MAY 17th, 1971: RAM IS RELEASED

MAY 17th, 1971: RAM IS RELEASED

❝ 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! ❞

Genre: indie pop, psychedelia SIDE ONE: 1. Too Many People                                2. 3 Legs                                  3. Ram On                    4. Dear Boy                    5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey                    6. Smile Away SIDE TWO: 1. Heart of the Country                     2. Monkberry Moon Delight                     3. Eat at Home                     4. Long Haired Lady                     5. Ram On (Reprise)                     6. The Back Seat of My Car

PAUL: Linda and I were travelling through Scotland, heading north from Glasgow. As I’m driving, I’m just thinking. Linda often used to say she can see my brain working, my face would get a look on it and it’d be just filing through ideas. And I just hit upon the word ‘ram’. It’s strong, it’s a male animal, and then there is the idea of ‘ramming’, you know, pushing forward strongly. 

⊱  The cover photo was Linda’s and the surrounding border was something I did. It was all very homemade and quirky, but I think that added to the charm of it. I remember when we were doing the layout for the gatefold, we put a little piece of grass from the garden and stuck it on. There were all sorts of little things that just came from our lifestyle at that moment. […] when we went to Scotland, we had a very free, sort of hippie lifestyle. It meant I could sit around in the kitchen in the little farmhouse we lived in, with the kids running around and me just with my guitar, making up anything I fancied. 

⊱  I’d been serious long enough with the Beatles, and I wanted to see if I could do something that played more into my love of the surreal. As far as art’s concerned, I probably like modern art more than traditional art. […] For me, it manifested itself in things like “Monkberry Moon Delight” or “3 Legs”. They were slightly wacky; it was nice having an opportunity to do that rather than having to write for someone else’s preconceived notion.

 ⊱  I tried to avoid any Beatles clichés and just went to different places. So the songs became a little more episodic or something. I took on that kind of idea a bit more than I would’ve with The Beatles. I suppose I was just letting myself be free. So if I wanted to do “Monkberry Moon Delight” with a “piano up my nose”, then I figured, that’ll be ok.