Raymond

The album cover of Raymond

***Raymond*** is the fifteenth studio album and second double album by the English-American rock band The Beatles. Released on 29 December 1972 by Apple Records. It is a concept album that explores Raymond, an Australian farmer who upon a storm at sea, loses his memory and washes up on the shore of the city of Dehradun. The album was a commercial success, topping the US charts for 13 weeks and reaching number one in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time and one of the band's finest works. The album is also the first to feature Linda Eastman and Denny Laine as members.

## Overview

In 1969, a 27-year old George Harrison heard 'Tommy' by The Who for the first time. The album, centered around a boy by the same name and his life as a deaf, dumb, and blind boy, caught Harrison's attention enough to start him down a path that would culminate in The Beatles' most ambitious project ever. This passion and interest in the art of storytelling through the album medium was further fueled by The Who's followup to 'Tommy', '*Lifehouse*'.

In 1971, two months after *'Lifehouse*', and two weeks after 'Junk In The Yard', Harrison presented the idea of a concept album to his fellow bandmates. McCartney and Starr were both intrigued by the idea. After some discussion amongst themselves about what was feasible, they decided; The to produce, and release a concept album.

While drafting the story, Tensions arose as McCartney wanted a prince-and-pauper style story about a fisherman and a farmer, and Harrison wanted a spiritual journey record. Eventually, after multiple redraws and rewrites, McCartney and Harrison joined together aspects of their individual visions, and emerged with the story of 'Raymond'.

The size of the project required assistance. For this reason, Raymond was the first to feature The Beatles as a quintet, as Paul McCartney introduced two new members; keyboardist and wife of McCartney, Linda Eastman, and rhythm guitarist, and friend of Paul, Denny Laine were hired by McCartney during production but stayed on as a musician until 1980 and 1979 respectively.

In terms of the band's 'album-a-year' record, Raymond was the closest to breaking the streak. The writing of new material started 11 February and ended on 23 May 1972. The recording took place from 20 June to 17 September 1972. The mixing and final editing took from 31 September until 29 November 1972.

Raymond was released on 29 December 1972. The Beatles had saved their 'album-a-year' streak by two days. Critical and public reception to Raymond was significantly better than that to Junk In The Yard. Critics that had bashed their previous record declared that '*The Beatles are back!' and 'for the first time in a while they've made something I can't fall asleep to.'*.

Upon hearing samples of his compositions in 'The Tuning Sequence' and 'Ebb And Blood Flow', John Lennon threatened to sue The Beatles for infringement. The issue was eventually settled out of court, and Lennon was credited on all future releases. When later asked about his thoughts on Raymond, Lennon replied that "*It's surprisingly not all shit!'*.

In 1975, Raymond was adapted into a feature film starring Michael Palin and Barbara Bach, for which McCartney and Harrison wrote the screenplay. Raymond is one of the best-known Concept Albums. With over 21 million copies sold, it is the one of the best-selling double-albums of all time. In 2003, and 2020, it was included in Rolling Stone's lists of the greatest albums of all time.

## Plot synopsis

The story of Raymond follows the album's namesake, a man named Raymond. The album opens on him in Australia, living as a low-class farmer (Living In The Material World). Raymond dreams of moving to Scotland with his wife, where they can both live a happier life (Country Dreamer). Raymond makes plans to travel to Scotland to look for land that he can buy. His wife, upon learning that Raymond will be traveling alone, starts to feel that Raymond cares more about his dream than her. However, he re-assures her about how much he loves her (If Not For You). Raymond arrives at the docks, full of massive ships. He chooses a ship to board and sets off on its maiden voyage (The H.M.S. Admiral Halsey).

Raymond's journey across the ocean is calm at the start (The Storm: Movement I / Big Blue), but soon a storm starts to form around the ship (The Storm: Movement II / Circles). The storm grows in size and hits the ship head-on, causing heavy amounts of damage (The Storm: Movement III / Art Of Dying). After a brief period of distress, the ship finally succumbs to the ocean and sinks below the waves. (The Storm: Movement IV / Capsize). Raymond is the only survivor of the incident -- having sustained a head injury that caused him to lose his memory, he survives only by floating on a broken piece of the ship. With all of his memory rendered essentially gone, Raymond passes out. (Driftwood). Word reaches back to Australia that the H.M.S. Admiral Halsey is missing. However, despite pleas from Raymond's wife, The Royal Australian Navy is ordered to refrain from any operation to retrieve the vessel. (Isn't It A Pity?)

Raymond wakes up on the shores of India with the hot sun beating down on him. With no idea of his location and no recollection of the incident, his wife, or his identity, Raymond decides to try and figure out where he is. (Scorching). Raymond starts down the nearest path he finds. After days of walking, he finally arrives on the outskirts of a city (Dehradun). Seeking help, Raymond starts exploring the city to find someone who can provide him shelter. Outside the walls to the inner, wealthier city, lay the drug, sex, and crime ridden outer-town. Raymond, nearly to the walls, finds his human desires growing stronger with every offer he passes (The Walls). Eventually, Raymond's worldly desires become too strong as he engages with the prostitutes and partakes in a drug-fueled party (Worldly Desires / High, High, High). Raymond has a massive and intense trip, that soon turns bad. After crashing, a singular memory of his wife comes to his head (The Trip). This memory leads on other memories, and causes Raymond to suffer an existential crisis, now aware that he was a different person entirely (Isn't It A Pity? - Reprise).

After many days of consideration, Raymond's wife decides that she will use the remaining funds she and Raymond had saved for the farm to organize a volunteer rescue operation. Hundreds of citizens volunteer to help, and equipped with whatever they could find, they set out around the world. Eventually, they make their way to the shores of India, where Raymond's wife finds his glasses in the sand. After days worth of searching, she finds Raymond in a blank and unresponsive state. However, by divine intervention, as Raymond's wife embraces him, his memory comes flooding back. After reconciling with each other, the couple make their way back home (Rescue). Finally back together, Raymond and his wife work hard to replace the funds they once had (What Is My Life?). After a year of hard work, Raymond and his wife eventually make it safely to Scotland. They lay down their burdens and build a new home together (I Lie Around). The story ends with Raymond happily living out his dream life with his wife (It's Sunshine Life For Me).

## Track listing

**Side One** (The Material World)

1. "Out The Window (Part I)" (Harrison) - 1:17
2. "The Tuning Sequence" (P. McCartney-Harrison-Starkey-Laine-L. McCartney-Lennon) - 2:28
3. "Living In The Material World" (Harrison) - 5:28
4. "Country Dreamer" (P. McCartney) - 3:12
5. "If Not For You" (Harrison) - 2:57
6. "The H.M.S, Admiral Halsey (P. McCartney-L. McCartney) - 2:54
7. "My Love" (P. McCartney) - 4:04

**Side Two** (The Storm)

1. "The Storm: Movement I (Big Blue)" (P. McCartney) - 2:33
2. "The Storm: Movement II (Circles)" (Harrison) - 3:02
3. "The Storm: Movement III (Art Of Dying)" (Harrison) - 3:35
4. "The Storm: Movement IV (Capsize)" (P. McCartney) - 4:06
5. "Driftwood" (Harrison-P. McCartney-L. McCartney) - 2:36
6. "Isn't It A Pity?" (Harrison) - 5:01
7. "Movement Naught" (Harrison) - 0:46

**Side Three** (The City)

1. "Ebb & Bloodflow" (P. McCartney-Harrison-Starkey-Laine-L. McCartney-Lennon) - 1:33
2. "Scorching" (P. McCartney) - 1:26
3. "Dehradun" (Harrison) - 3:27
4. "The Walls" (Harrison) - 0:39
5. "Worldly Desires" (Harrison-P. McCartney) - 1:39
6. "High, High, High" (P. McCartney) - 3:09
7. "The Trip" (Harrison-P. McCartney) - 6:29
8. "Isn't It A Pity? (Reprise)" (Harrison) - 5:15

**Side Four** (The Rescue)

1. "Rescue" (P. McCartney) - 9:19
2. "What Is My Life?" (Harrison) - 4:40
3. "I Lie Around" (P. McCartney) - 5:18
4. "It's A Sunshine Life For Me" (Harrison) - 2:48
5. "Out The Window (Part II)" (Harrison) - 0:53

## Personnel

* **Paul McCartney** -
* **George Harrison** -
* **Ringo Starr** -
* **Linda McCartney** -
* **Denny Laine** -

### **Additional musicians**

* **Eric Clapton** -
* **Denny Seiwell** -
* **Billy Preston** -
* **Gary Wright** -