How Do You Sheep?

In recent years, Paul McCartney's album Ram has grown in stature to become one of the most beloved by fans and respected by critics from his entire solo catalog. But that wasn't the case when the LP hit stores in May of 1971.

Ram sold well enough, topping the UK charts and peaking at #2 in the US (boosted by the #1 single, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"), but was a disappointment to many fans, and many rock critics tore Paul a new one when reviewing the album.

Paul didn't help matters by refusing to promote Ram at the time. He didn't have a touring band assembled yet, but he also didn't bother with any in-person TV or radio appearances or major print interviews. He and Linda did slap together a couple of home movies and set them to "3 Legs" and "Heart Of The Country" (neither of which were singles). These aired on Top Of The Pops June 24th:

Paul's major promotional idea was to smoke a giant bag of weed, compose an annoying jingle, ramble into a tape recorder, and edit the result together with sheep effects and snatches of Ram songs. He called the result Brung To Ewe By and sent it to undoubtedly puzzled disc jockeys in the form of a 12" disc containing 12 30-second and 3 60-second radio spots.

Other Ram spinoffs included the Muzak incarnation, Thrillington, and a dedicated mono mix of the LP for radio play. All the above plus session outtakes will be included in the upcoming Ram Deluxe package, due out near the album's 41st birthday.