Limited edition vinyl release to be made available May 14th
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 masterpiece RAM, the album will be reissued May 14th as a limited edition half-speed mastered vinyl pressing via UMe.
Paul’s most recent release, the No. 1 album McCartney III, recorded in “Rockdown” last year, saw a return to the homespun, lo-fi style of the earliest days of his solo career. The eclectic charm and intimacy of 1970’s McCartney and 1971’s RAM found Paul redefining his post-Beatles creative identity, while unconsciously rewriting the rules of pop music and creating new genres along the way — or as Pitchfork would later describe RAM‘s sustained influence on generations of fans and musicians alike, “inventing an approach to pop music that would eventually become someone else’s indie-pop.”
The only album to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, RAM was created mostly at Paul and Linda’s farm in Scotland (following initial, more traditional studio sessions in New York). Unlike the completely solo sessions that resulted in Paul’s eponymous debut album, the recording of RAM found Paul and Linda enlisting a number of musicians, including Denny Seiwell, who would become a founding member of Wings, Paul’s next musical adventure.
The RAM sessions were completed in early 1971, also yielding the standalone single “Another Day,” a worldwide hit that preceded RAM‘s May 1971 release.
RAM‘s singular sonic palette was unlike its predecessor — or anything else for that matter — and has grown exponentially in stature and influence over the decades. Critically polarizing at the time, the album was instantly beloved by fans, hitting No. 1 in the UK and giving Paul his first post-Beatles American No. 1 single, the GRAMMY-winning Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. In recent years the record has continued to solidify its standing as one of the most loved in Paul’s unparalleled output.
The RAM 50th Anniversary edition is one of several releases McCartney has in store for 2021. The former Beatle will release the all-star McCartney III Imagined digitally on April 16th with physical formats coming later this summer. The collaboration album features Damon Albarn, Beck, Blood Orange, Phoebe Bridgers, Josh Homme, Khraungbin, 3D RDN of Massive Attack, Ed O’Brien (EOB), Anderson .Paak, St. Vincent and others, each covering and/or reimagining their favorite McCartney III moments in their own signature styles.
A second children’s picture book is coming in September from Random House Children’s Books in the US and Penguin Random House Children’s UK. Grandude’s Green Submarine, the picture book sequel to Hey Grandude!, continues the adventures of Grandude and his grandchildren as they set off on a quest to find their music-loving grandmother, Nandude! It’s an action-packed extravaganza of wild imagination and fun for the whole family, a read-aloud that’s perfect for sharing, destined to become a timeless classic.
On November 2nd, he will issue McCartney is prepping release The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present on November 2nd. Edited and introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Muldoon, McCartney recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career – from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present. Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney’s personal archive – drafts, letters, photographs – never seen before, which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
