Paul Mccartney Ram Orig.1971 Apple 1st Press Mint Beauty Top In Shrink Lp

More PSYCH and Classic 1960 s Rock LPs from a fanatically well-kept collection of a long-time former DJ
Mostly 1st PRESSINGS, including a good amount of PROMOs and a few choice IMPORT LPs.
Many of these still in SHRINK WRAP ...several STILL SEALED
Quite a few WLP, Sterling, RL and Masterdisk pressings in the mix
Sadly I am NOT FAST at listing and am lucky to get around 50 up at a time, but they will keep on coming as I pause between each auction series to focus on top level packing and immediate shipping throughout this fall, several hundred to list, so keep checking back.
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USA Shipping: FREE ...no matter how many LPs
International Shipping Worldwide at EXACT POSTAGE Only cost

Please NOTE:
Some of my PHOTOS suffer from LOW LIGHT lighting conditions due to very cloudy / rainy days recently .
This causes unavoidable grain and spottiness in image, particularly on dark covers / labels and especially the vinyl.
I apologize for that and assure all bidders that such grain/spots are Digital Artifacts only - are not actually present
on these LP Covers / labels / vinyl themselves at all - and DO NOT properly represent the true condition.
My camera simply is not able to resolve fine detail in low light ...especially on the vinyl grooves.
In any such case, please always refer to the written grade and description for accurate condition details.
some of the vinyl is appearing like unearthed ancient archeological artifacts or mars-scapes
If this could have been at all avoided it would have been. ...hopefully new camera soon
Please see my FEEDBACK and bid with complete confidence.

This auction is for:
Paul McCartney
RAM
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APPLE Records SMAS-3375
Original 1971 issue Stereo LP
VINYL is NM
Full gloss vinyl is extremely close to Brand New, with only one very faint, hard-to-see surface hairline on Side 2, viewed under hard bright light. Side 1 is pristine. Labels are immaculate both sides.
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COVER is NM
Still in clean, complete, unbroken original factory Shrink Wrap - rare to find on this GATEFOLD cover that was usually opened out right away, with shrink immediately discarded. Crisp, straight and tight with no creases, dings, bumped corners or other issues. Like New.

A BEAUTIFUL PRISTINE ARCHIVE COPY
Original 1971 first pressing in THICK gatefold cover
WINCHESTER Plant FIRST PRESSING
I normally decline from listing 1st Press CAPITOL or USA APPLE album MATRIX NUMBERS, because their numbering system either A for someone who has no idea ... and expects all 1st presses of all labels in all countries in all eras to follow a simple A1 1st Press or similar, easy to follow matrix sequence, they will think I am lying - or B for those who have spent a bit more time learning about 1960 s/70 s LP pressings and realize that many labels had matrix numbering systems that are near impossible to follow or determine pressing sequence from plant to plant without direct knowledge from former plant workers / company files data, it will still be meaningless reason why I have no Matrix s on my USA issue BEATLES LP listings for example . HOWEVER, since I see THIS Winchester pressing clearly stated at DISCOGS as original press, I will take a gamble and state the
MATRIX NUMBERS:
Side One: SMAS-1-3375-F12 4
Side Two: SMAS-2-3375-F31
Both sides also have the WINCHESTER glyph in trail-off wax.
Brief digression for edification:
Capitol Records Winchester Pressing / Laquering plant came online in 1969 and specialized in 1st run product - particularly APPLE product.
Abbey Road was the first Beatles album pressed in Winchester. After that the Hey Jude and Let It Be albums. Most interesting for collectors, Beatles Historian BRUCE SPIZER states: the Beatles Christmas Album was pressed exclusively at the Winchester factory . Eventually, as Capitol wound down their Scranton plant, Winchester would take on more catalog repressings of older albums still in print , but during those first years, they were rushing out Capitol/Apple s hottest new product. Look this one up at DISCOGS and you will see this Matrix as one of the pressing plants in this case their WINCHESTER plant 1st run. Find the 1971 listing for Winchester, under the RAM LP . Sorry if these matrix s don t impress, but unaware collectors constantly miss out on choice 1st run Beatles, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, etc. LPs just speaking of Capitol Records pressings alone because they mistakenly think numbers like this must mean later pressings.
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Please see my other listings for more BEATLES and related
plus other Vintage Collectible PSYCH, Rare 60 s and CLASSIC ROCK LPs
John Lennon tried telling everyone outright The dream is over on Plastic Ono Band s God , but that still wasn t a cold-water jet hard enough to prepare people, apparently, for the whimsical pastoral oddity that was Ram.
Ram, simply put, is the first Paul McCartney release completely devoid of John s musical influence. Of course, John wiggled his way into some of the album s lyrics-- in those fresh, post-breakup years, the two couldn t quite keep each other out of their music. It s breezy, abstracted, completely hallucinogen-free, and utterly lacking grandiose ambitions. Its an album whistled to itself. It s purely Paul. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is not only Ram s centerpiece, it is clearly one of McCartney five greatest solo songs. As the slash in the title hints, it s a multi-part song, starring two characters. To put its accomplishments in an egg-headed way: It fuses the conversational joy listeners associated with McCartney s melodic gift to the compositional ambition everyone assumed was Lennon s. To put it a simpler way: Every single second of this song is joyously, deliriously catchy, and no two seconds are the same. Do you think early Of Montreal, the White Stripes at their most vaudevillian, or the Fiery Furnaces took any lessons from this song?
The joy of paying close attention to Ram is gradually discovering that Paul was humming darker things under his breath than it seemed. Smile Away , for instance, is a messy, romping slab of Buddy Holly rock. Paul makes a joke about his stinky feet. The chorus goes Smile away, smile away, smile away, smile away, smile away. But it s not just smile, a brief, cost-free act that can last a second. It s Smile Away , keeping a fixed grin as conversation grows unpleasant. In interviews of the period, Paul was asked repeatedly if he felt lost without his collaborating partner, if he was motivated solely by commercial success, how he felt about being the cute Beatle. The backing vocal chant behind Smile Away goes, by turns, Don t know how to do that and Learning how to do that. Smile away horribly, now, Paul slurs over the song s fadeout. Yes, he s fine. No, he and Linda will not become the next John and Yoko. But thanks so much for asking. If you tell a dog it s a brainless fleabag with the same tone of voice you use to say Good boy, it will still wag its tail.
The album is riddled with dark grace notes like this: Monkberry Moon Delight has an absolutely unhinged vocal take, Paul gulping and sobbing right next to your inner ear. The imagery is surrealist, but anything but whimsical: When a rattle of rats had awoken/ The sinews, the nerves, and the veins, he bellows. It could be a latter-day Tom Waits performance. Too Many People opens with Paul warbling piece of cake, but the lyrics themselves wag their finger at societal injustices, former bandmates-- basically everybody. The lyrics to 3 Legs are full of hobbling animals with missing limbs.
The almost-title song Ram On , could serve as the album s redeeming spirit: A haunting, indelible little tune drifts past on ukulele as Paul croons, Ram on, give your heart to somebody/ Soon, right away. The title is a play on his old stage name Paul Ramon, which makes the song a private little prayer a mirror image, perhaps, to John Lennon s John Lennon - Hold On. The song is reprised, late in the record, functioning like a calming breeze. I want a horse, I want a sheep/ Want to get me a good night s sleep, Paul jauntily sings on Heart of the Country , a city boy s vision of the country if ever there was one, and another clue to the record s mindstate. For Paul, the country isn t just a place where crops grow it s a place where holy people grow. Now that American cities everywhere are having their Great Pastoral Moment, full of artisans churning goat s-milk yogurt and canning their own jams, Ram feels like particularly delicious, refreshing fruit.

Track Lising

All records packed with vinyl inside inner sleeve behind cover with bubble-wrap around all sides - sandwiched between stiff corrugated flats and shipped in strong LP mailer boxes for best protection in the mail.

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