RAM by Paul McCartney

Ram came out on Apple on 17 May 1971, Paul McCartney's second album since leaving the Beatles and the only studio record billed to Paul and Linda McCartney together; the couple produced it themselves. They cut it in New York with guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken, plus Denny Seiwell, soon to be the drummer in Wings.

It's a homespun, whimsical thing, all quick-change melodies and domestic cheer, and it landed in the ugliest stretch of the breakup, just after Paul went to the High Court to dissolve the Beatles partnership. John Lennon heard digs at himself in "Too Many People" and fired back with "How Do You Sleep?" Critics were no kinder than they had been to the 1970 debut, McCartney, yet "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" became his first American number one without the Beatles and the album topped the charts in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. Time has flipped the verdict: in 2023 Rolling Stone ranked it number 450 among the greatest albums ever.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.