The story behind “Rings”

Here’s a look at the story behind the song: a largely forgotten 1971 radio hit called “Rings” by Cymarron.  There’s a nice, true-life love story behind it.  I hope you enjoy it.

In 1970, songwriter Eddie Reeves was living at Venice Beach, California in a house he was leasing from a friend, Bob Hamilton. For business reasons, Bob and his girlfriend Chris, were staying temporarily in New York City.  About a year after their move, Bob and Chris got engaged.  Since they had fallen in love at the beach house they wanted their wedding to be there early one morning.  Eddie and fellow songwriter Alex Harvey decided to write a wedding song for Bob and Chris.

Eddie talked to Alex about using the word “rings” in various connotations such as “wedding rings” and “church bells ring.”  He also knew the couple liked Martoni’s Restaurant, owned by Tony Riccio and Mario Marino.  Their favorite singer was James Taylor.  Eddie wanted  to incorporate all of these elements in an appropriate wedding song for his friends.

“Ring, ring, doorbell ring
Baby, come on in
Got James Taylor on the stereo

I’m glad you’ve come around
I’ve been feeling down
Just talking to Tony and Mario”

Over frozen TV dinners, the songwriting session began.  Alex came up with “Ring, ring, golden rings, around the sun, around your pretty finger” and Eddie added, “Ring, ring, voices ring, with a happy tune anyone can be a singer.”  They traded writing the last lines of the third verse and their wedding song was complete.  They were proud of the song, but felt it was so specific regarding Bob and and his fiancee Chris,  that it wouldn’t have universal appeal.  That was fine, though. It was just a wedding gift.

“I got love
Baby, I’ll give you some
And if somebody comes
We’ll let the doorbell ring

Said ring, ring, golden ring
Around the sun
Around your pretty finger”

The wedding took place as scheduled at  6:00 AM. There were thirty people present and just after the ceremony, they felt they were part of  a unique and spiritual moment:  the joining together of Bob and his new wife Chris.

At the reception brunch that followed at the Marina del Rey Hotel, Alex and Eddie introduced their wedding song, with Alex playing acoustic guitar and singing lead vocal and Eddie joining in on harmony on the second part of each verse. Everyone seemed to like the song and they were asked to perform it again. When Bob and Chris and some of the attendees returned to the beach house after the reception, they were asked to sing it again.

“The sun comin’ up across the city
I swear you never looked
So doggone pretty

Hand in hand
We’ll stand upon the sand
With the preacher man
Let the wedding bells ring”

When Alex was ready to do his next demo recording session, he booked studio time.  Alex and Eddie hoped there would be time left over for them to record “Rings” as a wedding memento to Bob and Chris. The recording of “Rings” was a low priority on Alex’s demo session since they believed it was such a specialized piece of material that it had no commercial value.  They didn’t believe a recording artist would want to do a song that had been written specifically about the romance of Bob and Chris Hamilton.

Alex finished recording his songs with fifteen minutes left until the musicians had to leave. The duo quickly laid down the instrumental rack for “Rings” and later they added their vocals. Eddie sent a copy of the recording to Bob and Chris in New York and also played it for some of their friends in the music business.

During this time Elektra Records producer Russ Miller was looking for songs for Lonnie Mack’s next album.  Because friends had finally convinced Eddie that “Rings” could be a hit because of its catchy and unique lyrics, Eddie played the song for Russ. He loved it.  Russ recorded the song with Lonnie and it’s a great version. Had it not been for other events unfolding at this same time, Lonnie might have been the one to have a hit with their wedding song.

Bob and Chris received their copy of “Rings” and loved it as communicated by their thank you note.

 

Bob knew Marty Lacker, who worked for Elvis Presley.  He played his copy of “Rings” for Marty who took it to Memphis to play it for producer Chips Moman, who had been searching for a hit song for his group of background singers.  Chips immediately recorded it with his vocal group that became known as Cymarron.  Richard Mainegra sang the lead vocal part.   The Cymarron record was released and received immediate radio airplay, working its way up to the top 20 across the nation, and inspiring several remakes, including a country version that became a hit too.

Eddie later noted that Mac Davis, a much more successful songwriter, was originally supposed to be a part of the writing session for “Rings,” but had to cancel due to other obligations.  When Davis heard the song on the radio for the first time, he said to Eddie, “Man, I just heard some song about rings.  It’s unbelievable!” When told it was the song he was supposed to help write, he couldn’t believe it, “he was flabbergasted,” Eddie said.  Eddie concludes by saying everything turned out fine.  “Perhaps a song better than “Rings” could have materialized, but probably not. I’m satisfied things happened as they did.”

Here’s the hit version of “Rings.”  Share it with your valentine!

(Material used here adapted from songfacts.com’s interview with Eddie Reeves:  http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/eddie_reeves/