Ram is certainly one of Paul McCartney's best solo efforts. Long overlooked, in recent years, many fans and musicians have been singing its praises. So it's nice to see a remastered, expanded version on the way as part of Macca's current catalog overhaul.
Here's the press release:
Here's the press release:
Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 album will be
released across a variety of formats with new and exclusive content including a
beautifully packaged Deluxe Edition Box Set- the ultimate collectable
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an album from a
long, long time ago, when the world was different. This is an album that
is part of my history - it goes back to the wee hills of Scotland where it was
formed. It's an album called RAM. It reminds me of my hippie days and the free attitude with which was
created. I hope you're going to like it, because I do!"
Paul
McCartney, 2012
Following
the successful recent reissues of McCartney, McCartney II, and this year's Grammy
winner for Best Historical Album Band
on the Run, RAM is the latest album from Paul's iconic back catalogue to
get the deluxe Paul McCartney Archive Collection treatment. As with the
previous releases in the series, Paul has personally overseen every aspect of
the project and the result is spectacular. In keeping with the reissue
campaign to date, the Deluxe Edition Box Set is the ultimate collectable for
any fan of this album. Its stunningly presented 112-page book, photo
prints, handwritten lyrics and notes, four CDs and a bonus film DVD, tells the
full story of a classic album that has gone down in music history as one of the
most revered in McCartney's catalogue.
RAM, originally released in May of
1971, is the only album to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney and was
Paul's second post-Beatles LP. It was overshadowed at the time by the
drama of the dissolution of The Beatles, as played out in the world's media.
The album topped the charts hitting #1 in the UK and #2 in the US.
While RAM polarized critics upon its release, music fans and critics
alike since have overwhelmingly embraced it, with Rolling Stone, for example, revising their original
review up to 4 stars. Recently RAM
has enjoyed even further re-appraisal and acknowledgement including a number of
tribute albums.
RAM was written by Paul and Linda,
mostly at their Scottish farm on the Mull of Kintyre. In the autumn of
1970 they flew to New York to start the recording process. Without a band
in place they auditioned and drafted musicians, who included future Wings
drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken.
The
band completed the album in early 1971 along with non-album tracks 'Another
Day' and 'Oh Woman, Oh Why' which were released together as Paul's first
post-Beatles single ahead of the release of RAM
and became a Top 5 global hit. The multi-disc editions of the RAM reissue
include both songs as bonus tracks. The album also gave Paul his first
solo US number 1 single with 'Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey' and a Grammy win for
Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists.
RAM was also issued in mono with
alternate mixes, which were only made available to radio stations at the time.
This version has gone on to become one of the most sought after McCartney
collectables. It will now be commercially available for the first time
ever on CD as part of the Deluxe Edition as well as a limited run on vinyl.
1977
saw the release of Thrillington, an
instrumental interpretation of RAM,
which was originally recorded in 1971 at London's Abbey Road Studios and was
arranged by Richard Hewson. It was released under the pseudonym Percy
'Thrills' Thrillington, an unknown eccentric socialite who often cropped up in
mysterious newspaper classifieds. In reality Percy was a character
devised by Paul and Linda. The idea behind it was simply to have some fun
and the concept of doing a full orchestral album was an ambition long held by
Paul.
The
additional film content features previously unreleased and exclusive content
including the brand-new documentary, "Ramming" narrated by Paul, as
well as the original music videos for "Heart Of The Country" and
"3 Legs".
The
remastering work was done at Abbey Road using the same team who recently
remastered the complete Beatles' catalogue.
RAM will be available across a
variety of different formats:
Single disc, digitally remastered 12- track standard edition
Remastered album and 8-track bonus audio CD including
rarities, b-sides and the hit single, "Another Day".
Remastered album, bonus audio CD, remastered Mono album,
Thrillington CD, bonus film DVD, 112 page book, 5 prints in vintage style
photographic wallet, 8 full size facsimiles of Paul's original handwritten
lyric sheets and mini photographic book of outtakes from the original album
cover photo shoot.
Hi-Res:
24bit 96kHz files of the remastered and bonus audio CD, accessed via a download
code inserted on a card within the deluxe edition package
Remastered album, bonus audio disc plus digital download of
all 20 tracks
Remastered mono album
Digital: RAM will be available for download
across a variation of digital configurations including Mastered for iTunes and
High Resolution
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