May 12 – Turntable Talk 14 : Paul Ram-med His Way Onto The Record Player

On By DaveIn Albums That Matter, Turntable Talk

Welcome back to Turntable Talk! Thanks once again to all the regular readers and welcome to any new ones. If you’re keeping count, this is our 14th instalment…if you’re wondering about past topics, I indexed the first dozen here. For any new readers, briefly, on Turntable Talk we have a number of guest columnists from other music sites, sounding off on one particular topic. This month, our topic is Feels Like The First Time. No, no, we’re not going X-rated here, we’re talking about a different kind of first – the first album our guests ever bought.

Today we start off with Randy from Mostly Music Covers. Randy does a more thorough look at cover songs than anybody I’ve ever come across, and recently has looked at songs translated from foreign languages at his site:

The question of do you remember the first album you bought is not all that straight forward. Having said that I am going to rip the bandage off, it was The Partridge Family Album. When you finish laughing, please allow me to explain. It would have been 1971 and I was 12. I was coerced by my oldest sister to pony up my allowance/birthday/lawn cutting money I had been saving so that she and the year younger than I, sister #2 (of 3) if you are keeping score, could buy the album. I will admit to watching the show and I may or may not have had a crush on Susan Dey. However, I was not a willing participant in the purchase and did not attend the offending event, nevertheless the deed was done. And as is often said, “the truth will out”. It’s a reoccurring nightmare but there it is, scars and all, thanks to Dave. I do forgive you, my friend.

Now that we have that unpleasantness out of the way, after that experience I was ready to go it alone for my music purchases, but an album was a way off yet. That summer I started working a paper route, yes that was an actual thing, delivering newspapers to people’s door. That would be followed with a gig at the gun club, and various other interesting jobs, but a story for another day. Formative years for us all at that age in developing our music interest and I have to say I was a little naïve. For starters the 45 rpm single was financially more viable than an album, (even being gainfully employed) so a few of those would be the beginnings of my music investments. In 1973 there was “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, and “Draggin’ the Line” by Tommy James.

I had really taken a liking to Paul McCartney’s post The Beatles efforts, at least the few songs that initially made the regular rotation on the local AM stations. By 1974 it was the explosion of Wings and songs like “My Love” from Red Rose Speedway and then all the great songs from Band on the Run. I bought the single “Jet” but immediately feel in love with “Let Me Roll it” on the B-side. My friends at this time were into Rush, Zeppelin, and Bowie. I wasn’t quite ready to go there yet.

We are in 1974, so at 15 I am very late to the party for my first album, for that matter also for my first, oh wait, never mind. Now for a moment we need to backtrack to 1972 and still with Paul McCartney’s songs. It was his solo album Ram (released in May of 1971) that had got a lot of airplay on the radio and I liked the songs I heard. A trip to the record stores would involve seeing all the new albums on display, with new album price tags as well. Not in the bargain bin but not at full price was Ram. So, it was I really like Wings and Sir Paul’s new stuff, but the ‘old’ stuff was the right price.

Still got the album!

Thanks to Wikipedia it’s an easy copy and paste for the track listing.

Side one

“Too Many People” (Paul McCartney) – 4:10

“3 Legs” (P. McCartney) – 2:44

“Ram On” (P. McCartney) – 2:26

“Dear Boy” (P. McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 2:12

“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 4:49

“Smile Away” (P. McCartney) – 3:51

Side two

“Heart of the Country” (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 2:21

“Monkberry Moon Delight” (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 5:21

“Eat at Home” (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 3:18

“Long Haired Lady” (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 5:54

“Ram On (Reprise)” (P. McCartney) – 0:52

“The Back Seat of My Car” (P. McCartney) – 4:26

I loved this album then and I still do, the ‘Rams’ share of the songs on it are amazing. And most importantly it’s a “Smile Away” from The Partridge Family. “Ram on”

48 thoughts on “May 12 – Turntable Talk 14 : Paul Ram-med His Way Onto The Record Player”

  1. Thanks Randy! You made readers ‘come on get happy!’, LOL. Seriously though, a 70s Paul McCartney album is a pretty good place to start your collection. Is that image a pic of the one you bought? If so, impressive,to have it still all these years on.

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  2. Badfinger (Max)

    Hey Randy…. The Partridge Family was much better than the Osmonds! I still watch them once in a while…just to hear Danny be a smart aleck.
    I really like The Back Seat of My Car…from this album. I’ve heard some reviewers call it the first alternative album….a DIY album.
    Great buy Randy…

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    1. Yeah, I would watch the Partridge Family when I could back then. Loved that bus – I always was hoping Matchbox or someone like that would put out a little Hot Wheels-sized one.

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      1. I bought albums, this was the only single that I ever purchased. My friend who was a big Beatles fan told me this song was only released as a single and I liked it when he played it for me.

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      2. cool! My sweetie said she very rarely bought singles when she first bought records, in the early-’80s. I on the other hand bought mostly singles, at least when I was young in the ’70s, couldn’t afford many LPs . even as i hit my teens, and maybe had money from PT jobs, I wanted to be sure on an LP… hated buying one to find that only the radio hit appealed to me!

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  4. Oh Geez, I have forgotten about the Partridge Family. My sister watched the show, and I did only once. Ram was a good effort by McCartney, still not as good as his first one, but right up there. I stopped listening when he formed Wings, I just couldn’t bare it, such a sweet-toothed effort though.

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    1. I was a kid when Wings were big (going into my teens as they ended) so I liked a good chunk of their singles, some hold up to me now, some not so much! Clearly though, Paul benefitted having John, and to some degree George and Ringo , around.

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  5. Great writeup Randy. Awesome that you still have the original copy of RAM. I’m one of those that really likes Wings almost more than the Beatles. lol I need to start picking away at some of these Macca albums….
    Kind curious about the gig at a gun club. Pre Sons of Anarchy?? lol

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    1. Thanks deKE , it’s like a little piece of history! Since you asked , the gun club gig was like child labour with no health and safety rules. We were setting clay pigeons on a trap arm that tossed it into the air so people could shoot them. We were in little huts half buried in the ground and live shot gun ammunition exploding around us.

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  6. Every young kid has to weigh up the cost, 45 v 33, bang for the buck or more tracks for the money. Tough choices for the poor young adolescent. I’m glad l had a (slightly) richer older brother who bought most of what I liked.
    Ah, Susan Dey…

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      1. At some time in most every pimply faced growing boy there is that moment where you look at what’s on the TV and your eyes widen, your pulses quicken and you go ‘Oh my gosh golly-gee, that young lady is most attractive.’

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  7. Ok, Randy, I have to admit that I guffawed when I read the first paragraph. Then I started singing “I Think I Love You” out loud, which made my kids look at me funny. So … I guess, thanks for that! Anyway, I can totally relate to the paper route money, as that is what I was saving up to buy my first album. I only know a few songs from that album, but they are good. Nice pick!

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  8. Very entertaining post, Randy. While I’m well familiar with the name/title “The Partridge Family” and, according to Wikipedia, the sitcom was also shown in Germany, I don’t recall having watched it. The other thing that may be surprising is that as a huge Beatles fan who also likes a good deal of Macca’s music post Beatles, I only know a handful of songs from “Ram.” Nice you still have the original copy!

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      1. I don’t recall a particular German sitcom that was produced in Germany.

        We did have many American TV shows in the ’70s and ’80s, like “The Rockford Files”, “The Streets of San Francisco”, “Magnum PI, “Miami Vice”, “The Golden Girls”, “Dallas”, etc. I also recall “Bonanza” and “The Brady Bunch”, which in Germany was called “Drei Maedchen und Drei Jungen” (three girls and three boys”) – not sure why they gave it that kind of silly title!

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      6. you’re in a great position being bilingual, you could watch each and see how closely they align. But you might have far better things to do with your time than note ‘here Shirley called Lenny and Squiggy this but in German she said…’

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