Ram (album)

Template:About Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox album Ram (also stylised in all caps) is the only studio album credited to the spousal music duo Paul and Linda McCartney, and the former's second album after leaving the Beatles. Released on 17 May 1971 by Apple Records, it was recorded in New York with guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken, and future Wings drummer Denny Seiwell. Three singles were issued from the album: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (McCartney's first number 1 hit in America without the Beatles), "The Back Seat of My Car" and "Eat at Home". The recording sessions also yielded the non-album single "Another Day".

The album's release coincided with a period of acrimony between McCartney and the other former Beatles, and followed his legal action in the United Kingdom's High Court to dissolve the Beatles partnership. John Lennon perceived slights in the lyrics to songs such as "Too Many People", to which he responded with his song "How Do You Sleep?". McCartney felt he had addressed the criticism he received for his 1970 solo debut, McCartney, but Ram elicited a similarly unfavourable reaction from music journalists. It nonetheless topped the national album charts in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. Today, Ram is held in high regard by many music critics and is often ranked as one of McCartney's best albums.

In 1971, McCartney produced Thrillington, an instrumental interpretation of Ram released in 1977 under the pseudonym Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington. In 2012, an expanded edition of Ram was reissued (Thrillington included) with over two dozen bonus tracks as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. In 2023, Ram was ranked number 450 on Rolling StoneTemplate:'s list of the greatest albums of all time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Background

McCartney and his family flew to New York City in October 1970 to begin working on the follow-up to McCartney.<ref>Sounes, p. 273.</ref> While the previous album had featured him playing every instrument, for Ram, McCartney decided to hold auditions for musicians,<ref name=AGP147>Perone, p. 147.</ref> some of whom were brought in under the guise of recording a commercial jingle.<ref name="Ram official">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Madinger & Easter p 157">Madinger & Easter, p. 157.</ref> Auditions were held in an attic on 45th Street for three days,<ref name="Diary">Template:Cite book</ref> where David Spinozza was recruited as guitarist by Linda,<ref name=AGP147/> before auditions moved to a Bronx basement,<ref name=Diary/> where Denny Seiwell was brought in to play drums.<ref group="nb">Seiwell would later become the drummer of the McCartneys' new band, Wings.<ref name=AGP147/></ref><ref name=AGP147/> Among the other musicians auditioned, there were Alan Schwarzberg, Donald MacDonald, Herb Lovelle, and David Bromberg.<ref>Perasi, Luca: Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol.1) 1970-1989 , L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2023, Template:ISBN, p.49.</ref> McCartney once said he found Seiwell "lying on a mattress" in the basement.<ref name=autogenerated1/> Midway through these sessions, Spinozza became unavailable and was replaced by Hugh McCracken.<ref name=AGP147/>

Songs and production

The basic tracks for the album were taped at Columbia's Studio B from 12 October to 19 November 1970, with additional vocal sessions on 6–11 December at Columbia's Studio D,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> before the McCartneys returned to their Scottish farm for the Christmas holidays.<ref>Sounes, p. 275.</ref> Here at A&R Studios, a total of 19 tracks was recorded, including 10 out of 12 that would be included on RAM. Some tracks required many attempts, due to their complicated structure, such as "The Back Seat of My Car", which needed a lot of work to be perfected. Drummer Denny Seiwell told author Luca Perasi: "That song took a little longer than any other because of all the movements, and the reprise coda … We celebrated when we got the good take!"<ref>Perasi, Luca: Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol.1) 1970-1989 , L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2023, Template:ISBN, p.72.</ref> Work continued at A&R Recording Studios, New York,<ref name="Spizer p 128">Spizer, p. 128.</ref> from the second week of January 1971 to February.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 157" /> Playing guitar or piano and singing at the same time, Paul chose to overdub his bass later.<ref name=AGP147/> Although it was a collaborative project, Linda's vocal duties were mostly limited to singing harmonies<ref name=AGP147/> and backing Paul, who sang almost all the lead parts. Linda sang co-lead on "Long Haired Lady".<ref group="nb">This composition is made up of two songs: "Long Haired Lady" and "Love Is Long", making it the longest track on the album.<ref name=AGP152>Perone, p. 152.</ref></ref> The McCartneys' daughter Heather, whom Paul had adopted the previous year, sang backing vocals on "Monkberry Moon Delight".<ref name=Diary/>

File:RamMcCartneyBackCover.jpg

Back cover of the Ram album

"Ram On", from the album's first side, is reprised (actually continued from the earlier track) on the second side,<ref group="nb">Near the end of the reprise version of "Ram On" McCartney sings lyrics from Wings' "Big Barn Bed".<ref name=AGP149/></ref> before the album's final track, "The Back Seat of My Car".<ref group="nb">An early version of "The Back Seat of My Car" was premiered during the Beatles' Get Back/Let It Be sessions in January 1969.<ref name=AGP153>Perone, p. 153.</ref></ref><ref name=AGP149/> McCartney brought in a group of New York-based freelancers, including past and present members<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> of the New York Philharmonic, to play on "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "Long Haired Lady" and "The Back Seat of My Car",<ref name=AGP147/><ref name=Diary/> as well as the McCartneys' song "Another Day", with arrangements by George Martin.<ref name=AGP154/> "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is in a similar vein to the Abbey Road medley, consisting of several unfinished songs combined into one.<ref name=AGP150/><ref>Raymer & Colebrook, pp 48–49.</ref> Videos were made for "3 Legs" and "Heart of the Country" from footage filmed at High Park, Campbeltown on 5–6 June 1971<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and edited by Roy Benson.

The project moved to Sound Recording in Los Angeles, where many of the backing vocals were recorded.<ref name=Wangberg2005/> Producer Jim Guercio cancelled his honeymoon to oversee the project, but McCartney did not follow his direction, and progress stalled. McCartney was unable to choose which of the 20+ recorded songs would be cut from the album. Guercio left the project to honour a previous booking,<ref>Sounes, p. 279.</ref> and Norwegian engineer Eirik Wangberg replaced him, finishing the album over six weeks.<ref name=AGP147/><ref name=Wangberg2005>Template:Cite web</ref> McCartney gave Wangberg free rein to mix the songs as he saw fit and sequence them for the album any way he chose.<ref name=Harper2021/> Among Wangberg's creative decisions was to stitch two songs together to make "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" and to introduce thunder sound effects to that song; the thunder was taken from a monaural film clip Wangberg recorded onto two tracks with small differences to make artificial stereo.<ref name=Wangberg2005/> Paul and Linda were very happy with the final mix.<ref name=Harper2021>Template:Cite web</ref>

The recording project also yielded the independent single "Another Day" and its B-side, "Oh Woman, Oh Why", released in February 1971.<ref name=JPGR/> Session songs dropped from the album sequence included<ref name=Fab290>Sounes, p. 290.</ref> "Little Woman Love" and tracks later featured on Wings' 1973 album Red Rose Speedway: "Get on the Right Thing", "Little Lamb Dragonfly"<ref group="nb">Spinozza played lead guitar on "Get on the Right Thing", while McCracken played it on "Little Lamb Dragonfly".<ref name=WMPM45/></ref><ref name=WMPM45>Benitez, p. 45.</ref> and "Big Barn Bed".<ref name=JPGR>Template:Cite web</ref> "I Lie Around", issued as the B-side to Wings' 1973 single "Live and Let Die", was taped during these sessions.<ref>Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969–2013), LILY Publishing, Template:ISBN, 2013, p.56.</ref> Also recorded was the first incarnation of "Seaside Woman".<ref name=Diary/> McCartney also recorded "Hey Diddle", "A Love for You", "Great Cock and Seagull Race", "Now Hear This Song of Mine", "Rode All Night", "Sunshine Sometimes" and "When the Wind Is Blowing".<ref>Lennon and McCartney, Together Alone: a Critical Discography of Their Solo Work Template:ISBN p. 59</ref>

References to the Beatles and others

According to Peter Brown, the Beatles' former business associate, John Lennon believed that several of the songs on Ram contained personal jibes at him and Yoko Ono, among them "Dear Boy" and particularly "Too Many People".<ref name="brown351">Brown, p. 351.</ref><ref name=AGP148>Perone, p. 148.</ref> McCartney later conceded that some of the lyrics of "Too Many People" had been "a little dig at John and Yoko", with "preaching practices" and "you took your lucky break and broke it in two" being direct references to Lennon. But he said "Dear Boy" was directed at Linda's ex-husband, not Lennon.<ref name=AGP149>Perone, p. 149.</ref><ref name="Playboy1984">Template:Cite magazine Posted at Template:Cite web</ref><ref group="nb">In the original version of the line "You took your lucky break and broke it in two", "You" was "Yoko".<ref name=AGP148/></ref> Brown also said the picture of two beetles copulating on the back cover symbolized how McCartney felt the other Beatles were treating him.<ref name="brown351"/><ref name=AGP148/><ref group="nb">In a December 1997 interview granted to Q magazine regarding whether the significance of this image was simply "fuck the Beatles", McCartney agreed, explaining the image had been taken by Linda, "then the significance hit us. We saw that pun, yeah, thought why not?"<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref></ref> George Harrison and Ringo Starr reportedly interpreted the track "3 Legs" as an attack on them and Lennon.<ref name=autogenerated1>Badman, p. 22.</ref>

Release

"Another Day" / "Oh Woman, Oh Why" was released that February and became a worldwide Top 5 hit.<ref name=autogenerated2>Template:Cite web</ref> In May, Ram was unveiled,<ref name=AGP147/> on the 17th in the US and on the 21st in the UK.<ref name=Diary/> "The Back Seat of My Car" was excerpted as a UK single<ref group="nb">UK Apple R 5914</ref> in August, reaching number 39,<ref name=Rough139>Ingham, p. 139.</ref> but the US release<ref group="nb">US Apple 1837</ref> of the ambitious "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" proved much more successful, giving McCartney his first number 1 single since leaving the Beatles.<ref name=AGP150>Perone, p. 150.</ref><ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name="super">Template:Cite book</ref> The album reached number 1 in the UK and number 2 in the US,<ref name="UKchart">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="USchart">Template:Cite magazine</ref> where it spent over five months in the Top 10 and went platinum. Despite the phasing-out of monaural albums by the late 1960s, Ram was pressed in mono with unique mixes that differ from the common stereo version. These were made available only to radio stations and are among the most valuable and sought-after of McCartney's solo records.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 157" /><ref>Spizer, p. 132.</ref> The album has sold over 3 million copies.<ref name="Spizer p 128" />

In July, Northern Songs and Maclen Music sued Paul and Linda McCartney for violating an exclusive rights agreement by collaborating on "Another Day".<ref>"McCartney and Wife Sued on 'Another Day' Recording", New York Times, 23 July 1971, p. 15.</ref> Although six of the 11 songs on Ram were co-written by Linda, both parties agreed the issue of royalties for the album could be decided later.<ref>McNicoll, Don. (AP) "McCartney album jumps legal snags, sure to be a hit" The Miami News 22 May 1971: 8-A</ref> In June 1972, Associated Television (ATV), which then owned Northern Songs, announced, "all differences between them have been amicably settled" and the McCartneys signed a new seven-year co-publishing contract between ATV and McCartney Music.<ref>Perry, Rupert. Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire (2006)</ref>

Critical reception

Upon its release, Ram was panned by music critics. McCartney was particularly hurt by the harsh reviews − especially as he had attempted to address the points raised in criticism of his earlier album, McCartney, by taking a more professional approach.<ref>Schaffner, p. 144.</ref> In his review for Rolling Stone, Jon Landau called Ram "incredibly inconsequential" and "monumentally irrelevant", and criticised its lack of intensity and energy. He added that it exposes McCartney as having "benefited immensely from collaboration" with the Beatles, particularly Lennon, who "held the reins in on McCartney's cutsie-pie, florid attempts at pure rock muzak" and kept him from "going off the deep end that leads to an album as emotionally vacuous as Ram".<ref name=RS1971>Template:Cite news</ref> Playboy accused McCartney of "substituting facility for any real substance", and compared it to "watching someone juggle five guitars: It's fairly impressive, but you keep wondering why he bothers."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In NME, Alan Smith called it "an excursion into almost unrelieved tedium" and "the worst thing Paul McCartney has ever done".<ref name="Smith NME">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Robert Christgau, for The Village Voice, called it "a bad record, a classic form/content mismatch", but Paul Levinson countered in The Village Voice that the mismatch was "in the wires and components of Christgau's stereo".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Christgau felt that McCartney succumbed to "conspicuous consumption" by overworking himself and obscenely producing a style of music meant to be soft and whimsical.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Chris Charlesworth of Melody Maker considered Ram a better record than McCartney, but still found it inferior to the recent releases of Harrison and Lennon. Charlesworth concluded: "A good album by anybody's standards and certainly far better than the majority released by British groups and singers. Trouble is you expect too much from a man like Paul McCartney."<ref name="Melody Maker">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Four years later, Roy Carr and Tony Tyler of NME wrote, "it would be naive to have expected the McCartneys to produce anything other than a mediocre record ... Grisly though this was, McCartney was to sink lower before rescuing his credibility late in 1973."<ref>Carr & Tyler, p. 95.</ref>

McCartney's fellow ex-Beatles, all of whom were riding high in critical favour with their recent releases, were likewise vocally critical.<ref>Woffinden, p. 52.</ref> Lennon said he hated the album, dismissing it as "muzak to my ears" in his song "How Do You Sleep?" Starr told the UK's Melody Maker: "I feel sad about Paul's albums ... I don't think there's one [good] tune on the last one, Ram ... he seems to be going strange."<ref>Badman, p. 39.</ref> In addition to conducting a war of words in the British music press,<ref name=autogenerated1 /> "Crippled Inside", another track on Lennon's Imagine, was thought to be directed at McCartney.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=Fab290/> Early editions of Imagine included a postcard of Lennon pulling a pig's ears in a parody of RamTemplate:'s cover photograph of McCartney holding a ram's horns.<ref name=Fab290/><ref name=AGP148/><ref name="norman672">Norman, p. 672.</ref>

Retrospect

Template:Music ratings The 2012 reissue of Ram received an aggregate score of 86 out of 100 from Metacritic, based on twelve reviews – a score the website defines as indicating "universal acclaim".<ref name="MC" /> Reviewing this issue, Mojo said that "today it sounds quintessentially McCartney".<ref name="Mojo"/> AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "in retrospect it looks like nothing so much as the first indie pop album, a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies."<ref name=AllMusic/> PitchforkTemplate:'s Jayson Greene similarly felt McCartney was "inventing an approach to pop music that would eventually become someone else's indie pop", and called Ram "a domestic-bliss album, one of the weirdest, earthiest, and most honest ever made".<ref name="Greene"/> Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone dubbed it a "daffy masterpiece" and "a grand psychedelic ramble full of divine melodies and orchestral frippery".<ref name="Vozick-Levinson" />

David Quantick of Uncut felt that, although it is not as "legendary" as publicised, the album is "occasionally brilliant and historically fascinating" as "post-Beatles mish-mash".<ref name="Quantick"/> Steven Hyden, writing for The A.V. Club, said that the "lightweight" style originally panned by critics is "actually (when heard with sympathetic ears) a big part of what makes it so appealing."<ref name="Hyden">Template:Cite news</ref> Q magazine still found Ram "frustratingly uneven".<ref name="Qmag"/> In a retrospective review in 1981, Robert Christgau doubled down on his dislike of the album and panned McCartney's songs in general as pretentious "crotchets ... so lightweight they float away even as Paulie layers them down with caprices."<ref name="CG"/>

Reissues

In 1977, McCartney supervised the release of an instrumental interpretation of Ram (recorded in June 1971 and arranged by Richard Hewson) with the release of Thrillington under the pseudonym of Percy "Thrills" Thrillington.<ref>Sounes, p. 284.</ref> Thrillington was later released as part of the 2012 super-deluxe release of Ram.<ref name="Paul site"/>

Ram, along with McCartney's Wings over America and Tug of War albums, was issued in the US on compact disc on 18 January 1988.<ref group="nb">US Capitol CDP 7 46612 2</ref><ref name=autogenerated3>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1993, the album was remastered and reissued on CD as part of The Paul McCartney Collection series with "Another Day" and "Oh Woman, Oh Why" as bonus tracks.<ref group="nb">Europe Parlophone CDPMCOL 2/0777 7 89139 2 4</ref><ref name=AGP154>Perone, p. 154.</ref> That same year Digital Compact Classics released an audiophile edition prepared by Steve Hoffman.<ref group="nb">US DCC Compact Classics GZS-1037</ref>

On 21 May 2012 (in the UK) and 22 May (in the US), the album was reissued by McCartney's current label, Hear Music, as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.<ref name="Paul site"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This reissue included the mono mix, which had never been issued previously on compact disc, except by bootleggers.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 157" /> The mono version was also released commercially in 2012 as a limited edition LP.<ref group="nb">Europe Hear Music HRM-33452-01</ref><ref name="Paul site">Template:Cite web</ref> The 2012 reissue was accompanied by a Record Store Day-exclusive edition of the "Another Day" single.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tributes

In 2009, two tribute albums featuring all of the album's songs were put together:

• Ram On L.A was compiled by the website Aquarium Drunkard and released as a digital download, featuring Los Angeles-based acts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Tom: A Best Show on WFMU Tribute to Ram was put together by WFMU DJ Tom Scharpling for the New Jersey radio station's annual fundraising marathon as a CD made available exclusively to those who donated to his show. Artists included Aimee Mann, Death Cab for Cutie and Ted Leo, among others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2012, Danish rock singer/songwriter Tim Christensen, American singer/songwriters Mike Viola and Tracy Bonham, and Christensen's solo band the Damn Crystals did a one-off tribute show, performing Ram in full, along with other McCartney post-Beatles songs,<ref name="puremccartney">Christensen, Tim (22 January 2013). "DVD-release: The Pure McCartney-tribute show" Template:Webarchive. The Official Tim Christensen Blog.</ref> at Vega in Copenhagen, in celebration of McCartney's 70th birthday.<ref>Bertelsen, Mikkel Drejer (22 March 2012). "Tim C hylder Paul McCartney" Template:Webarchive (Tim C celebrates Paul McCartney). GAFFA. Template:In lang</ref> In 2013, this tribute concert was released as the DVD/CD and DVD/2-LP album Pure McCartney.

In 2021, Denny Seiwell and Fernando Perdomo produced Ram On: The 50th Anniversary Tribute to Paul and Linda McCartney's Ram. The album has over 100 musicians from all over the world creating a new version of Ram and the single tracks "Another Day" and "Oh Woman, Oh Why". The contributors included Seiwell, Spinozza, and Marvin Stamm from the original sessions, along with Davey Johnstone, Will Lee, Joey Santiago of the Pixies, Eric Dover formerly of Jellyfish, and Carnie Wilson. Cherry Red Records released the album on May 17, 2021.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Too Many People" Template:Small – 4:10
2. "3 Legs" Template:Small – 2:44
3. "Ram On" Template:Small – 2:26
4. "Dear Boy" Template:Small – 2:12
5. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" Template:Small – 4:49
6. "Smile Away" Template:Small – 3:51

Side two

1. "Heart of the Country" Template:Small – 2:21
2. "Monkberry Moon Delight" Template:Small – 5:21
3. "Eat at Home" Template:Small – 3:18
4. "Long Haired Lady" Template:Small – 5:54
5. "Ram On (Reprise)" Template:Small – 0:52
6. "The Back Seat of My Car" Template:Small – 4:26

Additional tracks on the 1993 CD reissue

13. "Another Day" Template:Small – 3:42
14. "Oh Woman, Oh Why" Template:Small – 4:35

Archive Collection reissue

Ram was reissued in several packages:<ref name="Paul site"/>

• Standard edition<ref group="nb">Europe Hear Music HRM-33448-02/0888072334489</ref> (1-CD): the original 12-track album
• Standard edition (digital download): the original 12-track album
• Special edition<ref group="nb">Europe Hear Music HRM-33449-02/0888072334496</ref><ref group="nb">US Hear Music HRM-33449-02</ref> (2-CD): the original 12-track album on the first disc, plus 8 bonus tracks on a second disc
• Deluxe edition box set<ref group="nb">Europe Hear Music HRM-33450-00</ref><ref group="nb">US Hear Music HRM-33450-00</ref> (4-CD/1-DVD): the original 12-track album, the bonus tracks disc, the original album in mono, Thrillington, DVD of films (including the documentary Ramming narrated by Paul and directed by Ben Ib, as well as the original music videos for "Heart of the Country" and "3 Legs"), 112-page book, 5 prints, 8 facsimiles of lyric sheets, photograph book, and a download link to all of the material
• Remastered vinyl<ref group="nb">Europe Hear Music HRM-33451-01</ref> (2-LP, with a download link to the material): the same tracks as the Special Edition release
• Remastered mono vinyl<ref group="nb">Europe Hear Music HRM-33452-01</ref> (1-LP): a limited edition release of the mono mixes
• Remastered Record Store Day 2012-exclusive vinyl single of "Another Day" b/w "Oh Woman, Oh Why"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 50th anniversary half-speed remaster vinyl (2021)

Disc 1 – Ram

The original 12-track album.

Disc 2 – Bonus audio

All songs written by Paul McCartney, except "Another Day", "Little Woman Love", and "Hey Diddle", written with Linda McCartney.

1. "Another Day" Template:Small – 3:42
2. "Oh Woman, Oh Why" Template:Small – 4:35
3. "Little Woman Love" Template:Small" – 2:08
4. "A Love for You" Template:Small – 4:08
5. "Hey Diddle" Template:Small – 3:49
6. "Great Cock and Seagull Race" Template:Small – 2:35
7. "Rode All Night" – 8:44
8. "Sunshine Sometime" Template:Small – 3:20

   Tracks 4–8 are previously unreleased

   1. Tracks 6–8 are instrumental jams

Disc 3 – Ram mono

The mono version of the original 12-song album.Template:Col-2

Disc 4 – Thrillington

Writing credits correspond to that of the original album.

1. "Too Many People" – 4:31
2. "3 Legs" – 3:41
3. "Ram On" – 2:49
4. "Dear Boy" – 2:50
5. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" – 4:56
6. "Smile Away" – 4:39
7. "Heart of the Country" – 2:27
8. "Monkberry Moon Delight" – 4:36
9. "Eat at Home" – 3:28
10. "Long Haired Lady" – 5:44
11. "The Back Seat of My Car" – 4:51

Disc 5 – DVD

1. Ramming – 11:15

   Making of the album

2. "Heart of the Country" – 2:41

   Promo video

3. "3 Legs" – 3:03

   Promo video

4. "Hey Diddle" – 2:48

   Previously unreleased

5. "Eat at Home" on Tour – 4:31

Digital-only bonus tracks (available only on Paulmccartney.com and iTunes)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1. "Eat at Home" / "Smile Away" Template:Small – 8:24

   Performed by Wings

2. "Uncle Albert Jam" – 2:17

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – lead and harmony vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, ukulele on "Ram On"
• Linda McCartney – harmony and backing vocals; co-lead vocals on "Long Haired Lady"
• David Spinozza – guitar on "3 Legs", "Eat at Home", "The Back Seat of My Car", and (1993 bonus track) "Another Day"
• Hugh McCracken – guitar
• Denny Seiwell – drums
• Heather McCartney – backing vocals on "Monkberry Moon Delight"
• Marvin Stamm – flugelhorn on "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
• New York Philharmonic on "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "Long Haired Lady", and "The Back Seat of My Car"

Charts

Weekly charts

Original album

Chart (1971)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report Chart<ref name="auchart">Template:Cite book</ref>	3
Canadian RPM Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart<ref name="nlchart">Template:Cite web</ref>	1
French SNEP Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	8
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart<ref name="jachart">Template:Cite book</ref>	8
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart<ref name="nochart">Template:Cite web</ref>	1
Spanish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1
Swedish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite webNote: Ram peaked at number-three on the Kvällstoppen best-selling records list in June 1971, behind "Funny Funny" by The Sweet and "Going Back to Indiana" by Jackson 5.</ref>	3
UK Albums Chart<ref name="UKchart"/>	1
US Billboard 200<ref name="USchart"/>	2
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums<ref name=Band233>Template:Cite book</ref>	2
US Record World 100 Top LP's<ref name=Band233/>	2
West German Media Control Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>	22

Template:Album chart

Reissue

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	52
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	75
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	61
Dutch Mega Albums Chart<ref name="nlchart"/>	31
French SNEP Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	43
Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	14
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart<ref name="nochart"/>	19
Spanish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	39
Swedish Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	35
UK Albums Chart<ref name="UKchart"/>	41
US Billboard 200<ref name="USchart12">Template:Cite web</ref>	24

Year-end charts

Chart (1971)	Position
Australian Albums Chart<ref name="auchart" />	6
Dutch Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3
French Albums Chart<ref name="frayearend">Template:Cite web</ref>	10
UK Albums Chart<ref name="UKYearend">Template:Cite web</ref>	6
US Billboard Year-End<ref name="USYearend71">Template:Cite book</ref>	38

References

Footnotes Template:Reflist

Citations Template:Reflist

Sources

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Discogs master