![]() Believe it or not, he decided to stop right outside the doorway and let people take pictures of him but he wasn’t too thrilled about it. I saw him come out for lunch with Linda and I was in heaven! To finally see him in the flesh was too much. There were a lot of people there every day and I was told – which I found out myself – that he is usually in a vicious mood. One day (the first time I saw him) I saw him three times. It happened quite a few years ago and my mind is very vague about details. To say that I was beside myself is the understatement of the year. The first time I ever saw Paul was in November 1970 when he was in New York recording his album “Ram” at CBS Studios. ![]() Linda McCartney – From “The Beatles: Off The Record 2 – The Dream is Over: Dream Is Over Vol 2” by Keith Badman After a while, I asked them to lay off and one of them turned and said, ‘Well, what the hell did you expect?’ I wasn’t expecting that. While we were in New York making Ram, twenty kids would follow us everywhere we went, everywhere, hotels, rehearsals, the studio. Tim Geelan, from MixOnline, August 1, 2004 I was impressed with his musicianship and command of the studio. The setup was real tight and everyone had headsets. Studio B was a big room, about 40 or 50 feet long and 50 feet wide with a 40-foot-high ceiling. We had a 3M MM-1000 16-track recorder and a homemade console at CBS. ![]() After lunch, we’d listen to what we had and then record another couple of takes if it was necessary. After rehearsing for several hours, we’d cut a version of the tune and then have a lunch break. Paul would show Denny Seiwell, the drummer, and David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken, the guitar players who split the date, the song we’d be tracking that day. We’d start working at nine or 10 in the morning. They were very comfortable sessions that followed a pattern. Paul was a great producer: thorough, businesslike and loose at the same time. Tim Geelan remembers the mood of those sessions: ![]() In the studio were Paul & Linda McCartney (and their kids on some days), drummer Denny Seiwell, guitarist David Spinozza (replaced on October 22 by Hugh McCracken), engineer Tim Geelan and assistant assistant Ted Brosnan. Keep ‘em coming, Sir Paul.After a few days of audition to hire a drummer and a guitarist, the recording of the “ Ram” album – and the related single “ Another Day” – started in CBS Studios on October 12, 1970. It is always good to have things to look forward to in music and in the world of The Beatles, there are literal lifetimes of music to explore there. Maybe someday we’ll get a 5.1 remix of RAM. And I still plan to keep looking for a decent quality original UK edition. I think I prefer my original German pressing overall. Ultimately, I don’t feel this version of RAM is definitive. It is clear and distinct, but not quite as resonant. There is a distinct brighter sensibility about the recording here but with that it also delivers increased details, such as the jaunty acoustic guitar finger picking parts on the verses to “Long Haired Lady” which sound… well… jauntier than ever! If I have any complaint it is that the bass is a little lighter than my original pressing. This version of RAM is probably a bit less compressed than the original pressing, so the recording is a bit quieter in the grooves and thus I had to turn up my amp a bit. ![]() There are parts of this I like very much.īut, now you are probably still wondering: did I really like this edition? Once I got used to the brighter sound, I can generally say: yes, but with caveats. Is it perhaps too bright? I haven’t really decided. On one hand I like this remaster but I have to admit it has taken me some time to get used to it because of the additional shimmer. pressing, certain tracks felt so fresh, as if they might be alternate mixes, particularly “Three Legs.”ĭiving into the new half-speed mastered issue of RAM, there is a brightness to the new edition which is compelling, especially in comparison to the 1971 edition I have. Compared to the etched-in-my-brain memories of the U.S. Revisiting my original German pressing of RAM with fresh ears - as it has been a while since I listened to it closely - I was taken with some of the levels of crisp detailing going on. So, in a curious way I have the opportunity to compare… Apples to Apples… if you’ll pardon the inherent bad pun. But in a way, it is oddly fortuitous that I have the German pressing since the new half speed mastered version of RAM was pressed in Germany! And unlike the recent colored vinyl edition of the album, it is on an Apple Records label. ![]()
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