This Is The Thread Where We Praise And Canonize Paul McCartney's "Ram"

that jayson greene review is wonderful! the paragraph on 'Smile Away' in particular, the track at the heart of the album, the self-consciously rockin' track that is almost annoyingly cute until it starts to dawn on you that this is a very odd person's way of tell you that he's actually already on the other side of being very pissed off

I am heading to the store to buy the 2CD of this and it had better already be there

/telling you

if not, smile on!

I dunno man, I rate Band On The Run, Venus And Mars, Flowers In The Dirt and Chaos And Creation In The Backyard over this one. With Flaming Pie and the very underrated Back To The Egg very very closely behind Ram. His weakest releases for me are: Wild Life, Wings At The Speed Of Sound and that run from 1983-1986 which I'd consider to be the 'dud stage' of his solo career (Pipes, Broadstreet, Press To Play), although there's one or two admittedly sterling tracks on these.

right there
that's it
YES

I take issue with 'Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey' being branded one of McCartney's five best solo songs... fucking hell, no. Don't agree with that whatsoever. At all.

Nothing makes me happier than infuriating the sententious, smug likes of Jon Landau and Dave Marsh and while I'm glad the Admiral Halsey part Killed The Sixties Dream it doesn't mean I have to relive it.

right there
that's it
YES

― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, May 24, 2012 5:24 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I don't mind 'Press' at all, even though it took me quite some time to warm to it. I'm still not a massive fan of the production values on the whole album, though!

I've always felt like "Big Barn Bed" from Red Rose should have been on this album as well. I mean, it kind of is, but it should have been on it for real...

Oh yeah, you can hear a snatch of it at the end of 'Ram On (Reprise)'... I keep forgetting about that. I remember reading at some point or another that Red Rose Speedway was meant to be a double album!?!

I never really got into this one on my own, but over the past year friends of mine (from different ends of my friendship spectrum, strangely enough) have been throwing it on during hangouts, leading me to believe it's been gaining some canon-momentum (or whatever) within the past few years. "Heart Of The Country" and "Ram On" stand out for me as pretty great and would've been worthy of placement on a Beatles LP that never happened.

yeah – it's been a sleeper for years. A Macca CD-R a friend burned for me in 2001 had practically the whole album.

an alternate universe where young Paul skipped church the morning of July 6, 1957

wtf how do people know this shit

i thought i was a beatles nerd

the problem with nerdom is that someone always knows a squib you don't.

'Too Many People', 'Dear Boy', 'Eat At Home' and 'Back Seat Of My Car' were the ones that stood out to me on first listen to Ram, if I remember. 'Long Haired Lady' and the title track are still incredible. 'Smile Away' and 'Heart Of The Country' are decent/alright. 'Monkberry Moon Delight' and '3 Legs' less so.

The end of "3 Legs" is pretty sweet, where it cuts into that half-time bit or whatever it is.

Two-disc version of this is on Spotify btw.

And I haven't said it yet on this thread, I don't think, so I'll say also that Thrillington rules.

I like it how it took McCartney until 1989 to clear up for once and for all how involved he was with the Thrillington album. Nobody had ever bothered to ask him what his role was in the Thrillington album up until then. I don't think his name is even mentioned anywhere on the sleeve, except for the songwriting credits. It became so much more of a collectors item after that, of course.

And yeah, Thrillington does indeed rule. I prefer Ram, of course, but Thrillington is a highly listenable vanity project. And McCartney likes his vanity projects.

Eh, I don't know why it has to be called a "vanity project."

Also disagree with the Jayson Greene, Pitchfork assertion that Ram is "utterly lacking grandiose ambitions."

Eh, I don't know why it has to be called a "vanity project."

― timellison, Thursday, May 24, 2012 11:34 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Aw, come on. Re-recording your album in instrumental form under a pseudonym with an arranger before the actual album is even out, for NO OTHER REASON or PURPOSE than BECAUSE YOU CAN just absolutely reeks of 'vanity project' to me!

No, I don't agree. The reason or purpose was just because he could? I don't think the reason or purpose was any different than the making of most albums.

McCartney, because of his status as an ex-Beatle, was allowed to indulge himself in projects like this more than most. And if you're allowed to indulge yourself, you're naturally going to indulge yourself. McCartney did on several occasions, and Thrillington was one of the results. A vanity project. Which was made because he could get away with making it.

He had the vision to do a record like Thrillington. Many could have done the same, if perhaps on a smaller budget. Of course, those theoretical artists would have needed to really want to go through with a project like that. McCartney was the type of guy who was up to the task.

I don't think he was "indulging" anything.

ram is on Spotify?? hm not here in the UK unless i'm going blind. no Macca/ Wings at all.

tim, you're interpreting "indulging" pejoratively

tim, you're interpreting "indulging" pejoratively

― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, May 25, 2012 12:56 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, this! I didn't mean "indulging" in a negative way at all. I'd gladly take an album full of McCartney indulging himself over many, many other artists indulging themselves. I truly enjoy things like Thrillington and I'm glad that McCartney had the opportunity to make them. Not everyone would have been able to have the opportunity to do so, I suspect not even McCartney himself if his musical career had started in 1970 and he'd never been a Beatle.

interpreting "indulging" pejoratively

Well, I think that's a normal reaction to seeing it used in conjunction with the term "vanity project!" There was also some question raised about the "reason" and "purpose" of the album.

xp Yeah I was listening on Spotify earlier.. I was certain Ram was on there several months ago also, but was pulled sometime between then and this week.

Looks like it's currently Spotify's only proper full-length from any of the Beatles.. theres also stray tracks on some comps here and there.

that was a lie... sorry Ringo fans.

baffled by all the hate directed at "admiral halsey" itt. every part of that song is great.

rain solo

I see no "Ram" McCartney on Spotify.

I do see "The Ram Project" by Dave Depper, looks like a cover project (not played it)

telephone solo

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145012-paul-mccartney-discusses-songwriting-and-ram-with-mansuns-paul-draper

Do you think you were influenced by the early prog-rock movement, I guess you wouldn’t say RAM was a prog-rock album? Do you think you were influenced by seeing Pink Floyd at the Roundhouse...

What I take the influence back to was A Teenage Opera. That was a very early record in the late 60s, by Keith West... it was his only, like, big hit. That was episodic, there was a bit and it went 'buh-buh-bum', then it went there, and there, and there [Sir Paul makes some stacking gestures with his hands]. I think that was the first record I heard, and we heard, and we thought ‘that’s interesting’. You can have a song here, then you can cut like a film to another song, and you can even cut the tempo and go slow and so on. That was really the one that was the biggest influence, and then lots of people started doing it. We'd do it a bit, prog-rock did it, Townshend started doing it a bit, The Who opera and all that.

-

who knew Excerpt From A Teenage Opera was SO influential??

I see no "Ram" McCartney on Spotify.

Assuredly his best record, and the one where the overstuffed detail-ridden arrangements and production really reward endless listening; there's nothing undercooked on this record at all. Amazing that it so convincingly carries a "homemade" vibe given that it's actually a pretty precise studio creation of the sort he seemingly couldn't be bothered with on his notionally slick studio albums (London Town, Press To Play, etc.). It has this amazing mix of "gorgeous" and "earthy," helped to no small degree by the choice of offbeat lyrical themes (simple life in the country vs. psychedelic gibberish about gypsies and Monkberry Moon Delight) and the prominence of Linda's backing vocals, which take off the sheen and give everything this great straw-like texture. Love this album.

Hadn't noticed the remaster coming out.... am now checking out the bonus stuff on Spotify. This version of "A Love For You" is....weird. Feels very "Flaming Pie" or Brian Wilson "Smile" - are these 2012 recordings being mixed in? Glad to see some of this stuff making its way out of the vaults in any case.

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145012-paul-mccartney-discusses-songwriting-and-ram-with-mansuns-paul-draper

― piscesx, Monday, May 28, 2012 2:08 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Meh. I found that interview quite bland, actually. Not that it's the fault of DrownedInSound or Paul Draper, but rather McCartney himself. I've often found it really frustrating whenever I read interviews that are usually to do with his solo work, but he usually ends up steering the conversation so he ends up talking about John Lennon or the fucking Beatles. It's frustrating as a fan, because The Beatles thing has been talked about so much that there's nothing really left to say... it just doesn't interest me at all. Yet, he's had a solo career since 1970 and has barely talked about any of that stuff, with a couple of notable exceptions. Q Magazine managed to get a decent interview with him on solo work a couple of years back (and they even pretty much said in the opening paragraph, if I remember, that they had to seriously try to stop him from talking about The Beatles)... and Mojo did an excellent piece on McCartney through to Band On The Run but went no further.

Pretty much everyone knows what John Lennon or George Harrison were going through and what inspired even some of their lesser albums or songs. With Paul, it can sometimes be unclear as to where it all came from. He really needs to open up more on his solo work, in my opinion. And it's not like all of his songs aren't about anything... stuff like 'Wanderlust' is based on a real life incident, for example.

Wow. This is great. I'd never heard it before today and have played it 4 times through already. The reissue sounds wonderful. It sounds to me today like a missing 3rd disc from The White Album. The bonus disc is great also.

I only know this and McCartney II. Is the Wings stuff worth looking into as well? I've always been put off because of Mull of Kintyre, which I hate as much as Yesterday and Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. Or The Long and Winding Road. Jees. McCartney Beatles tunes could be some shit schmatlz.

There's not much that hits as consistent a sweet spot as Ram, IMO - but you might give Band on the Run a few spins and see if it clicks for you. That and Red Rose Speedway are the closest to Ram in spirit IMO, but RRS is a little more schmaltzy and a little more aimless. It's definitely not all "Mull of Kintyre" with this guy - the great thing about the Wings period is how totally all over the map it is. That also means there's a fair bit of crap, but as I always say, that's part of the charm of exploring this guy's catalogue IMO.

i had a similar initial reaction to Ram and then went down the band on the run/red rose speedway/mccartneyII route and came out severely disappointed, but Ram will always be awesome.

aw mull of kintyre is great

anyway me and by brother and sister bought our mom the deluxe box set for mother's day and she is absolutely in love with it. it's very pretty.

McCARTNEY (1970)
Search: 'Every Night', 'Junk' and 'Maybe I'm Amazed'.
Destroy: 'Man We Was Lonely'.

RAM (1971)
Search: 'Too Many People', 'Ram On', 'Dear Boy', 'Heart Of The Country', 'Eat At Home', 'Long Haired Lady' and 'Back Seat Of My Car'.
Destroy: 'Monkberry Moon Delight'.

WILD LIFE (1971)
Search: It's very hard to recommend much from this album. Side two is the better side: 'Some People Never Know', 'I Am Your Singer', 'Tomorrow' and 'Dear Friend'. With a little bit more care put into the writing/recording these compositions could have been great. 'Some People Never Know' in particular is too long.
Destroy: 'Mumbo and 'Bip Bop'. Seriously Paul, what the fuck?

RED ROSE SPEEDWAY (1973)
Search: 'Big Barn Bed', 'My Love', 'One More Kiss', 'Little Lamb Dragonfly', 'Single Pigeon', 'Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)'
Destroy: 'When The Night' (lazy garbage), and the whole Medley at the end of side two.

BAND ON THE RUN (1973)
Search: 'Band On The Run', 'Jet', 'Bluebird', 'No Words', 'Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five'
Destroy: 'Mrs. Vandebilt' and 'Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)'.

VENUS AND MARS (1975)
Search: Everything!
Destroy: Nothing!

WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND (1976)
Search: 'Let Em In' (yes, really), 'The Note You Never Wrote', 'Silly Love Songs' and 'Warm And Beautiful'
Destroy: Everything else on the album is, in my humble opinion, shite.

LONDON TOWN (1978)
Search: 'Cafe On The Left Bank', 'I'm Carrying', 'Backwards Traveller', 'Cuff Link', 'Children Children' and 'With A Little Luck'.
Destroy: 'I've Had Enough', 'Famous Groupies' (what the fuck, man, seriously?) and 'Name And Address'.

BACK TO THE EGG (1979)
Search for everything except for 'Spin It On', which is crap.

McCARTNEY II (1980)
Search: 'Coming Up', 'Temporary Secretary' and 'Waterfalls'.

TUG OF WAR (1982)
Search: 'Tug Of War', 'Take It Away', 'Somebody Who Cares', 'Here Today', 'The Pound Is Sinking', 'Wanderlust'.
Destroy: 'Ballroom Dancing' (urgh!) and 'Dress Me Up As A Robber'.

at this point we hit a slump in McCartney's catalogue...

PIPES OF PEACE (1983)
Search: 'Pipes Of Peace', 'Say Say Say', 'So Bad' and maybe 'The Man'.
Destroy: everything else. Just don't even bother. Especially 'Average Person' which in particular is goddamn awful.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADSTREET (1984)
Search for 'No More Lonely Nights' and destroy the hell out of everything else.

PRESS TO PLAY (1986)
Search: 'Stranglehold', 'Only Love Remains', 'Footprints' and 'Press'.
Destroy: 'Good Times Coming'. Christ. 'However Absurd' could have been great, but McCartney's vocal on that track is just... ehhh...

And this is the point where, in my opinion, McCartney begins to 'get it back'...

FLOWERS IN THE DIRT (1989)
Definitely search: 'My Brave Face', 'You Want Her Too', 'Distractions', 'We Got Married', 'Put It There', 'Figure Of Eight', 'This One' and 'That Day Is Done'.
Destroy: 'Rough Ride', 'How Many People' and 'Motor Of Love'.

OFF THE GROUND (1993)
Search: 'Hope Of Deliverance', 'Golden Earth Girl', 'The Lovers That Never Were' and 'C'mon People'.
Destroy: 'Peace In The Neighborhood', 'Get Out Of My Way' and 'Winedark Open Sea'.

FLAMING PIE (1997)
Search: 'The Song We Were Singing', 'The World Tonight', 'Somedays', 'Young Boy', 'Calico Skies', 'Flaming Pie', 'Little Willow' and 'Beautiful Night'.
Destroy: 'Heaven On A Sunday' (cack!), 'Used To Be Bad' (cack!) and 'Really Love You' (cack!)

DRIVING RAIN (2001)
Search: 'Lonely Road', 'From A Lover To A Friend', 'She's Given Up Talking', 'I Do', 'Your Way', 'About You', 'Heather' (LOL!), 'Your Loving Flame' and 'Rinse The Raindrops'.
Destroy: 'Driving Rain', 'Tiny Bubble', 'Magic', 'Spinning On An Axis' (*groans*), 'Back In The Sunshine Again' (*retches*), 'Riding Into Jaipur' and, most importantly, 'Freedom' (*vomits beautifully*).

CHAOS AND CREATION IN THE BACKYARD (2005)
Search: Everything!
Destroy: Nothing!

MEMORY ALMOST FULL (2007)
Search: 'Dance Tonight' (yes, really), 'Ever Present Past' (yes, really), 'See Your Sunshine', 'Only Mama Knows', 'You Tell Me', 'Mr. Bellamy', 'House Of Wax' and 'The End Of The End'.
Destroy: 'Gratitude' (fucking hell, Paul), and 'Nod Your Head' (*shakes his head*).

Yeah, side two of Wild Life is probably closest to Ram. Nice stuff.

"San Ferry Anne" is a nice tune on Speed of Sound, by the way. Glad to see "Single Pigeon" pointed out.