Stop and Smell the Roses (Ringo Starr album)

This article is about the album by Ringo Starr. For the album by Mac Davis, see Stop and Smell the Roses (Mac Davis album). For the 1974 song, see Stop and Smell the Roses (Mac Davis song).

Stop and Smell the Roses
Studio album by
Ringo Starr
Released27 October 1981 (1981-10-27)
Recorded11 July 1980 – 12 February 1981
GenreRock
Length32:23
LabelBoardwalk (US), RCA (UK)
Producer
Ringo Starr chronology
Bad Boy
(1978) 		Stop and Smell the Roses
(1981) 		Old Wave
(1983)
Singles from Stop and Smell the Roses
  1. "Wrack My Brain"
    Released: 27 October 1981 (US); 13 November 1981 (UK)
  2. "Private Property"
    Released: 13 January 1982

Stop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by English rock musician Ringo Starr. Released in October 1981, it followed the twin commercial failures of Ringo the 4th (1977) and Bad Boy (1978). The album includes the hit single "Wrack My Brain", written and produced by George Harrison, but otherwise failed to find commercial success. It also includes contributions from Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson, Ronnie Wood and Stephen Stills.

The album began life in mid 1980 as Can't Fight Lightning, while Starr was signed to Portrait Records. After the label withdrew its support, the project lay dormant until he signed with the RCA subsidiary Boardwalk Records in 1981. John Lennon had been due to participate in the recording, having offered Starr the songs "Life Begins at 40" and "Nobody Told Me", but he was murdered in New York a month before the sessions were to have taken place. Starr was devastated by the news, and decided not to record either song. Stop and Smell the Roses was reissued in 1994 with six bonus tracks.