"A Night On The Town" by ROD STEWART – June 1976 UK and US Seventh Studio Album on Riva/Warner Brothers Records featuring Guitarists Joe Walsh of Eagles, Steve Cropper of Booker T. & The MG’s, David Lindley of Jackson Browne’s Band, Fred Tackett of Little Feat with Barry Beckett and David Foster on Keyboards - Lee Sklar, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Willie Weeks on Bass with Roger Hawkins on Drums, Tower of Power on Horns and Brook Honicutt and Britt Eckland on Backing Vocals (November 2000 UK Warner Brothers CD Reissue and Keith Blake Remaster in the Warner Remasters Series) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Oh Georgie Stay..."

 

Common consensus has it that Rodders and his run of Seventies classic albums ended in 1977 with "Foot Loose & Fancy Free" – only to nose-dive into the bum-wiggling Disco embarrassment that was "Blondes Have More Fun" in December 1978. And with my hand on my Tartan-ish heart, I would have to agree.

 

But re-listening to the one before – the 1976 Britt Eckland lurve-in that is "A Night On The Town" and I am transported back to a time when being happy with 50 to 60 per-cent of the album was enough. And in the case of the magnificent Side 1 social statement "The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)" – I was even moved to tears back in the day and still am.

 

Issued in the USA and Blighty in November 2000 - this largely forgotten Warners Remaster CD is 22 years old in 2022 and is unfortunately deleted. Once a cheap as chips fiver-English, it can go for twenty-five, so hunt around. To the Slow and Fast Halves...

 

UK released November 2000 - "A Night On The Town" by ROD STEWART on Warner Brothers 9362-47730-2 (Barcode 093624773023) is part of the 'Warner Remasters' Series and is a straightforward CD reissue of his 1976 LP that plays out as follows (41:12 minutes):

 

Slow Half [Side 1]

1. Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)

2. The First Cut Is The Deepest

3. Fool For You

4. The Killing Of Georgie (Part I and II)

 

Fast Half [Side 2]

5. The Balltrap

6. Pretty Flamingo

7. Big Bayou

8. The Wild Side Of Life

9. Trade Winds

Tracks 1 to 9 are his seventh studio album "A Night On The Town" - released June 1976 in the UK on Riva Records RVLP 1 and Warner Brothers BS 2938 in the USA. Produced by TOM DOWD - it peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US album charts. "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)", "Fool For You", "The Killing Of Georgie (Part I and II)" and "The Balltrap" written by Rod Stewart - the other five tracks are cover versions (each discussed below).

 

MUSICIANS featured were:

GUITARS - Steve Cropper (of Booker T. & The MG's), Joe Walsh (of Eagles), Jesse Ed Davis, Billy Peek, David Lindley (of Jackson Browne's band) and Fred Tackett (of Little Feat)

KEYBOARDS - Barry Beckett, David Foster, John Jarvis and J Smith

HORNS – Tower Of Power

BASS - Duck Dunn (Booker T & The MG's), Bob Glaub, David Hood, Willie Weeks and Lee Sklar

DRUMS and PERCUSSION - Willie Correa, Roger Hawkins, Al Jackson and Nigel Olsson (Elton John's Band), Tommy Vig, Joe Lala (of Manassas)

 

The foldout three-way gatefold slip inlay offers only credits alongside that photo which adorned the inner sleeve of the 1976 LP and naught else. For such a huge album, it seems kind of cheap and piddly and has not been expanded ever since. But the 24-Bit High Resolution Audio supplied in this Warner Remaster done by KEITH BLAKE rocks like the proverbial clappers. The recordings were top notch originally anyway, but this CD has a real punch and swagger – amplifying what was boogie-on-down one minute (Side 2) – then Soulful and swaying the next (Side 1). To the record...

 

Recorded in America with a very Memphis Rock-Soul feel and produced by the legendary Tom Dowd – Rod's previous LP "Atlantic Crossing" wasn't just a nod to his new future and aspirations – Stewart had literally upped sticks to the USA to escape (like so many at the time) ludicrously crippling British taxation laws that we're robbed him of almost all his earnings. More importantly, with "Atlantic Crossing", Stewart had also left behind the 'sound' of his old British Steamhammer, Jeff Beck Group and Faces muckers Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and Martin Quittenton. Now it was sessionmen galore – Soul Boys like Steve Cropper and Jesse Ed Davis who also understood and loved Rock and R&B and Funk. There was a deliberate commercialism to "Atlantic Crossing" – a ten-track winner full of potential singles – least not of all the arms-waving-in-the-air Celtic-ish ballad "Sailing" (a cover version of a Sutherland Brothers single from 1972 on Island Records penned by Gavin Sutherland) of course repeating the No. 1 status of the album in the UK. 

 

Again produced by TOM DOWD and featuring virtually the same crew as "Atlantic Crossing" – "A Night On The Town" went down the same path – and arguably more successfully than before. A huge fan fave and a great bedroom potboiler, "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" opens proceedings on Side 1 with naughty talk of sweet virgins of the world and Britt Eckland speaking in French (not exactly giving instructions on how to make a really good Cucumber Sandwich). The song's sexy sway and 'let's get upstairs quickly my dear' lyrics was so fruity for 1976 that several American Radio Stations banned it as 'lewd'. The public naturally ran towards it with gusto. In 2022 though, "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" probably has fond memories for us olden-types, but is admittedly sounding a tad dated if not a wee bit ridiculous too. Eight weeks as a US No. 1 single however, and I'm sure Rod Stewart's bank accounts would disagree. It was a monster song in 1976 and 1977 officially saw it named as one of the year's biggest plays – sexpot or not.

 

Up comes Rod's first cover version – a gorgeous and still moving take on the Cat Stevens 60ts Deram song "The First Cut Is The Deepest" – Stewart again showing his extraordinary knack of making someone else's great song seem like it had always been his (it became the third and last single off the album in April 1977). He ends Side 1 with two of his own - "Fool For You" – a nice ballad that deserves rediscovery as a deep album cut – but is trounced by the majesty and genuine brilliance of "The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)". A tale of an English gay man rejected by his parents, who then emigrates and becomes the toast of New York and its notorious scene (no party was complete without him) – only to be knifed in a New Jersey street gang spat days after he'd finally found love. Stewart can pen a memorable lyric – all the good ones can – but he nailed it with Georgie. His lifestyle-knowing and his empathy for this extroverted character imbibes the song with a shocking reality, acceptance and heart too that was rarely ever publicly aired by other artists. When it goes into that 'oh Georgie stay' refrain in Part II with the ladies so Soulfully backing up his aching vocals – it's probably the defining moment in a long career of greatness. Re-listening to it in 2022 (it was issued as the second single from the album in August 1976), and I was and still am, impossibly moved by it.

 

Side 2 (the fast half) opens up with the tease of "The Balltrap" – a typically snotty rocker (he is so good at these) telling us of a lady with perhaps dubious intentions towards his frequently removed undergarments. It's a hoot still and was the B-side of the "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" 45-single in many areas. We then get into the final run of four cover versions – Manfred Mann's "Pretty Flamingo" (written by songsmith Marcus Barkan), American Cajun rocker Gib Gilbeau and his "Big Bayou" and the 50ts Country twang of Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side Of Life". They're good, but just a tad too functional and after the coherence of Side 1, made it feel like the LP was losing its way a bit. 

 

Rod finishes his seventh studio album on that other forgotten deep cut - "Trade Winds" – penned by American percussionist Ralph MacDonald (with William Salter). MacDonald is the author of "Where Is The Love" done by Roberta Flack and "Just The Two Of Us" done by Grover Washington, Jr with Bill Withers on Vocals. Rod imbibes this lovely Soulful ender with the feeling of a classic that's always been there – you just never noticed. MacDonald would put out his first solo LP on Marlin Records also in 1976 - "Sound Of A Drum" which contained his solo cut of "Where Is The Love" and Stone The Crows Vocalist Maggie Bell did a version of "Trade Winds" on her 1974 Polydor Records LP "Queen Of The Night" - her fabulous Scottish pipes up to the task (Bill Salter, the song's co-author even plays Bass on Maggie's version).

 

Back to the tune in hand and in keeping with Rod Stewart's knack for spotting an unsung gem, "Trade Winds" had appeared as far back as 1972 as the B-side to the monster Roberta Flack 45-single "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" on Atlantic 2864. To my knowledge MacDonald never did do a solo cut of it – so Rod's version of "Trade Winds" is a fabulous upgrade on 1972 and 1974 - maybe even an amalgam of both. However, even as a Remaster, it's a bit hissy admittedly in certain parts especially as Brooks Honicutt and Jerry Jumonville do their Vocal and Saxophone soloing. But still, what a great way to end Side 2.

 

For sure the inlay to "A Night On The Town" is merely functionary and some of the tunes are obvious cover version filler - but let's be clear - the good stuff is great and as an album, this 1976 platter is revered still for damn good reason.

 

"...Here I stand looking...what do I see...unhappy faces behind a painted smile...Heartache and loneliness dressed up in modern style...reflections of myself...life is no easy game..." - Rod sang on "Trade Winds" – a plea for cross denominational understanding – a song that ached for peace in a society gone crazy in many ways.

 

Revisit this album...though perhaps with a bottle of real ale instead of a glass of bubbly (and maybe loose the negligee too). Well done my exiled son...