What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL & LINDA McCARTNEY "ram" 1971, vinyl/cd. #1 UK, #2 US, #3 AU.

the majority of Macca's albums always seem to be dismissed as drivel by the music press, this cannot be further from the truth, apart from maybe three or four the rest are fine pieces of work....this one is no exception to that.
i actually thought this one, his second solo release, might have scored higher than it does, neverthe less it is in the "like" range.
it is basically a raw,earthy, lightly produced album overall and sees PM still finding his solo feet. the tracks "eat at home", "backseat of my car", "smile away" and " too many people" show the beginnings of the style that would later become Wings sound. theres still hints of his Beatle's past in tracks like "dear boy", "heart of the country" and "monkberry moon delight"...all three of these would have worked well on "the white album", then there is the classic Macca composition "uncle albert/admiral halsey", a great character song that PM does so well, this song was never released in the UK as a single for some strange reason, yet scored Macca his first US #1 hit, where he would have five more before he hit the top spot in his homeland.

worst track: 3 legs
best track: uncle albert/admiral halsey

tracks:

1. too many people**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFddsWq2pDw live
2. 3 legs*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmGblSMH8Ug audio
3. ram on*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H9GemsHRP0 live (not great quality but its a rare live performance of the song)
4. dear boy**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6lq2xWead8 audio
5. uncle albert/admiral halsey*** #1 US, #5 AU.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWufNDJl4M audio
6. smile away** #21 AU.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN9-0GFcn8Q audio
7. heart of the country**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DqMl0shEtw video
8. monkberry moon delight**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUI4Ty5CGMQ audio
9. eat at home** #21 AU.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2DoB-g7AO0 audio
10.long haired lady**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3fbhkbYWg4 audio
11.ram on(reprise)**
12.the backseat of my car** #39 UK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT3ez3mkXFk audio

3s=1
2s=9
1s=2

rating: 2.0