Paul & Linda McCartney - Monkberry Moon Delight - RAM - 1971 [24 Karat Gold Disc - 1993]

All sound recording and images are copyrighted by their respective copyright owners.
Copyright:: DCC Compact Classics, Apple, Capitol Records, EMI, Parlophone, MPL Communications, Inc.
Writer: Paul and Linda McCartney
Producer:: Paul and Linda McCartney
Original Album Released: 28 May 1971
DCC Remaster Released: 1993
Remastering [1993]: Mastered by Steve Hoffman
Catalog Nº: GZS-1037
Format:: Gold CD
Year: 1993


EMI Group: http://www.emigroup.com/Default.htm
EMI Music (UK): http://www.emi.com/page/Home
EMI Music Publishing: http://emimusicpub.com/
Steve Hoffman Official Web Page: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/discography/


Ram is an album by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, released in 1971, the only album credited to the pair.

Recording and structure

After the release of the successful debut McCartney, Paul and Linda went on a lengthy holiday and spent much time on their farm on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. It was during this period that Paul, often with Linda's input, composed the songs that would feature on Ram. The couple flew to New York City in the fall of 1970 to record their new songs. Denny Seiwell was recruited for drums, David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken were tapped for guitar duties, and Marvin Stamm was featured on flugel horn on Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. Although it was a collaborative project, Linda's vocal duties were mostly limited to backing Paul, who sang lead throughout. The sessions also birthed future songs like "Dear Friend," released on the debut Wings album Wild Life later in 1971, as well as "Get On The Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly", both of which would be finished for 1973's Red Rose Speedway.

By early 1971, the project was completed with the non-album "Another Day"/"Oh Woman, Oh Why" single—McCartney's first after The Beatles—which was released that February and became a worldwide Top 5 hit. In May, Ram was unveiled.

Despite the phase-out of monaural albums by the late 1960s, Ram was released in mono (MAS 3375) with unique mixes which differ from the common stereo album (SMAS 3375). These were pressed in a limited quantity and are among the most valuable and sought-after of Paul McCartney's solo records.

Feud

According to Peter Brown, John Lennon believed that songs on Ram included jibes at him in the lyrics, including "Too Many People" and "Dear Boy". Brown also described the picture of two beetles copulating on the back cover as a description of how McCartney felt the other Beatles were treating him. McCartney later said that only two lines in "Too Many People" were directed at Lennon. "In one song, I wrote, 'Too many people preaching practices,' I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko. There wasn't anything else on [Ram] that was about them. Oh, there was 'You took your lucky break and broke it in two.'"

Lennon's response was the song "How Do You Sleep?" on his Imagine album. Early editions of Imagine included a postcard of Lennon pulling the ears of a pig in a parody of Ram's cover photograph of McCartney straddling a ram.

Release and reception

"The Back Seat of My Car" was excerpted as a UK single from Ram that August, only reaching #39, but the US release of the ambitious "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" would prove much more successful, giving McCartney his first #1 single after The Beatles.

The album reached #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it spent over five months in the Top 10 and went platinum.

In 1977, McCartney supervised the release of an instrumental interpretation of Ram (recorded in June 1971 and arranged by Richard Hewson) with the release of Thrillington under the pseudonym of Percy "Thrills" Thrillington.

In 1993, Ram was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "Another Day" and "Oh Woman, Oh Why" as bonus tracks.

Hace poco leí un pequeño esbozo sobre la vida de Linda MC, me pareció muy interesante, además era una mujer muy bella.-
Lo que nadie entiende es porqué falleció de cancer de mama, llevaba una vida alejada del ajetreo, en la campiña inglesa, era vegetariana, hacia yoga, en fin que a veces se rompen los moldes que tenemos sobre el cancer de mama.-

Si fue un golpe muy duro para Paul, pero se ha ido recobrando con el tiempo.