"I'm A Fool To Care" Sessions

Another track for the first Ringo solo LP "Sentimental Journey".  This particular track was arranged by Beatles' Hamburg friend and bass player Klaus Voorman. The song was written by Ted Daffan and was originally a hit for Les Paul and Mary Ford.
The backing track was recorded in Studio 2 of Abbey Road with the instrumental rhythm of drums, bass, horn and piano (supposedly played by Beatles' musical colleague Billy Preston) on February 11 1970. It took 21 takes and the last three takes were edited together for the commercial release. With the addition of an acoustic guitar and Ringo's vocal overdubbed, the song was mixed in stereo.
Six days later on February 17 1970, it was decided to add a 15 piece string section to the recording and therefore there was a tape reduction in order to accommodate this. Lastly, the song was once again mixed to stereo with the new addition on February 20 1970 and this was the final mix.
It was released on the Apple LP/CD "Sentimental Journey" and can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhFLSBuI9OI

"Instant Karma" Promo Video

On February 11 1970, The Plastic Ono Band required a promotional video (or "film" as they used to call them in those days) for the single "Instant Karma" since it was rising in the charts and it warranted airplay on visual media (television) for the various top ten shows of the day like "Top Of The Pops" , etc.
It was decided to do a "live" type version of the song. Engineer Geoff Emerick took the song and created a mono mix of the tune as well as removing the vocals in the verses so that it would appear "live" when John sang it. This unique mix was conducted two days before the performance inside Abbey Road Studios.
The actual visual performance was conducted for BBC1 at the Television Center (Studio 8) in London.  John sat behind a piano and sang the song live, Klaus Voorman mined the bass part and Alan White mimed the drums and Yoko appeared near John's piano either knitting blindfolded or holding up placards.
There are two versions of the video: One has John and Yoko (knitting) in black turtlenecks (take 3) and it features Mal Evans on tambourine and a second bass player - a Mr. BP Fallon. The second version has John in a paisley type shirt (take 4) and a jean jacket. Yoko also is wearing a jean jacket and holding placards with various logos printed on them while miming to the song. Mal Evans is not present on this version but has been replaced on tambourine by the above Mr. BP Fallon.
A bootleg of the video soundtrack (take 3) can be heard on the unofficial LP "Doll's House" and (take 4) can be seen on the 1992 "The John Lennon Video Collection".
You can watch take 3 on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLy2SaSQAtA

"Dream" Sessions

"Dream" was a song composed by Johnny Mercer and was an early contender for the upcoming Ringo Starr solo LP "Sentimental Journey". The backing track featuring bass, drums and a guitar were recorded in Trident Studios London on November 14.
After the basic track was completed, Ringo decided to add some of his vocals to the tune and ended up over-dubbing two or three different voices to give him a "group" effect sounding like more than one guy singing the song. Once completed, the tape was brought over to Abbey Road and a rough mix was done by Geoff Emerick four days later.
George Martin wrote the orchestral score for the song and it was added to the track in EMI Studio 2 months later on February 10 1970. Once this was completed, the song was mixed in stereo only on February 20 1970 probably at EMI as well.
The song was released commercially on all copies of the Apple LP/CD "Sentimental Journey".
You can hear it here as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc-JtwzKP-I

"Govinda"

At the beginning of February 1970 George Harrison along with the Radha Krishna Temple members entered Trident Studios in London to record two chants for an Apple single. The A-side was a follow up to the previous chant from 1969 "Hare Krishna Mantra/ Prayer to the Spiritual Masters" (Apple 1810).
The session took place on February 07 and consisted of George on acoustic with Klaus Voorman on bass; probably Ringo was on drums although this cannot be verified. The members of the Temple bought their voices, their bells, flute and organ while John Barham contributed an orchestral arrangement for the recording.
The B-side " Govinda Jai Jai" was also recorded during this time with the Temple members chanting and playing some percussion along with a harmonium. Produced by George Harrison although no instrument was played on the B-side by George.
This single (Apple 1921 in North America) was released the following month in March of 1970 and did nothing in the North American charts although it did reach #26 in the UK charts...go figure. Incredibly, there would be a follow up single and LP released the following year. "Govinda" was included on the commercial LP "The Radha Krsna Temple" (Apple SKAO-3376).

"Who Has Seen The Wind"

The B-side to the "Instant Karma" single on Apple. Credited to the Plastic Ono Band. This song was probably a co-written effort with the music and lyrics shared by John and Yoko although the style of the lyrics is closer to Yoko. The music features John on an acoustic guitar with harpsichord and flute as well as tambourine sounding very medieval.
The composition was recorded at Trident Studios in London and there is little information as to the date or number of takes but it would have been sometime in January 1970.

"Instant Karma" (We All Shine On)

The song "Instant Karma (We all Shine On) was written by John Lennon on the morning of January 27 1970 and in the next 24 hours, the song would not only be written, but also recorded and mixed for commercial release. The song was produced by none other than Phil Spector who (according to John and George) did such an amazing job that he would be given the "Get Back/Let It Be" tapes and would also go on to produce several of John and George's future Apple LPs.
The song was started at John's Tittenhurst Park home on an upright piano located on the first floor. John then traveled to the Apple building on Savile Row in London to complete the song on a piano ordered from a music store and delivered to his office (although there was already a piano located in the basement of the Apple building in the studio, but ...hey). Abbey Road studio was booked that afternoon for an evening session.
The basic tracks were recorded with the following personnel: John on acoustic, George on electric, Klaus Voorman on bass, Alan White on drums and Billy Preston on electric piano. A decision was made to scrap the guitars and use keyboard instead so overdubbed on take 10 of the basic track were Klaus Voorman and John on electric piano and George Harrison and Alan White on acoustic piano. Mal Evans added chimes to accent the chorus words while Phil Spector produced and Phil MacDonald engineered. John added his vocal but wanted a choir in the background for the chorus; Mal Evans was dispatched to find random volunteers and they were brought in from a nightclub to complete the recording. The volunteers also clapped along and a tambourine was also added to the madness.
The song was mixed for stereo overnight (the fourth mix was used for commercial release). Mal Evans brought the tape over to the Apple Studios to get it mastered and the song would be released as an Apple single on February 06 1970 and made the charts as well. Number 3 in the US and number 4 in the UK. Not bad for a song recorded in literally one day.
Apart from the single you can also find the song on the LP/CD "Lennon Legend".

Sentimental Journey

"Sentimental Journey" is the title song of Ringo's very first solo LP. The song was arranged by Ringo's future producer Richard Perry. Richard and Ringo would not meet for a few years yet but Richard would eventually work with Ringo on several recordings and LPs including "Ringo" and "Goodnight Vienna" in the early 1970s.
The orchestral backing for "Sentimental Journey" was completed in late 1969 although I cannot find an exact date and the tape was sent to London. Ringo's vocal - double tracked at various times throughout the middle eight - was recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in London on the evening of January 14 1970.
The song was mixed in stereo at Abbey Road (as it was now being called - formerly EMI Studios) a week later on January 20 1970.