Written by: George Harrison
Recorded: 24 May; August; September 1976
Producer: Arif Mardin
Released: 17 September 1976 (UK), 27 September 1976 (US)
Available on:
Ringo’s Rotogravure
Personnel
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums
Lon Van Eaton: guitar
Jane Getz: piano
Arif Mardin: ARP strings
Klaus Voormann: bass guitar
Jim Keltner: drums
David Lasley: vocals
‘I’ll Still Love You’ is the seventh song on Ringo Starr’s 1976 album Ringo’s Rotogravure.
I also asked George to write one, but there was an old one of his that was never released by anybody that I always loved – I was on the session when it was recorded – so in the end I asked him if instead of writing one could I have that old one. He said fine, it saved him a job. It’s called ‘I’ll Still Love You’.
New Musical Express, 16 October 1976
George Harrison originally titled it ‘Whenever’, and later ‘When Every Song Is Sung’. He recorded it multiple times but remained unhappy with the results.
When I wrote ‘When Every Song Is Sung’ I had it titled ‘Whenever’. I got the chord sequence and ‘when every song is sung’ were the first words to come out of my mouth and it developed from there. It was one of those that I tried several times to record: Ronnie Spector, Phil’s wife, had a go at it; Cilla Black also – in fact I started to produce it for Cilla as a single but we didn’t finish it. We also did it with Leon Russell and his wife Mary and in the end Ringo recorded it. As Shirley Bassey once suggested in a newspaper, after having a ‘hit’ with ‘Something’, that she and I could be like Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach, if we got together, I thought this would be a good one for her…
I Me Mine
Harrison first recorded it during the All Things Must Pass sessions in 1970. At the time it was known simply as ‘I Love You’.
In February 1971 Harrison and Phil Spector co-produced a Ronnie Spector session. They worked on ‘Try Some, Buy Some’, ‘Tandoori Chicken’, ‘When Every Song Is Sung’, and ‘You’.
Harrison produced Cilla Black’s version at Apple Studios in August 1972. Although ultimately shelved, a single release was planned, and Harrison wrote ‘The Light That Has Lighted The World’ when they needed a b-side.
‘The Light That Has Lighted The World’ came about during the time I tried recording ‘When Every Song Is Sung’ with Cilla Black. Later I tried to write her a b-side and I thought ‘How do I relate to Cilla?’ Well she was from Liverpool and had left Liverpool the same way I had, and that experience you have when you first make it, everyone is pleased – ‘Local boy/girl makes good’ – but once you leave they say ‘He’s changed – he’s not what he used to be!’
I Me Mine
Black re-recorded the song in 1975; that version was finally released in 2003. Leon and Mary Russell recorded another in early 1976.
Starr’s recording of ‘I’ll Still Love You’ was taped on 24 May 1976 at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. Harrison had hepatitis and was unable to attend the session.
Arif Mardin’s production was not well received by Harrison, who reportedly threatened to sue Starr to block the song’s release. There was an exchange of legal letters but the dispute was settled before court papers were filed.
