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A Spanner in the Works is a studio album released by Rod Stewart on May 26, 1995 (see 1995 in music). It is Rod’s seventeenth studio album and ended a four year gap since his last studio album. At the time this was the longest span between studio albums that Rod had experienced. The album was released on Warner Bros. Records (WEA 9362 45867-1/2) in The United States, The United Kingdom, and Japan. It produced five singles: “You’re The Star”, “Leave Virginia Alone”, “This”, “Lady Luck”, and “Purple Heather”.
[edit] The Album
A Spanner in the Works is regarded as Rod’s most traditional sounding album since An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down if not ever. It includes a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Sweetheart Like You”. The song “Muddy, Sam, And Otis”, is his tribute to Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding. Track 12, later released as a single featuring the Scottish Euro ’96 Football Squad, “Purple Heather” is a folk song that normally goes by the name "Wild Mountain Thyme". It is often credited as traditional, but was written by The McPeakes.
[edit] Charts
The album would attain a gold certification in both the US and UK. In those countries it would peak at #35 and #4 respectively.
Singles
| Year |
Song |
Rank |
| 1995 |
"Leave Virginia Alone" |
52 (US) |
| 1995 |
"You’re The Star" |
19(UK) 53(GER) |
| 1995 |
"This" |
DID NOT CHART |
| 1995 |
"Lady Luck" |
39 (JP) 56(UK) 65(GER) |
| 1996 |
"Purple Heather" (with the Scottish Euro ’96 Football Squad) |
16 (UK) |
[edit] Track listing
- "Windy Town" (Chris Rea) – 5:12
- "The Downtown Lights" (Paul Buchanan) – 6:33
- "Leave Virginia Alone" (Tom Petty) – 4:07
- "Sweetheart Like You" (Bob Dylan) – 4:54
- "This" (John Capek, Marc Jordan) – 5:19
- "Lady Luck" (Carmine Rojas, Jeff Golub, Kevin Savigar, Rod Stewart) – 4:25
- "You’re The Star" (Billy Livsey, Frankie Miller, Graham Lyle) – 4:39
- "Muddy, Sam and Otis" (Stewart, Savigar) – 4:42
- "Hang on St. Christopher" (Tom Waits) – 4:04
- "Delicious" (Stewart, Andy Taylor, Robin LeMesurier) – 4:43
- "Soothe Me" (Sam Cooke) – 3:33
- "Purple Heather" (traditional arr. Stewart) – 4:58
- Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 produced by Trevor Horn
- Tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 produced by Rod Stewart
- Tracks 7, 10, and 11 produced by Bernard Edwards
- Track 3 produced by James Newton-Howard, Michael Ostin, and Lenny Waronker
- Track 10 produced by Andy Taylor
[edit] Personnel
- Rod Stewart – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Jeff Golub – guitar
- Tim Pierce – guitar
- Robin LeMesurier – guitar
- Davey Johnstone – guitar, mandolin
- Steve Lipson – guitar, bass guitar
- Andy Taylor – guitar
- Jim Cregan – guitar
- Michael Landau – guitar
- Lol Crème – guitar
- Carmine Rojas – bass guitar
- Bernard Edwards – bass guitar
- Guy Pratt – bass guitar
- Mike Higham – bass guitar, keyboards
- Kevin Savigar – bass guitar, keyboards, squeezebox
- Trevor Horn – bass guitar
- Leland Sklar – bass guitar
- Dave Palmer – drums
- Paul Robinson – drums
- Kenny Aronoff – drums
- Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards, percussion, piano
- Billy Preston – organ
- Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
- Martin O’Conner – accordion
- Anne Dudley – piano, strings arrangement
- Don Teschner – mandolin, American fiddle
- Dónal Lunny – bouzouki
- Leslie Butler – harmonica
- Rick Braun – horns
- Nick Lane – horns
- David Woodford – horns
- The Kick Horns – horns
- John McSherry – bagpipes
- Máire Ní Chathasaigh – Irish fiddle
- Fred White, Lamont Van Hook, Joey Diggs, Joe Turano, Aleisha Irving, Oren Waters, Jossef Powell, Terry Young – backing vocals
- Glasgow Gaelic Music Association – choir
- Gavin Wright – orchestra leader
[edit] References
- A Spanner in the Works album liner notes. Warner Bros. Records.
[edit] External links
