I have a shocking revelation for all my fans (you know who you are… er, don't you?), Back in my early teens I was the King Of Wuss when it came to music. A steady diet of Motown and soft rock. Paul Simon. Neil Diamond. Paul McCartney. How I loved them all.
As for Paul's album Ram? I wore the grooves down and my needle to a stubble listening to it over and over again. In May 1971, I was a short fat chronic masturbator and I needed sweet melodies to calm my shattered daydreams. And I got em from Paulie (co-credited with Linda here -yeah, right) whose constant family oriented and sweet edged melodies were like chicken soup. Yeah even "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey".
So 40 years later, wadja got? It stands up pretty well: "The Back Seat Of My Car" and "Too Many People" are solid second tier songs and while nothing else is as good, there's lots of pleasant enough stuff, and really, you couldn't help but wish you were a member of their family. Compared with the crap he would soon be recording, entire albums as dire as Red Rose Highway, it ain't bad at all. He should play some tracks live, indeed Paul should play entire albums live.
Anyway, Ram is being reissued in an extended version and here is all the info via clash.com:
"The latest in a series of solo Macca re-issues, 'RAM' will be packaged as a deluxe box set.
Presented alongside a 112-page book, photo prints, handwritten lyrics and notes, four CDs and a bonus film DVD, the upcoming box set should tell the definitive story of 'RAM'.
Here's a quote from Paul McCartney: "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!"
Containing plenty of bonus material, perhaps the most tantalizing addition is the brand-new documentary, 'Ramming' narrated by McCartney himself.
In keeping with previous re-issues from the McCartney cataloguer, the 'RAM' re-mastering process was handled by the Abbey Road team.
'RAM' will be re-issued on May 21st, using the following formats:
Standard Edition:
1 CD digipak
Single disc, digitally remastered 12- track standard edition
Special Edition:
2 CD digipak
Remastered album and 8-track bonus audio CD including rarities, b-sides and the hit single, 'Another Day'.
Deluxe Edition Box Set:
4 CD/1 DVD box set & download
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
Vinyl:
2LP 180gm, gatefold vinyl with download
Remastered album, bonus audio disc plus digital download of all 20 tracks
Limited Edition Mono Vinyl:
1LP
Remastered mono album
Digital:
RAM will be available for download across a variation of digital configurations including Mastered for iTunes and High Resolution"