Paul and Linda McCartney got back to basics, released their only album as a couple, and ended up sounding more like the Fab Four than any other album the ex-Beatles put out with the disarmingly romantic and melodic folk of 'Ram'. In the aftermath of the Beatles they took an extended stay at their farm at Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. They took the songs composed during this period and recorded them with session musicians in New York and Los Angeles. The style retains the homespun feel of his eponymous solo debut but improves on the sound with better production and more developed arrangements.
The sweet and silly single for 'Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey' was his first solo number one hit in Canada, New Zealand, and the US. He wrote it about his uncle and American Admiral William "Bull" Halsey. The lightning storm sound effects set a mood that lightens with the swelling strings that give way to the whimsy of a simulated telephone call that evokes Monty Python.
"Hands across the water. (Water)
Heads across the sky.
Live a little be a gypsy, get around. (Get around)
Get your feet up off the ground,
Live a little, get around. "
'Too Many People' was a dig at John & Yoko. It was the B-side to the single of 'Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey'.
"Too many people going underground
Too many reaching for a piece of cake"
'Ram On' comes in like a warbled radio signal from another time with lo-fi piano, ukelele, mouthed horns, and whistles.
"Give your heart to somebody
Soon...right away."
'Dear Boy' features multi-tracks vocals and is not about John; but rather Paul's wife: "Dear Boy was my attempt at an autobiography about myself and how lucky I was to have Linda. I never realised how lucky I was to have her until I began writing the song."
"When I stepped in
My heart was down and out
But her love came through
And brought me 'round
Got me up and about"
'Heart Of The Country' was the B-side to the second single for 'The Back Seat Of My Car'.
"Heart of the country
Where the holy people grow
Heart of the country
Smell the grass in the meadow"
'Eat At Home'
number seven in New Zealand
"Bring the love that you feel for me
Into line of the love i see.
And in the morning you bring to me
Love"
'Long Haired Lady'
"Who's the lady that makes that brief occasional laughter?
She's the lady we wears those flashing eyes.
Who'll be taking her home when all the dancing is over?
I'm the lucky man she will hypnotize. "
The cinematic sweep of 'The Back Seat Of My Car' ends the album beautifully and was the second single, making it to number thirty nine in the UK.
"We believe that we can't be wrong"
'Ram'
full album:
- Too Many People (P. McCartney) [00:00]
- 3 Legs (P. McCartney) [04:10]
- Ram On (P. McCartney) [06:58]
- Dear Boy (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) [09:28]
- Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) [11:43]
- Smile Away (P. McCartney) [16:39]
- Heart Of the Country (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) [00:00]
- Monkberry Moon Delight (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) [02:23]
- Eat At Home (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) [07:49]
- Long Haired Lady (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) [11:13]
- Ram On (P. McCartney) [17:20]
- The Back Seat of My Car (P. McCartney) [18:13]
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