TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has personally supervised with the reissue series from his back catalog—all newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios.
In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team. We’ll be selecting five winners for each 180 gram vinyl reissue package.
We return to our giveaways with the only LP credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, 1971’s RAM—the Mono Mix.
“RAM, simply put, is the first Paul McCartney release completely devoid of John’s musical influence, Pitchfork noted with its review this past May. “Of course, John wiggled his way into some of the album’s lyrics– in those fresh, post-breakup years, the two couldn’t quite keep each other out of their music. But musically, RAM proposes an alternate universe where young Paul skipped church the morning of July 6, 1957, and the two never crossed paths. It’s breezy, abstracted, completely hallucinogen-free, and utterly lacking grandiose ambitions. It’s an album whistled to itself. It’s purely Paul.”
“Or actually, ‘Paul and Linda.’ This was another one of Paul’s chief RAM-related offenses: He not only invited his new photographer bride into the recording studio, he included her name on the record’s spine. RAM is the only album in recorded history credited to the artist duo ‘Paul and Linda McCartney,’ and in the sense that Linda’s enthusiastically warbling vocals appear on almost every song, it’s entirely accurate.”
“This reissue comes with a disc of extras from the period, which hardcore McCartney fans will already know well. They are lovely, an extension of the album’s mood and world without interrupting it or diluting it. Songs like “Another Day” and “Hey Diddle” feel like a cracked-open door onto the kind of records Paul could have conceivably gone on making forever.”
RAM, originally released in May of 1971, is the only album to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney. The album topped the charts hitting #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. The album also gave Paul his first post-Beatles US number 1 single with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and a Grammy win for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists.
• One disc vinyl edition remastered at Abbey Road Studios
• Limited Edition Numbered
Remastered Mono Mix:
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Ram On
12. The Back Seat Of My Car
Enter to win RAM in glorious mono from the Paul McCartney Archive Collection by telling us in the comments below what this LP has meant to you over the years—briefly!—and why perhaps your well-worn LP could use a remastered upgrade.
Each contest among this special series will last a full calendar week. Five entrants with a North American mailing address will be selected as winners a week from today, 12/21.
