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"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 September 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, Paul McCartney-penned singles to top the US pop chart during the 1970s and 1980s. Billboard ranked the song as number 22 on its Top Pop Singles of 1971 year-end chart. It became McCartney's first gold record after the break up of the Beatles.
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is composed of several unfinished song fragments that Norwegian engineer Eirik Wangberg stitched together in a similar manner to the medleys from the Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. The orchestral arrangements by George Martin were recorded in New York at A & R Recording, along with other instruments by McCartney and his new band. The project was moved to Los Angeles where vocals were added by Paul and Linda McCartney—her first experience of recording in a professional studio. The song is notable for its thunderstorm and environmental sound effects added by Wangberg in Los Angeles; he had been invited by McCartney to mix and sequence the Ram album in any way he saw fit, and he copied the thunder from a monaural film soundtrack, then fashioned an artificial stereo version of it for the song.
Paul 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." He also stated that "I had an uncle – Albert Kendall – who was a lot of fun, and when I came to write 'Uncle Albert'/'Admiral Halsey' it was loosely about addressing that older generation, half thinking, What would they think of the way my generation does things? That's why I wrote the line 'We're so sorry, Uncle Albert.'" Paul also told an American journalist, "As for Admiral Halsey, he's one of yours, an American admiral", referring to Fleet Admiral William "Bull" Halsey (1882–1959). Paul 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.
Paul McCartney won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 1971 for the song. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.
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