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Ram
Ram in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $27.99
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After the breakup,
Beatles
fans expected major statements from the three chief songwriters in the Fab Four.
John
and
George
fulfilled those expectations --
Lennon
with his lacerating, confessional
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
,
Harrison
with his triple-LP
All Things Must Pass
-- but
Paul McCartney
certainly didn't, turning toward the modest charms of
McCartney
, and then crediting his wife
Linda
as a full-fledged collaborator on its 1971 follow-up,
Ram
. Where
was homemade, sounding deliberately ragged in parts,
had a fuller production yet retained that ramshackle feel, sounding as if it were recorded in a shack out back, not far from the farm where the cover photo of
Paul
holding the ram by the horns was taken. It's filled with songs that feel tossed off, filled with songs that are cheerfully, incessantly melodic; it turns the monumental symphonic sweep of
Abbey Road
into a cheeky slice of whimsy on the two-part suite
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey."
All this made
an object of scorn and derision upon its release (and for years afterward, in fact), but in retrospect it looks like nothing so much as the first
indie pop
album, a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies, a record that's guileless and unembarrassed to be cutesy. But
never was quite the sap of his reputation, and even here, on possibly his most precious record, there's some ripping
rock & roll
in the mock-apocalyptic goof
"Monkberry Moon Delight,"
the joyfully noisy
"Smile Away,"
where his feet can be smelled a mile away, and
"Eat at Home,"
a rollicking, winking sex song. All three of these are songs filled with good humor, and their foundation in old-time
makes it easy to overlook how inventive these productions are, but on the more obviously tuneful and gentle numbers -- the ones that are more quintessentially
-esque -- it's plain to see how imaginative and gorgeous the arrangements are, especially on the sad, soaring finale,
"Back Seat of My Car,"
but even on its humble opposite, the sweet
"Heart of the Country."
These songs may not be self-styled major statements, but they are endearing and enduring, as is
itself, which seems like a more unique, exquisite pleasure with each passing year. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Beatles
fans expected major statements from the three chief songwriters in the Fab Four.
John
and
George
fulfilled those expectations --
Lennon
with his lacerating, confessional
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
,
Harrison
with his triple-LP
All Things Must Pass
-- but
Paul McCartney
certainly didn't, turning toward the modest charms of
McCartney
, and then crediting his wife
Linda
as a full-fledged collaborator on its 1971 follow-up,
Ram
. Where
was homemade, sounding deliberately ragged in parts,
had a fuller production yet retained that ramshackle feel, sounding as if it were recorded in a shack out back, not far from the farm where the cover photo of
Paul
holding the ram by the horns was taken. It's filled with songs that feel tossed off, filled with songs that are cheerfully, incessantly melodic; it turns the monumental symphonic sweep of
Abbey Road
into a cheeky slice of whimsy on the two-part suite
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey."
All this made
an object of scorn and derision upon its release (and for years afterward, in fact), but in retrospect it looks like nothing so much as the first
indie pop
album, a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies, a record that's guileless and unembarrassed to be cutesy. But
never was quite the sap of his reputation, and even here, on possibly his most precious record, there's some ripping
rock & roll
in the mock-apocalyptic goof
"Monkberry Moon Delight,"
the joyfully noisy
"Smile Away,"
where his feet can be smelled a mile away, and
"Eat at Home,"
a rollicking, winking sex song. All three of these are songs filled with good humor, and their foundation in old-time
makes it easy to overlook how inventive these productions are, but on the more obviously tuneful and gentle numbers -- the ones that are more quintessentially
-esque -- it's plain to see how imaginative and gorgeous the arrangements are, especially on the sad, soaring finale,
"Back Seat of My Car,"
but even on its humble opposite, the sweet
"Heart of the Country."
These songs may not be self-styled major statements, but they are endearing and enduring, as is
itself, which seems like a more unique, exquisite pleasure with each passing year. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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