One re-release that lives up to the memories

Paul McCartney, Ram (Remastered) 1971

It's happened to all of us. You know. You were siting around reminiscing with some friends about the "good old days" and all of your musical references started bubbling up. Names of deep tracks start popping up by artists so far out the long tail that the friends around you glaze over with dismay as the signals spark across synapsis in their grey matter triggering wide-eyed "a-ha" moments. Tracks once loved and forgotten and which, after a few more beers, you realized you just had to have again. The next morning you logged onto iTunes or other dubious music download source and downloaded that long-lost gem by Shawn Phillips. Crow, Moxy, Bread, whomever, only to be royally disappointed when your memory far exceeded reality. "What was I thinking?" "How could I have ever been so into this?" 

It's so easy to be disappointed by our memories. This is why I was pleasantly surprised with the new re-release of Paul McCartney's 1971 co-creation "Ram". It was McCartney's second solo effort after The Beatles had officially disbanded and one that was produced with his wife Linda (who shares writing credits and performs backing vocals on most tracks). McCartney has just released the re-master of this album and will continue with more to come. The point was to re-master them for the digital age and digital distribution. I don't know if that's a good thing necessarily, but in this case I can only say that the effect is pure magic to my ears - and my memory.

From the very first strumming chords of that acoustic guitar on , "Too Many People", I'm hooked.
There are elements here that I never heard before in early days. This is recording technology still evolving into the era of multi-track. McCartney had plenty of time and dough to spend in the studio paying attention to the small details. Simple yet intricate. Single note instrumentation layered together with voice in a symphony of rock-n-roll tones that become a thriving, pulsing, party. 

You can hear the George Martin influence lingering in the way the songs are worked into their final versions. They even sound like the typical Lennon/McCartney collaborations made up of two separate songs with two separate sounds becoming one. Listen to the silly "3 Legs" and it's McCartey-esque first verse with clean sounding, good-boy vocals, followed by the loud, slightly distorted Lennon-esque chorus. This is how nearly every Beatles song is structured. As much as McCartney may have been wanting his independence from The Beatles the musical style and the song structures were still hanging on in 1971. 

"Ram" did not receive great critical acclaim on its initial release. It wasn't until "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" went to number 1 in the U.S. and the album went platinum that it actually gained acceptance. Paul had been blamed in the popular press for having broken up the Beatles. He had even sued his former bandmates. The wives were also the targets of much fan ridicule. People used to joke about both Yoko Ono's and Linda McCartney's vocal abilities, and there were once bootlegs around from the mixer board taps that isolated Linda's vocals on tour with Wings. These may have added undue credit to the fact. But, take a listen to "Dear Boy", a vocal, or rather, choral extravaganza of Paul and Linda's voices that this remaster lifts to another level.  The number of takes they needed to record these tracks is irrelevant because she does it well. Linda can sing, and I always loved the way her little tart character posed the opening questions of  "Long-Haired Lady" - "Do you love me like you know you ought to do?"  and then answered with the nasal refrain of a working girl, "Or is this the only thing you want me for". You can just hear her lifting her skirt and pointing to the item in question.

If you have time for only one track, listen to the closer "The Back Seat Of My Car". It's a typical McCartney epic that foreshadows a little of "Live And Let Die" while recalling both Sgt. Pepper, the whole side 2 of Abbey Road, and all of the Badfinger tracks that McCartney penned. 

On this remaster of "Ram", you can hear all of the sounds and studio stylings that were still fresh in the mind of the master in 1971. The music doesn't just hold its own even today, if you listen closely (loud with a premium set of headphones) you can hear a rock-n-roll recording history lesson. This is what it sounded like when masters spent time recording the music with instruments, thru tubes and onto tape. This is the sound of the Good Old Days - just as I remember them.