roses).

Personnel[]

• Ringo Starr - lead vocals, drums
• John Lennon - piano
• Klaus Voormann - bass
• Jim Keltner - drums
• Lon Van Eaton - guitar
• Jesse Ed Davis - guitar
• Billy Preston - clavinet
• Carl Fortina - accordion

Reception[]

Billboard called "(It's All Down to) Goodnight Vienna" a "good, upbeat sing-along type song," saying that the lyrics were "fun" and the instrumentals were "strong."^[2]

Billboard also reviewed the B-side of the single, "Oo-Wee", calling it a "strong, rhythm oriented song...with some good horn riffs and an interesting piano solo."^[2]

Chart history[]

References[]

Footnotes

Citations

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