Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram

I found Ram in a discount bin and while there was some rash here and there on the record it looked like once the dust and bits of glitter (yes, glitter) were cleaned off the album was likely going to be a keeper. Sure enough after giving a cursory brush to remove some of the surface crap a cycle through the ultrasonic brought this one back to life. Aside from one or two moments of surface noise it played beautifully. I had briefly considered doing a little A/B comparison but I didn't feel like subjecting my needle to needless punishment.

Ram is an album I've seen for decades and other than "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey" I didn't recognize any other songs. The gatefold I picked up didn't have any liner notes, so I'm not sure what originally came with the album but there were some basic credits, and among the supporting cast were Denny Seiwell on drums, Dave Spinoza and Hugh McCracken on guitar.

It's funny to me how when I was a kid I just assumed Paul's solo work began with Band on the Run. Ram was unusual as it is the only album that was attributed to Paul and Linda McCartney. The pair wrote many of the songs together as well as sharing production credits. Who knows how much of this is just credit on paper, but it certainly looks like a deliberate attempt to show unity. Who knows it could have just been a thinly veiled shot at John and Yoko - of course this is complete conjecture on my part with zero evidence to support such a claim.

So I'll just stick to listening to the album, and this is a new to me experience. I have to admit it's a bit odd working backward through decades of baggage associated with Paul's music - both good and bad. Ram is strangely engaging and if I was to be so bold, quintessentially Paul McCartney. Considering how closely this album was to the dissolution of The Beatles, Paul was already confidently charting his own musical path. There will always be a cross pollination between the two, but for better or worse, Paul sounds like Paul.

Reading up on the album it certainly seems like the album generated a fair amount of vitriol from the critics of the day. Rolling Stone wrote the album was "monumentally irrelevant" which seemed to be par for the course at the time. Time has been much kinder and the album is generally considered to be a classic of sorts.

For me, this is an interesting and pleasant listen. I was too young to be impacted by The Beatles breakup and I was too old to be one of those who thought The Beatles was the band Paul was in before Wings, though. Revisiting the album now is more nostalgic than anything.

There were some pleasant surprises that I really liked, "Too Many People" that opens the record, which is really good and I'm sure I've heard it before but I wouldn't have known where it originated. Of course to me "Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey" was awesome and it's a song I've always liked. "Eat at Home" is another fun song. The big surprise to me was the album's closer "The Back Seat of My Car" a song that at times is huge with the orchestral accompaniment and Paul is just swinging for the fences. The guitar solo that comes in at the end, likely played by Hugh McCracken sounds a lot like something George Harrison would do. Sadly the song then immediately starts to fade, robbing the listener of what could have been an awesome ending.

Ram was always an album I'd written off without actually hearing it which was my loss. Then again, there are so many albums, and only so many hours in a day and so many dollars in my wallet. I know I could just stream this stuff, but it's not as much fun.

Music should be intentional. I intentionally picked this one up and it was totally worth it. I guess I shouldn't mention that I ended up getting this one for free, that's another story.