A lawsuit over Ringo Starr's attempt to block the release of a record album has ended with a judge ordering the former Beatle to pay more than $74,000 to the record's producer.
Superior Court Judge Clarence Cooper, who issued a permanent injunction in November preventing producer Chips Moman's company from releasing the 1987 album, ruled that Starr must pay Moman $74,354 to cover costs of the recording sessions, and 7 percent interest.Starr contended he was under the influence of alcohol at the time the album was recorded and said he was not satisfied with the results after returning home to England and listening to the tapes.
He sued Moman and his CRS Records of College Park, Ga., to block the album's release.
The album included some new songs along with some older songs, such as "I Can Help" and "Ain't That a Shame." At the non-jury trial in November, Moman testified that Bob Dylan made a guest appearance on one song.
An attorney for Starr, Robert Fleming Jr., said he had not seen the ruling but indicated he was satisfied with it as he understood it.
"This amount is right in line with what the expenses were and what we were ready to pay," he said. "The judge must have agreed that the agreement was what we said it was and enforced it accordingly."
Moman had contended that Starr owed him $146,239.
Starr testified in November that he went to Memphis, Tenn., to work with Moman in February 1987 after a brief meeting with the producer the previous year. Attorneys for Moman said Starr came to the producer in an attempt to revive his career.
Starr, who had a successful U.S. tour last year, testified he was not desperate when he talked to Moman.