A Night on the Town
Tonight's the Night, The First Cut Is the Deepest and The Killing of Georgie, on a record with a slow side and a fast side.
Rod Stewart, 1976
- Released
- 18 June 1976
- Recorded
- December 1975 to April 1976
- Studio
- Cherokee (Los Angeles), Muscle Shoals (Sheffield, Alabama), Criteria (Miami), Caribou Ranch (Nederland, Colorado)
- Label
- Riva, Warner Bros.
- Producer
- Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd again produced, with sessions between December 1975 and April 1976 in Los Angeles, Muscle Shoals, Miami and the Caribou Ranch in Colorado. The cover is based on Renoir's painting Bal du moulin de la Galette, with Stewart placed in the centre in period costume. The first side is the slow one and the second the fast. Many of the Atlantic Crossing players return, with Joe Walsh among the guitarists and Tower of Power's horn section on the credits.
Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) was written by Stewart and recorded at Muscle Shoals, with the final vocal cut at Caribou Ranch and a saxophone solo from Jerry Jumonville. It was banned by the BBC at first, and it spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, from 13 November 1976 to 8 January 1977. The First Cut Is the Deepest, a Cat Stevens cover, was a UK number one in 1977. The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II), about the murder of a gay man, was a Top 40 hit in 1977. The album was a UK number one, reached two on the Billboard album chart and was his first platinum album. Christgau gave it a B and called it Stewart's most ambitious record since Never a Dull Moment, though its ambitions were only partly fulfilled.
Track listing
- Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)3:54
- The First Cut Is the Deepest4:31
- Fool for You3:49
- The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)6:28
- The Balltrap4:37
- Pretty Flamingo3:27
- Big Bayou3:54
- The Wild Side of Life5:09
- Trade Winds5:16
Personnel
- Rod Stewart vocals
- Tom Dowd producer
- Donald Dunn bass guitar
- Bob Glaub bass guitar
- David Hood bass guitar
- Lee Sklar bass guitar
- Willie Weeks bass guitar
- Pete Carr guitar
- Steve Cropper guitar
- Jesse Ed Davis guitar
- David Lindley guitar
- Billy Peek guitar
- Fred Tackett guitar
- Joe Walsh guitar
- Barry Beckett keyboards
- David Foster keyboards
- John Barlow Jarvis keyboards
- Roger Hawkins drums
- Al Jackson Jr. drums
- Andy Newmark drums
- Rick Shlosser drums
- Joe Lala percussion
- Tommy Vig percussion
- Jimmy Horowitz string arrangements
- Mel Lewis string arrangements
- Arif Mardin string arrangements
- Plas Johnson tenor saxophone
- Jerry Jumonville tenor saxophone
More from Rod Stewart
Gasoline Alley (1970), Every Picture Tells a Story (1971), Never a Dull Moment (1972), Atlantic Crossing (1975)
Sources
- A Night on the Town (Rod Stewart album), Wikipedia
- Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright), Wikipedia
- Rod Stewart, Wikipedia
- Robert Christgau: Rod Stewart, robertchristgau.com