Today, May 17, marks the 50th anniversary of the release Paul and Linda McCartney's Ram album.
Ram, Paul's second post-Beatles project and the only album credited to both him and his late wife, peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200. It featured McCartney's first #1 single without the Fab Four, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," as well as such gems as "Too Many People," "Heart of the Country" and "Monkberry Moon Delight."
The Ram sessions also yielded the non-album single "Another Day," released in February 1971, which reached #5 on the Hot 100.
Most of Ram was written at Paul and Linda's farm in Scotland, while the sessions were mainly done in New York City. Unlike Paul's 1970 solo debut, McCartney, this album featured contributions from several other musicians, including guitarists Hugh McCracken and David Spinozza and soon-to-be Wings drummer Denny Seiwell.
Seiwell, who was a respected session drummer when McCartney hired him to play on Ram, recalls to ABC Audio, "It was so unique in time: the angst of the Beatles breaking up, New York session. Paul was on a tear, man."
Denny remembers, "When [Paul] came in and he played the songs to us, we'd just look at each other and say, 'Ooh, that's a big responsibility to come up with the right part here, 'cause people will be listening to this 50 years from now!'"
Adds Seiwell, "I've made maybe a couple-hundred records over my 50 years of doing this, and that's my favorite by far…[I]t was truly one of the highlights of my life."
As previously reported, Seiwell co-produced and plays on a full-length Ram tribute album, Ram On, that was released Friday, as was a half-speed-mastered vinyl Ram reissue.
Here's the Ram LP track list:
Side A
"Too Many People"
"3 Legs"
"Ram On"
"Dear Boy"
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
"Smile Away"
Side B
"Heart of the Country"
"Monkberry Moon Delight"
"Eat at Home"
"Long Haired Lady"
"Ram On (Reprise)"
"The Back Seat of My Car"