Atlantic Crossing

Atlantic Crossing
Studio album by Rod Stewart
Released 15 August 1975
Recorded 1974-1975
A&R, NY
Criteria, Miami, FL
Wally Heider, Los Angeles, CA
Hi Recording and
Muscle Shoals Sound, AL
Genre Glam rock, pop rock
Length 44:27
Label Riva Records (UK), Warner Bros. (USA)
Producer Tom Dowd
Rod Stewart chronology

Smiler
(1974)		 Atlantic Crossing
(1975)		 A Night on the Town
(1976)
Singles from Atlantic Crossing
  1. "Sailing" / "All in the Name of Rock 'n' Roll""
    Released: 1975
  2. "This Old Heart of Mine"
    Released: 1976
  3. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest"
    Released: 1977
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]
Rolling Stone (average) [2]
Robert Christgau B+ [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [4]

Atlantic Crossing is Rod Stewart's sixth album, released in 1975. It peaked at number one in the UK (his fifth solo album to do so), and number nine on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[5][6]

The title indicated Stewart's new commercial and artistic direction, referring to both his crossing over to Warner Brothers and on his departure to escape the 83 per cent top rate of income tax introduced by British Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson for the jet-set lifestyle in Los Angeles (where he had applied for American citizenship at this time). The album was divided into a slow side and a fast side, apparently at the suggestion of Stewart's then-girlfriend, Swedish actress Britt Ekland. Stewart would repeat the format for his next two albums.

With Atlantic Crossing, Stewart ended his association with Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and the stable of musicians who had been his core collaborators on his classic run of albums for Mercury Records, fusing soul and folk. Instead, he used a group of session musicians, including The Memphis Horns and three-quarters of Booker T. and the MG's. The album was produced by Tom Dowd, the famous engineer and producer on records by so many of Stewart's heroes during Dowd's time on staff at Atlantic Records. The only song performed from this album on The Faces' final US tour in autumn 1975 was "Three Time Loser", and the rest of the group heavily disliked Stewart's change in musical direction on this album. Following the success of the album, and his move to the U.S., Stewart announced his exit from the Faces by the end of the year.

"Sailing" was a number one hit in the UK in September 1975, and returned to the UK Top 3 a year later when it was used as the theme for the BBC series Sailor; both acoustic and electric guitars in the song were played by Pete Carr.[7] In 1977, almost two years after the album was released, Stewart scored another UK number one from the album with the double A-side single "I Don't Want to Talk About It" and "The First Cut Is the Deepest".

In 2009, Rhino Records released a two-disc version of the album with bonus tracks.

Track listing

Fast Half
  1. "Three Time Loser" (Rod Stewart) – 4:03
  2. "Alright for an Hour" (Stewart, Jesse Ed Davis) – 4:17
  3. "All in the Name of Rock 'N' Roll" (Stewart) – 5:02
  4. "Drift Away" (Mentor Williams) – 3:43
  5. "Stone Cold Sober" (Stewart, Steve Cropper) – 4:12
Slow Half
  1. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (Danny Whitten) – 4:47
  2. "It's Not The Spotlight" (Barry Goldberg, Gerry Goffin) – 4:21
  3. "This Old Heart of Mine" (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Sylvia Moy) – 4:04
  4. "Still Love You" (Stewart) – 5:08
  5. "Sailing" (Gavin Sutherland) – 4:37

2009 two disc re-release

Disc one
Track 1 – 10 features the original album.
  1. "Skye Boat Song (The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band)" (Harold Boulton, Annie MacLead) 4:13
Disc two
  1. "To Love Somebody" (with Booker T. & The MG's) (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 4:12
  2. "Holy Cow" (with Booker T. & The MG's) (Allen Toussaint) – 3:16
  3. "Return to Sender" (with Booker T. & The MG's) (Otis Blackwell, Scott Winfield) – 3:42
  4. "Three Time Loser" [Alternate Version] (Stewart) – 4:40
  5. "Alright for an Hour" [Alternate Version] (Stewart, Davis) – 4:36
  6. "All in the Name of Rock 'n' Roll" [Alternate Version] (Stewart) – 5:00
  7. "Drift Away" [Alternate Version] (Williams) – 3:58
  8. "Too Much Noise" [Early Version of "Stone Cold Sober"] (Stewart, Cropper) – 3:24
  9. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" [Alternate Version] (Whitten) – 4:56
  10. "It's Not the Spotlight" [Alternate Version] (Goldberg, Goffin) – 4:27
  11. "This Old Heart of Mine" [Alternate Version] (with Booker T. & The MG's) (Holland-Dozier-Holland, Moy) – 3:54
  12. "Still Love You" [Alternate Version] (Stewart) 4:57
  13. "Sailing" [Alternate Version] (Sutherland) 4:39
  14. "Skye Boat Song (The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band)" [Alternate Version] (Boulton, MacLead) 4:20

Personnel

String arrangements by Arif Mardin and James Mitchell

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1975/76) Position
Australian Kent Music Report[8] 1
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[9] 21
Dutch Albums Chart[10] 2
Italian Albums Chart[11] 23
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart[12] 87
Norwegian Albums Chart[13] 1
Spanish Albums Chart[14] 18
Swedish Albums Chart[15] 5
UK Albums Chart[5] 1
US Billboard 200[6] 9
West German Media Control Albums Chart[16] 11

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Position
Australian Albums Chart[8] 11
Dutch Albums Chart[17] 15
UK Albums Chart[18] 3
Chart (1976) Position
Australian Albums Chart[8] 17
Italian Albums Chart[11] 83

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Germany (BVMI)[19] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Atlantic Crossing at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  3. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  4. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Rod Stewart > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Allmusic: Atlantic Crossing : Charts & Awards : Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 from Pete Carr's official site .
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 24, No. 17". RPM. 24 January 1976. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1976" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  12. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  13. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing" (ASP). Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  14. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  16. ↑ "Album Search: Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1975" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  19. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Rod Stewart; 'Atlantic Crossing')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "British album certifications – Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 16 February 2012. Enter Atlantic Crossing in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  21. ↑ "American album certifications – Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 February 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
The Best of The Stylistics by The Stylistics
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd		 UK Albums Chart number-one album
30 August 1975 – 27 September 1975
11 October 1975 – 18 October 1975 		Succeeded by
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
40 Golden Greats by Jim Reeves
Preceded by
Windsong by John Denver		 Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
24 November 1975 – 7 December 1975 		Succeeded by
ABBA by ABBA