Great song: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey

It was not long after the break-up of the Beatles that Paul McCartney's solo career yielded a number one single. It was his only number one song produced in the brief period between the Beatles and Wings. In 1971 Paul and his wife Linda released an album called Ram. A track from that album, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, was released as a single a couple of months later and eventually topped the Billboard charts.

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is a fantastically nonsensical tune which has absolutely nothing to do with the famous WWII admiral. The lyrics go something like this:

The butter wouldn't melt so I put it in the pie
Hands across the water, heads across the sky

The song begins with an apology to Uncle Albert for not having heard something. There is a thunderstorm in the background. This pleasant melody continues for about half of the song, until the tempo steps up and we get a nice trumpet piece, followed by a couple more verses. It ends with a fade.

Where it can be heard: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is on the compilation All The Best. It is also played every once in a while on Oldies stations. It does not seem to be as popular as some of Paul's other songs, though.