Solitaire (album)

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Solitaire
Solitaire cover
Studio album by Neil Sedaka
Released 1972
Recorded Strawberry Studios, Stockport, England,
June 1972
Genre Pop
Length 41:22
Label RCA
Producer Neil Sedaka
Professional reviews
Neil Sedaka chronology
Emergence
(1972)		 Solitaire
(1972)		 The Tra-La Days Are Over
(1973)

Solitaire is a 1972 album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. The album, released after a successful English tour in early 1972,[1] marked the comeback of Sedaka after a 10-year absence from the charts. Two singles were lifted from the album, "Beautiful You" (UK No. 43) and "That's When the Music Takes Me" (UK. No. 18, US No. 27). The album's title track, "Solitaire", later became a hit single for Andy Williams (1973) and The Carpenters (1975).

The album was produced at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England, with the musical support of Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley who – together with the album's recording engineer Eric Stewart – would shortly become the successful pop band 10cc.

Sedaka opted to record at Strawberry after meeting Gouldman in New York and discovering his association with Stewart, Godley and Creme. The trio had recorded the single "Umbopo", which Sedaka liked, under the band name of Doctor Father.[2]

His work there became pivotal in the musician's decision to forge their own career as a band. Gouldman recalled: "It was Neil Sedaka's success that did it, I think. We'd just been accepting any job we were offered and were getting really frustrated. We knew that we were worth more than that, but it needed something to prod us into facing that. We were a bit choked to think that we'd done the whole of Neil's first album with him just for flat session fees when we could have been recording our own material."[3]

Sedaka recorded one more album with the band members.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

(all tracks by Neil Sedaka except where marked)

[edit] Side one

  1. "That's When the Music Takes Me" – 3:35
  2. "Beautiful You" (Sedaka, Phil Cody) – 3:35
  3. "Express Yourself" (Sedaka, Cody) – 3:21
  4. "Anywhere You're Gonna Be (Leba's Song)" – 3:30
  5. "Home" (Sedaka, Cody) – 3:10
  6. "Adventures of a Boy Child Wonder" (Sedaka, Cody) – 3:10

[edit] Side two

  1. "Better Days Are Coming" – 4:17
  2. "Dimbo Man" (Sedaka, R. Atkins) – 3:58
  3. "Trying to Say Goodbye" (Sedaka, Cody) – 3:20
  4. "Solitaire" (Sedaka, Cody) – 5:02
  5. "Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" (Sedaka, Cody) – 4:24

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Q Rock Stars Encyclopedia" by Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, Dorling Kindersley, 1999
  2. ^ George Tremlett (1976). The 10cc Story. Futura. ISBN 0-8600-7378-5. 
  3. ^ Graham Gouldman interview, "Record Collector", 1984
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