Both Ram and Songs for Beginners hold a special place in my heart as I purchased both albums in 1971. It was also a time where Paul McCartney and Graham Nash were without a band.
Last year, friend Paul Hobbs and I took on a 'What If' scenario if both The Beatles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had stayed together as bands in 1970.
Our first go around was A 'What if' Album: Apple Scruffs • The Beatles 1970. Paul McCartney's first solo album in 1970, McCartney included several songs in our Beatle fantasy album complete with fake album cover and press release.
As a sixteen year old, I had started a quiet depression questioning my self-worth that I didn't share with anyone. Needless to say, millions of my peers were also going through the same slow drip of life in high school, living under the roof of their parents, wanting something more. Maybe this is where the term "sophomore slump" is derived, being stuck in a place in time before your break out year would be realized.
Summer would be coming, and with my new driver's license my friends and I would soon be heading up the coast, to the beaches and back country roads with a little bit of independence to build on.
1971 was a great year for rock 'n' roll and Paul McCartney's Ram came at a good time to lift my spirits and put a positive tone under my small town skies.
Graham Nash was simply a hitmaker tunesmith in all his bands. He wrote hits for The Hollies, CS&N, CSN&Y and Crosby & Nash.
Paul McCartney and Graham Nash, both born in England in 1942 are still making music today as solo acts. God save the Brits and their invasion to our shores in the 1960's!
Enjoy these two albums my friends.
ram on... we can change the world!
Ram Playlist
Songs for Beginners Playlist
You really captured the spirit (partially broken spirit?) of music loving, pre-licensed teens who’s dreams were awakened by this music. While it made us crave more independence we were stuck in high school for two or three more years and living under the jurisdiction of our parents rules and dress codes. These albums both meant a lot to me as well. The Beatles were there on Ed Sullivan for all the world to see. These albums were the ones we were discovering on our own. We weren’t getting them for birthdays and Christmas presents. We were going to SLO and listening on headphones after reading about them in our subversive magazines like Circus and Rolling Stone. Of course these records didn’t represent an assault on authority, though Nash’s offering did venture into politics and the 68 unrest surrounding the Democrat convention. Anyway, it was a sort of transitional period led by the music we loved as usual, that preceded a great summer. Sorry to ramble Doug but you brought it all back. Love it! Thanks.
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