05 Oct

Ram On

Portland based multi-instrumentalist Dave Depper has done something really rather interesting. He has taken it upon himself to cover the entire 1971 Paul McCartney album Ram. This is no re-invention however, it is a lovingly crafted, almost note-for-note re-creation. Now the questions that occur are why, and what's the point of such an endeavor? The answer would simply seem to be because he can.

Whether you are going to like this album is, of course, going to depend very much what your views are of Mr. McCartney and his musical noodling. There can be no denying though, that there is some seriously impressive musicianship on display here. Especially considering that the whole project was undertaken in a mere 31 days.

I must admit to being somewhat envious of those who are going to listen to this having never heard the original. I would love to be able to expunge Mr. McCartney's Ram from my brain so I could listen to Mr. Deppers version without the inevitable and constant comparisons.

But there are going to be comparisons, usually for any sort of cover to be truly successful, it is generally accepted that it needs to be sufficiently different to exist in its own right. It was only after a couple of listens that the subtle differences in the new recording started became apparent. There is more of a pop edge to a lot of the tracks here, and it may just be me, but I also get the impression that Mr. Depper isn't taking the whole thing entirely seriously.

Dave Depper is, of course, helped by the fact that Paul McCartney can't half write a tune. But to his credit, he has also managed to retain the original charm of the songs, and vocally (intentionally or not) resembles Paul McCartney a surprising amount. It's a staggering 40 years since the original Ram was released, and to be honest I can't think of a more fitting tribute. Very much worth checking out.