Written by: Larry Kingston, Fred Dycus
Recorded: 27 June 1970
Producer: Pete Drake
Engineer: Scotty Moore
Released: 25 September 1970 (UK), 28 September 1970 (US)
Available on:
Beaucoups Of Blues
Personnel
Ringo Starr: vocals
Charlie Daniels, Chuck Howard, Jerry Kennedy, Dave Kirby, Sorrells Pickard, Jerry Shook: guitar
Ben Keith/Pete Drake: pedal steel guitar
Roy Huskey Jr: upright bass
Buddy Harman/DJ Fontana: drums
Hoyt Hawkins, Neal Matthews Jr, Gordon Stoker, Ray Walker: vocals
‘Fastest Growing Heartache In The West’ is the third song on Beaucoups Of Blues, Ringo Starr’s second solo album.
It was composed by Larry Kingston and Fred Dycus. Kingston also wrote ‘Wine, Women And Loud Happy Songs’ for the album, and co-wrote ‘I’d Be Talking All The Time’ with Chuck Howard.
I was working in the factory then and looked up at the counter and it said Tennessee Steel – the fastest growing steel warehouse in the south. I looked at it again and thought I got the fastest growing heartache in the south. I got together with Larry Kingston and he said ‘the fastest growing heartache in the west: we came here from Arkansas for a better way of life and she got into California booze and California men.’ That’s how the song originated. It was actually about me but we moved it to a different setting. A lot of times you take bits and pieces out of your life and you can’t write the truth when you’re living with a woman that’s causing you heartache. We had to make it like we got this friend of mine.
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In the studio
Beaucoups Of Blues was recorded at Music City Recorders in Nashville, TN, with a number of local musicians, some of whom had appeared on Bob Dylan’s albums Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait. The album was produced by Pete Drake, with Elvis Presley’s guitarist Scotty Moore engineering.
The sessions took place from 6pm-9pm and 10pm-1am over three nights, from 25-27 June 1970. ‘Fastest Growing Heartache In The West’ was recorded during the first session on the night of 27 June.
Lyrics
I brought her here from Arkansas
A simple country girl
To try a Californian way of life
But it didn’t take her long to learn
The ways of the modern world
Now she’s California’s fastest moving wife
She’s working on it all the time
And soon she’ll finish me
And the world’s saddest man will live here in Los Angeles
Of all the things she’s ever done
She’s making this her best
I’ve got the fastest growing heartache in the west
Till we came here no man had ever
Touched her heart but me
She’d never tasted any lips but mine
But I know now men have seen
What only I should see
Since her lips has tasted California wine
She’s working on it all the time
And soon she’ll finish me
And the world’s saddest man will live here in Los Angeles
Of all the things she’s ever done
She’s making this her best
I’ve got the fastest growing heartache in the west
