“Paul, What a Mess You’ve Made of It!”Contemporary Reactions to Ram.
This review of Ram from the 22 May 1971 is for McCartney’s second studio album, which is actually credited to “Paul and Linda McCartney”.
The review is from the New Musical Express and is by the critic Alan Smith. Alan Smith was promoted to be the editor of the musical journal from 1972. The New Musical Express was at the forefront of music journalism in the 1970s and 1980s. The Beatles author and music critic Ian MacDonald observed:
I think all the other papers knew by 1974 that NME had become the best music paper in Britain. We had most of the best writers and photographers, the best layouts, that sense of style of humour and a feeling of real adventure. We also set out to beat Melody Maker on its strong suit: being the serious, responsible journal of record.
Detail
What exactly did Alan Smith Despise in Ram?
Well, according to Smith’s opening remarks, the album is “an excursion into almost unrelieved tedium”. “The melodies are weak, the ideas are stale, the arrangements are messy”.
Analysis of Songs
Smith goes on to summarise each song in a few sentences. As can be seen below, Heart of the Country “inconsequential”; Monkberry Moon delight drags on for too long, “an endless, endless, endless fade”. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is dismissed as a “Noel Coward impression”. In actual fact, the single of Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey was certified Gold in the USA after selling more than a million copies.
Smith ends with the accurate observation, “Sorry Paul, I don’t suppose I’ll get a Christmas card this year”.
What is interesting is that Smith was not alone in his damnation of the album. In his review July 1971 for Rolling Stone, John Landau called Ram “incredibly inconsequential” and “monumentally irrelevant”.
Rehabilitation
Over the years, Ram, perhaps more than any other McCartney album, has undergone a critical re-assessment. It now tends to be regarded as one of his strongest post-Beatles albums, alongside Band on the Run.
It is hard to fathom just how and why views have changed to such a dramatic extent. For example. the website Metacritc gives the album a percentage score of 88, based on thirty three user reviews:
Changing Perceptions
The reasons for such a change in Ram’s critical standing are not immediately obvious in 2020. An obvious point is that in the early 1970s, McCartney was still being compared to The Beatles, which were still a very recent memory. Ram has a wandering and almost “chaotic” aura, which stood in sharp relief to the polished perfection of albums such as Abbey Road.
In addition, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released only five months prior to Ram, and seemed present a more serious and coherent artistic statement. In contrast, Ram was brimming with the McCartney tendency to whimsy in songs such as The Back Seat of My Car; a paean to teenage romance.
My Views of Ram
In my books I have approached a handful of the songs from Ram from the viewpoint of musical analysis; picking apart the musical traits the define each song. Here are two of my concluding assessments from Volume Two. The first is about the song Long Haired Lady, the second deals with Eat at Home.
Long Haired Lady
Eat at Home
Conclusion
All that remains to be asked is; who do you agree with, me or Alan Smith?
Please think about leaving a comment below:
Many thanks to Roy Matthews for providing the newspaper clipping for the Alan Smith NME review.
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Comment
I don’t think Ram is a masterpiece, but I think it’s easily one of Paul’s most enjoyable post-Beatles albums. It’s probably the only album that shares the same sense of unbridled joy as Band On The Run. I do agree with Alan Smith in that Monkberry goes on waaaay too long, but so does Long Haired Lady. Linda’s flat “love is long” vocals that go on and on are not exactly in the Hey Jude “na na na” league. I love Too Many People; 3 Legs is inconsequential, but cute and enjoyable; Ram On is slight, but a good production; I love Dear Boy – it’s a sumptuous creation. Uncle Albert is, to me, a wholly successful stitching together or disparate parts; I think Smile Away is horrible – a piece of crap boogie that outstays its (un)welcome; I love Heart Of The Country; Eat At Home is a nod to Buddy Holly, but it’s way more sophisticated than that. Back Seat Of My Car is lyrically very slight, but a wonderful piece of music, performance, arrangement and production. I can’t understand, and never have, why Ram was so critically vilified on release. I can only think that critics were out to get Paul. Plastic Ono Band was an undoubted masterpiece – but it’s not perfect. Well Well Well is way too long, for example. Everyone adored All Things Must Pass, but the third disc is more self-indulgent than anything on Ram, and Phil Spector’s production drowned songs like Wah Wah and Let It Down – George’s voice is almost submerged in the din. There was also no need for two very long versions of Isn’t It A Pity, and Hear Me Lord is very dull. What I’m saying here is that if you look at the first couple of years after the Beatles, I hardly think the critics were being measured or fair when looking at the output of the erstwhile Beatles. Maybe Paul’s biggest sin is that he was somewhat out of step at the time. He is, after all, an unashamed POP artist, and at this point in time “serious” music was becoming about earnest singer-songwriters who didn’t sing about being in car with your teenage girlfriend, or being able to smell someone’s feet from a distance. Paul’s biggest sin at the time was probably twofold: daring to take the other Beatles to court to dissolve their partnership, and being out of step with prevailing trends.
I think you have probably hit the nail on the head. The critcs were probably looking for something more earnest and McCartney’s music can be inconsequential. I think McCartney will ultimately be judged on his music rather than the “message” in the lyrics, as a lot of Ram is lyrically nonsensical or more of a stream of unconnected ideas. On a purely musical level, Ram has a lot to offer – so much detail in the music including lovely harmonies; inventive drumming from Denny Seiwell; and rich orchestration from George Martin. With the advent of CDs and a recent tendency to listen on headphones, people have begun to recognise all of this musical detail.