Written by: Richard Starkey
Recorded: 9 March; 10 July 1973; 2011
Producer: Richard Perry
Released: 2 November 1973 (US), 23 November 1973 (UK)
Available on:
Ringo
Personnel
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, percussion
Steve Cropper, Jimmy Calvert: guitar
Nicky Hopkins: electric piano
Tom Scott: clarinet
Klaus Voormann: bass guitar
‘Step Lightly’ is the seventh song on Ringo Starr’s 1973 album Ringo.
It was the only song on the album to be solely credited to Starr, although he received co-writing credits on several others.
I convinced Ringo it would be fun just to try out some stuff in a studio when he came to the States. By the end of the [first week] we had seven tracks down, such as ‘Photograph’, plus one I’d brought in as a suggestion, ‘You’re Sixteen’. ‘Step Lightly’ was especially fun because that night Ringo showed up with some tap shoes; I don’t know where he got them. And at 5am, a drunken Ringo Starr, holding on to a music stand to keep his balance, made his tap-dancing debut.
LA Times, 24 March 1974
In the studio
The backing track for ‘Step Lightly’ was recorded on 9 March 1973, with overdubs added on 10 July. The sessions took place at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles.
‘Step Lightly’ was given a cabaret-style production, in keeping with the revue-style presentation of the Ringo album. Starr’s tap dancing can be heard from 1:40, and may have been added at Apple Studios at an unspecified date. The back cover of the album noted “the dancing feet of Richard Starkey, M.B.E.”
Ringo came in with a set of tap shoes and we overdubbed him dancing. I wish we had all the sessions on film, but that one in particular was a blast and would be the most entertaining to watch.
Chairman At The Board: Recording The Soundtrack Of A Generation
Starr re-recorded ‘Step Lightly’ for his 17th studio album Ringo 2012.
