I've been a member of the Ram Army for at least twenty years. RAM is the best McCartney album, based on the richness of its songs, melodies and production. It is also as personal a statement of life and insecurity as anything John Lennon ever did. It is also not merely a pop album, it declares an audio statement of ambience and depth not unlike an avant garde musical mission. Or at least that's my point here, listening deeply to this forty year old gift from Paul and his first wife and greatest companion Linda. Not only is this perfection as music, it also opened the doors for where Paul would travel in his life. It is a master work.
Produced and engineered by dj bennett (chillroom@killradio.org)
Special thanks to my live listeners, to killradio.net and to radio4all.net. Also to Greg Bishop and Reggie Collins. The stereo mix of RAM used is the DCC gold disc prepared by the fantastic Steve Hoffman in 1993 (still the best RAM CD). The mono mix is from the 2012 remaster. Thrillington was downloaded from wfmu.org and Rushes was a gift back in 2002 from Polyphonics. Comments are requested.
The Chill Room, 4 October 2013 at 1130pm PST on killradio.org
160k VBR, 100 minutes, Macca's best album in a close listen
Tonight's show uses RAM in both its stereo and mono variants, adds Paul's Thrillington "muzak" version into the mix (as ambient music), and concludes with a listen to the last project Paul did with Linda before her death, Rushes by The Fireman. ("The fireman rushes in from the pouring rain, very strange...")
Set list: All tracks by Paul and Linda McCartney unless otherwise noted. Too Many People / 3 Legs / 3 Legs (mono) / Ram On / Dear Boy / Uncle Albert_Admiral Halsey / Too Many People (Thrillington) / Heart of the Country (mono) / Monkberry Moon Delight / Eat at Home / Eat at Home (Thrillington) / Long Haired Lady / Ram On Reprise (mono) / Back Seat of My Car / Long Haired Lady (Thrillington) / Palo Verde (The Fireman Rushes)