Elements and interpretation

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is composed of several unfinished song fragments that McCartney stitched together similar to the medleys from the Beatles' album Abbey Road.^[5] The song is notable for its sound effects, including the sounds of a thunderstorm, with rain, heard between the first and second verses, The sound of clicking from a telephone dialing and then transitioning to an answering machine (both actually McCartney's voice), where the sound of McCartney's voice, with a "telephone" effect, is heard after the second verse, and the sound of chirping sea birds and wind by the seashore. Linda's voice is heard in the harmonies as well as the bridge section of the "Admiral Halsey" portion of the song.

McCartney said "Uncle Albert" was based on his uncle. "He's someone I recall fondly, and when the song was coming it was like a nostalgia thing."^[6] McCartney also said, "As for Admiral Halsey, he's one of yours, an American admiral", referring to Fleet Admiral William "Bull" Halsey (1882–1959).^[6] McCartney has described the "Uncle Albert" section of the song as an apology from his generation to the older generation, and Admiral Halsey as an authoritarian figure who ought to be ignored.^[7]

Despite the disparate elements that make up the song, author Andrew Grant Jackson discerns a coherent narrative to the lyrics, related to McCartney's emotions in the aftermath of the Beatles' breakup.^[8] In this interpretation, the song begins with McCartney apologizing to his uncle for getting nothing done, and being easily distracted and perhaps depressed in the lethargic "Uncle Albert" section.^[8] Then, after some sound effects reminiscent of "Yellow Submarine," McCartney claims that Admiral Halsey - who had died on 16 August 1959 - notified him that he (Admiral Halsey) needed a "berth" in order to get to "sea" (mixing up Uncle Albert, not an admiral, and who would need a berth to get to sea, with Admiral Halsey, an admiral who would not need a "berth", but rather a "command" to get to sea), although McCartney remains more interested in "tea and butter pie."^[9] Although McCartney may have been aware of butter pie as a Lancashire dish he makes a literal interpretation of the term as a nonsensical joke, stating that he put the butter in the pie because it would not melt at all.^[8] The "hands across the water" section which follows could be taken as evocative of the command "All hands on deck!", rousing McCartney to action, perhaps to compete with Lennon.^[8] The song then ends with the "gypsy" section, in which McCartney resolves to get back on the road and perform his music, now that he was on his own without his former bandmates who no longer wanted to tour.^[8]

Reception

Paul McCartney won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 1971 for the song.^[10][11] The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.^[12]

According to Allmusic critic Stewart Mason, fans of Paul McCartney's music are divided in their opinions of this song.^[13] Although some fans praise the song as being "one of his most playful and inventive songs" others criticize it for being "exactly the kind of cute self-indulgence that they find so annoying about his post-Beatles career."^[13] Mason himself considers it "churlish" to be annoyed by the song, given that the song isn't intended to be completely serious, and praises the "Hands across the water" section as being "lovably giddy."^[13]

In a contemporary review for RAM, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone gave "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" a negative review, saying the song is "a piece with so many changes it never seems to come down anywhere, and in the places that it does, sounds like the worst piece of light music Paul has ever done."^[14]

On the US charts, the song set a milestone as the all-time songwriting record (at the time) for McCartney for the most consecutive calendar years to write a #1 song. This gave McCartney eight consecutive years (starting with "I Want to Hold Your Hand"), leaving behind Lennon with only seven years.

Later release

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" appears on the Wings Greatest compilation album released in 1978,^[15] even though Ram was not a Wings album (both this song and the Ram album are credited to 'Paul and Linda McCartney').

The song appears on several solo Paul McCartney compilations: the US version of All the Best! (1987),^[13] as well as Wingspan: Hits and History (2001),^[16] and on both the standard and deluxe versions of Pure McCartney (2016).^[17][18]

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals; electric guitar; acoustic guitar; piano; bass; & xylophone
• Linda McCartney – backing vocals
• Hugh McCracken – acoustic and electric guitar
• Denny Seiwell – drums
• Paul Beaver – synthesizer
• David Nadien, Aaron Rosand – violin
• Marvin Stamm, Mel Davis, Ray Crisara, Snooky Young – brass
• New York Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestral arrangement

Song uses

• The song was used in the episode "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle" of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, where the character of Uncle Albert leaves home.
• Harry Shearer uses a looped sample of "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" for the "Apologies of the Week" segment of Le Show, with emphasis on McCartney saying "sorry".
• The film Greenberg includes a scene in which the character Florence, drunk on champagne, sings along to the song which Greenberg included on a mix-CD for her.
• Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard covered the song on his 1971 album First Light.
• A portion of "Uncle Albert" is sampled in The Avalanches song "Livin' Underwater (Is Somethin' Wild)" on their sophomore album Wildflower.