Ram (album)

For the Daft Punk album, see Random Access Memories.

Ram
Studio album by
Paul and Linda McCartney
Released17 May 1971 (1971-05-17)
Recorded16 October 1970 – 1 March 1971
Studio
  • Columbia and A&R (New York)
  • Sound Recording (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length43:15
LabelApple
Producer
  • Paul McCartney
  • Linda McCartney
Paul McCartney chronology
McCartney
(1970) 		Ram
(1971) 		Wild Life
(1971)
Linda McCartney chronology
Ram
(1971) 		Wide Prairie
(1998)
Singles from Ram
  1. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
    Released: 2 August 1971 (US)
  2. "The Back Seat of My Car"
    Released: 13 August 1971 (UK)
  3. "Eat at Home"
    Released: 2 September 1971 (Europe only, excluding UK)

Ram is the only studio album credited to the husband-and-wife music duo Paul and Linda McCartney, and the former's second album post-Beatles. Released on 17 May 1971 by Apple Records, it was recorded in New York with guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken, and future Wings drummer Denny Seiwell. Three singles were issued from the album: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (McCartney's first number 1 hit in America without the Beatles), "The Back Seat of My Car" and "Eat at Home". The recording sessions also yielded the non-album single "Another Day".

The album's release coincided with a period of acrimony between McCartney and his former Beatle bandmates, and followed his legal action in the United Kingdom's High Court to dissolve the Beatles partnership. John Lennon perceived slights in the lyrics to songs such as "Too Many People", to which he responded with his song "How Do You Sleep?". Although McCartney felt that he had addressed the criticisms he received with his 1970 solo debut, McCartney, Ram elicited a similarly unfavourable reaction from music journalists. It nonetheless topped the national album charts in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. Today, Ram is held in high regard by many music critics and is often ranked as one of McCartney's best albums. It has also been recognised as an early indie pop album.

In 1971, McCartney produced Thrillington, an instrumental interpretation of Ram that was released in 1977 under the pseudonym Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington. In 2012, an expanded edition of Ram was reissued (Thrillington included) with over two dozen bonus tracks as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. In 2023, Ram was ranked number 450 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest albums of all time.[6]

  1. ^ a b "1971's best rock albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. 5 April 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference AllMusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Dayal, Raj (22 May 2012). "Paul McCartney: Ram". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  4. ^ Gabriela, Josefina (28 February 2019). "Paul McCartney's Most Underrated Work-". Rock Music Revival. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vozick-Levinson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "500 Greatest Albums: Ram – Paul and Linda McCartney". Rolling Stone. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.