The Beatles: Their 10 best solo albums ranked, from Flaming Pie to Imagine
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dirkmcquickly wrote:
My top 10 solo Beatle albums are:
Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, Ram, Band on the run, Tug of war, Flowers in the dirt, Chaos and creation in the backyard, All things must pass, Thirty three and a third, Cloud nine.
That is pretty close to what my top 10 would be. I would probably swap 'Tug of War' for 'New' and 'Thirty Three and a Third' for 'George Harrison' but that's all.
I also agree with your comment about a 'stripped- down' version of ATMP. I think the Beatles did a good job with 'Let It Be Naked' and what Yoko did with 'Double Fantasy'.
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Kestrel wrote:
It is strange that Paul never did seem keen on performing the Ram tracks live. Even on the Wings tour back in 1972, just a year after Ram's release, Paul only included Eat At Home & Smile Away.
And that right there should tell you how he felt about the album, and how all the negative(rightfully so) reviews impacted him. Paul at the peak of his powers ignoring his most current record. Thats says it all. Its made many "worst albums" of the seventies list.
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Okay Maccaroni, what worst lists did RAM make? I could not find ONE. Not one. Yes, Rolling Stone gave an awful, unfair review of RAM in 1971. The reviewer, Dave Marsh, later admitted he barely listened to the album, and was just pissed at McCartney. And now the Rolling Stone Album Review gives RAM 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Yes, do I wonder why Paul doesn't play any RAM songs now? Of course. But he also didn't play 1985, IMO the greatest Wings song ever, until 2010. I remember a great interview with Rusty Anderson when he talked about rehearsing Back Seat Of My Car; he said it was such a tough song to play and Paul didn't like the sound. Had a great 5 mile run today, blasting RAM. Still thrills the heck out of me. Still.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
Okay Maccaroni, what worst lists did RAM make? I could not find ONE. Not one. Yes, Rolling Stone gave an awful, unfair review of RAM in 1971. The reviewer, Dave Marsh, later admitted he barely listened to the album, and was just pissed at McCartney. And now the Rolling Stone Album Review gives RAM 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Yes, do I wonder why Paul doesn't play any RAM songs now? Of course. But he also didn't play 1985, IMO the greatest Wings song ever, until 2010. I remember a great interview with Rusty Anderson when he talked about rehearsing Back Seat Of My Car; he said it was such a tough song to play and Paul didn't like the sound. Had a great 5 mile run today, blasting RAM. Still thrills the heck out of me. Still.
Really Rusty. Group "The Damn Crystals" did a killer version (Back Seat Of My Car) of it live about 8 years ago and obviously had no trouble playing it. I believe BJ can vouch for how good this group did that song. Sadly, this video disappeared but click link below and see the same group do "Too Many People". This group proved to me how good RAM would have sounded live. One thing if McCartney did not like the sound but find it hard to believe this would be that hard for these guys to play.
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Maccaroni1974 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
It is strange that Paul never did seem keen on performing the Ram tracks live. Even on the Wings tour back in 1972, just a year after Ram's release, Paul only included Eat At Home & Smile Away.
And that right there should tell you how he felt about the album, and how all the negative(rightfully so) reviews impacted him. Paul at the peak of his powers ignoring his most current record. Thats says it all. Its made many "worst albums" of the seventies list.
Paul McCartney (December 1973): 'I still read the notices and stuff and they're usually bum ones when you're expecting them to be great. Like after Ram, there were a lot of bum notices after Ram. But I keep meeting people whereever I go, like I met someone skiing. As he skied past me he said, "I loved Ram, Paul." So that's really what i go by, just the kind of people who flash by me in life. Just ordinary people and they said they loved it. That's why I go be sales and not just for the commercial thing. Life if a thing sells well, it means a lot of people bought it and liked it.'
Personally I think eighteen months earlier Paul was still down about the court case and hearing friends like Ringo criticising Ram for not having a one decent tune on it. I think he was negatively influenced by all that having gone on in his recent past.
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Kestrel wrote:
Maccaroni1974 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
It is strange that Paul never did seem keen on performing the Ram tracks live. Even on the Wings tour back in 1972, just a year after Ram's release, Paul only included Eat At Home & Smile Away.
And that right there should tell you how he felt about the album, and how all the negative(rightfully so) reviews impacted him. Paul at the peak of his powers ignoring his most current record. Thats says it all. Its made many "worst albums" of the seventies list.
Paul McCartney (December 1973): 'I still read the notices and stuff and they're usually bum ones when you're expecting them to be great. Like after Ram, there were a lot of bum notices after Ram. But I keep meeting people whereever I go, like I met someone skiing. As he skied past me he said, "I loved Ram, Paul." So that's really what i go by, just the kind of people who flash by me in life. Just ordinary people and they said they loved it. That's why I go be sales and not just for the commercial thing. Life if a thing sells well, it means a lot of people bought it and liked it.'
Personally I think eighteen months earlier Paul was still down about the court case and hearing friends like Ringo criticising Ram for not having a one decent tune on it. I think he was negatively influenced by all that having gone on in his recent past.
Ok, so if McCartney goes by commercial success and not critical acclaim then why did he not play more of RAM live. I believe RAM sold pretty well and it had #1 single with "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Ok, so if McCartney goes by commercial success and not critical acclaim then why did he not play more of RAM live. I believe RAM sold pretty well and it had #1 single with "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
Presumably because by the end of 1973 that wasn't how he had been viewing things a year earlier. And by the time he was touring again (September1975) , he had BOTR and Venus and Mars under his belt so he didn't need to go back to either Ram or Red Rose Speedway...apart from 'My Love' of course. There's is a valid question pertaining to why there were no Ram songs on the May 1973 UK tour but I can only think that Paul was wanting to establish Wings in their own right so nine of the fifteen song set were associated with the Red Rose Speedway sessions.
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Kestrel wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Ok, so if McCartney goes by commercial success and not critical acclaim then why did he not play more of RAM live. I believe RAM sold pretty well and it had #1 single with "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
Presumably because by the end of 1973 that wasn't how he had been viewing things a year earlier. And by the time he was touring again (September1975) , he had BOTR and Venus and Mars under his belt so he didn't need to go back to either Ram or Red Rose Speedway...apart from 'My Love' of course. There's is a valid question pertaining to why there were no Ram songs on the May 1973 UK tour but I can only think that Paul was wanting to establish Wings in their own right so nine of the fifteen song set were associated with the Red Rose Speedway sessions.
Makes sense but still a shame. There are great youtube clips of other groups doing RAM songs live and they sound great.
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I've loved Ram since the day it came out. It's never bothered me what critics say, after all music is subjective - one man's Mozart is another man's trash. Ram overflows with melody, it rocks, it's fun and Paul and Linda sound as though they had fun making it. Sure, it's got rough edges, but Paul was finding his feet after the Beatles break-up. It's a good-time album, I love the discreet use of the New York Symphony. Back seat of my car is wonderful, you feel as though you're in the back of his car, roof down, cruising down the highway with the wind blowing your hair. What's not to love ?
