The song's sole sung lyric is performed by a male chorus while the verses are a spoken-word, first-person account of a Western lawman and his friendship with a notorious gunfighter, known only as Ringo.
Greene said the song was written as a typical western ballad, in the vein of "El Paso" by Marty Robbins.
He also acknowledged that some teens who bought the record were probably expecting it to be about Beatles-drummer Ringo Starr (even though it was never about him) and believed that after listening to it, they would not be disappointed that the song was actually about a western outlaw.
[7] Greene also noted that recording of the album featuring "Ringo" began before the Beatles became popular in the United States.
On it, Greene talks about the probable confusion between his song character and The Beatles and the "wonderful drummer of theirs", assuring the listener that it is not about him.
About this time the album had been upgraded to include a notation on the front jacket, FEATURING THE BIG HIT "RINGO".
Greene himself recorded a French-language version[9] of "Ringo" with "Du Sable" ("Sand") on the flip side of the 45, released on the RCA Victor Canada International label #57-5623.
In the Sixties and Seventies in Italy a version in Italian language (with the title of "Gringo") became the soundtrack of the TV advertisements of a canned meat brand named MONTANA.
Another was released in the 1980s by Dutch comedian André van Duin (as "Bingo"); and then by Country Yossi and the Shteeble Hoppers (as "Shlomo").