News

Paul and Linda McCartney’s legendary album 'RAM' set for deluxe reissue

• 18th Apr 2012

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 announcement last month that RAM is to be the latest album from Paul’s iconic back catalogue to get the deluxe Paul McCartney Archive Collection treatment, today the full tracklisting of the album is announced.

As with the previous releases in the series, Paul has personally overseen every aspect of the project and the result is spectacular.

The standard release tracklisting is today confirmed as:

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

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.

The deluxe edition tracklisting is revealed as follows:

CD 1 – Remastered Album (as listed above)

CD 2 – Bonus Audio
1. Another Day
2. Oh Woman, Oh Why
3. Little Woman Love
4. A Love For You (Jon Kelly Mix)
5. Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
6. Great Cock And Seagull Race (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
7. Rode All Night
8. Sunshine Sometime (Earliest Mix)

CD 3 – Remastered Mono Album
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

CD 4 – Thrillington – Remastered Album
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. The Back Seat Of My Car

DVD – Bonus Film
1. Ramming
2. Heart Of The Country
3. 3 Legs
4. Hey Diddle
5. Eat At Home On Tour
– Menu music features a selection of jingles from the promo disc Brung To Ewe By

Other content:
112-page book with 32 page scrapboook, 5 photo prints, wallet including facsimiles of Paul’s handwritten lyrics and notes, mini-photographic book of outtakes from the album cover photo shoot, plus digital-only premium membership to link

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 post-Beatles 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.

Available across a variety of different formats, the additional format tracklistings are as follows:

Special Edition:
CD 1 – Remastered Album
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

CD 2 – Bonus Audio
1. Another Day
2. Oh Woman, Oh Why
3. Little Woman Love
4. A Love For You (Jon Kelly Mix)
5. Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
6. Great Cock And Seagull Race (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
7. Rode All Night
8. Sunshine Sometime (Earliest Mix)

Vinyl:
Disc 1 – Side A
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
Disc 1 – Side B
1. Heart Of The Country
2. Monkberry Moon Delight
3. Eat At Home
4. Long Haired Lady
5. Ram On
6. The Back Seat Of My Car

Disc 1 – Side C
1. Another Day
2. Oh Woman, Oh Why
3. Little Woman Love
4. A Love For You (Jon Kelly Mix)
5. Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)

Disc 1 – Side D
1. Great Cock And Seagull Race (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
2. Rode All Night
3. Sunshine Sometime (Earliest Mix)

Download
Remastered album & bonus audio disc as high quality MP3s via a download code inserted on a card within the vinyl package

Limited Edition Mono Vinyl:
Side A
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away

Side B
1. Heart Of The Country
2. Monkberry Moon Delight
3. Eat At Home
4. Long Haired Lady
5. Ram On
6. The Back Seat Of My Car

Digital:
RAM will be available for download across a variation of digital configurations
including Mastered for iTunes and High Resolution. Two digital-only bonus
tracks will be available via paulmccartney.com and iTunes:
1. Eat At Home/Smile Away (Live in Groningen, 1972)
2. Uncle Albert Jam

Single:
Limited edition 7” vinyl single as a special release for ‘Record Store Day’ on 21st April 2012, for independent record stores only

Side A
Another Day

Side B
Oh Woman, Oh Why