The Iconic Paul McCartney Album That Never Would Have Been Made if It Weren’t for His Wife, Linda

When The Beatles broke up, it sent shockwaves through the global community in an overarching, cultural sense. But on an individual level, amongst the members, their dissolution was more than a band breakup. It was an intense fracturing of relationships they had with one another, stretching back into their childhood—before fame, before money, when they were scrappy young lads from Liverpool.

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Consequently, there was a great deal of emotional turmoil that went along with the split, especially for Paul McCartney. Out of all of The Beatles, he always seemed to be the one most aligned with the cause. John Lennon was notoriously rebellious. George Harrison had long been tamped down by Lennon and McCartney and was likely eager for a chance to shine on his own. Ringo Starr, though affable, simply didn’t have as much creative skin in the game as Macca.

Fortunately for McCartney (and, in turn, the rest of the world), he had a great partner by his side to buoy him through this devastating change. Linda McCartney got a lot of flak as her husband’s future bandmate in his next project, Wings. But according to those who were close to McCartney after the Fab Four’s split, without Linda, one iconic album from Paul might have never come into existence.

Linda McCartney Helped Shake Paul McCartney Out of His Funk So He Could Make ‘Ram’

Paul and Linda McCartney released Ram on May 17, 1971, one year after The Beatles’ contentious breakup was legally official. The album included well-loved songs like “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and “Heart Of The Country”. (It also featured a wacky song that remains one of this writer’s personal favorites, “Monkberry Moon Delight”.) Ram was full of songs that sounded quintessentially “Paul.” They could have found homes on Beatles records. But they likely would have been met with the same sort of reception that the band offered for Paul’s zanier songs, like “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”.

And if it hadn’t been for Linda, the album might not have existed at all. “She was the one that got Paul off his a** when he was having to sue the other Beatles,” drummer Denny Seiwell recalled years later to Mojo magazine. “His heart was broken. He would’ve sat up there in Scotland and just become a drunk. She said, ‘Come on. You’re a songwriter. Let’s go to New York and make a record.’ If she hadn’t got on his case, Ram never would’ve been made.”

Paul agreed, adding, “Linda was great. She just eased me out of it and just sort of said, ‘Hey, y’know, you don’t want to get too crazy.’”

And thank goodness she did. Ram went on to top the charts in Paul’s native United Kingdom and peaked at No. 2 in the States on the Billboard 200. The album performed equally well across the world, from Europe to Asia to Australia. Indeed, “happy wife, happy life” sometimes means “listening to your wife when she’s telling you what’s best for you.” At least, that was the case for Paul in 1971.

Photo by Cummings Archives/Redferns