Connor Kennedy performs George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass at Bearsville

Monday, January 20, 2014

After declaring the end of the Beatles, Paul McCartney retired to a studio-equipped farm in Scotland and released two modest, true solo efforts as if to deflect all the expectations: the charmingly ramshackle McCartney followed by Ram, a proto-indie folk/pop record, a cloistered and insular “selfie” that was dismissed as fluff in its own time and is now widely regarded as his best post-Beatles effort and a five-star desert island necessity.

On it, Paul flexed his multi-instrumental prowess and studio savvy (he alone among the Beatles positively lived in the studio) in the service of rustic and sweet throwaway tunes of the kind that must float out of his head when he sleeps. Elliot Smith never would have happened without Ram. Even now, 40 years later, Ram has all the freshness of a genuine rebirth. In his more combative and demonstrative way, John Lennon also followed through on the return-to-basics statement that Let It Be was supposed to make with Plastic Ono Band, exploring both musical primitivism and Janov’s primal scream on what is one of the most harrowing and cathartic rock records ever made, if you buy into its authenticity.