Stealers Wheel - Stealers Wheel (1972)
1. Late Again 3:16
2. Stuck In The Middle 3:29
3. Another Meaning 2:57
4. I Get By 3:16
5. Outside Looking In 3:55
6. Johnny’s Song 3:45
7. Next To Me 3:37
8. José 3:23
9. Gets So Lonely 2:57
10. You Put Something Better Inside Me 3:53
Gerry Rafferty - vocals, guitar
Joe Egan - vocals, keyboard
Paul Pilnick - lead guitar
Tony Williams - bass
Rod Coombes - drums
Cover artist - John „Patrick“ Byrne
a Leiber-Stoller Production
1972 original release by A & M Records Ltd.
2004 CD release by Lemon Recordings
liner notes
„We know that you believe you understand
what you think we said,
but we are not sure you realise
that what you heard is not what we meant.“
It‘s now more than 10 years since Quentin Tarantino introduced the work of Stealer’s Wheel to a whole new generation of rock fans, through his classic movie, Reservoir Dogs. Its release on 8th January 1993 marked the twentieth anniversary of the group‘s biggest hit, ‚Stuck In The Middle With You’, which made the US and UK Top 10 in February of 1973. The song formed the surreal backdrop to the film’s most gut-wrenchingly memorable scene, in which one of a gang of ruthless armed robbers, Mr. Blonde - played in unnerving fashion by a black-suited Michael Madsen - sets about torturing a young cop that he‘s tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse on the wrong side of the tracks. After his fellow robbers, Mr. Pink and Mr. White – played by Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel – exit the building, Mr. Blonde proceeds to explain that he’s about to torture the cop, not to get information out of him, but for his “amusement”. Madsen tunes in his radio to „K-Billy‘s Super Sounds Of The 70s“, which is his “personal favourite”, and takes out a cut-throat razor in menacing fashion. And what should come over the airwaves but what the DJ describes as „a Dylan-esque pop bubblegum favourite“ - ‚Stuck In The Middle With You‘. The period glam-clap backbeat and gyrating acoustic guitar set up a shuffling, breezy soundscape, over which Gerry Rafferty‘s supercool tones declare, „I know that something ain‘t right“. As Joe Egan lends lilting harmonies and a clipped electric guitar line wafts by, Tarantino juxtaposes a blood-spattered, battered police officer, bound to a chair and awaiting a ghastly, assault, with Rafferty‘s vocal: „I‘m so scared in case I fall off my chair“. It‘s a frighteningly effective use of the uptempo pop tune, instilling an added layer of tension and foreboding to a scene involving mutilation and the prospect of incendiary death at the bands of a madman. Hardly what Scottish singer/songwriters Egan and Rafferty would have had in mind when they wrote the tune - though not altogether divorced from reality, as the song was written as a critique of their miscreant managers - the ‚suits‘ that the musicians were obliged to glad-hand in order to progress: „Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right“ indeed.
It was a low opinion of the music biz that the pair shared prior to recording their debut Stealer‘s Wheel set, and it would hold for many years. Indeed, Egan never cracked the industry game, while it took Rafferty years to extricate himself from the quicksand mire of management shenanigans before emerging triumphant in 1978 with his Hugh Murphy-produced City To City album and its timeless spin-off smash hit single, ‚Baker Street‘. That sax-led lament bemoaned Rafferty‘s feelings about London - the music Mecca to which he and Egan were drawn in the early 70s, and where Stealer‘s Wheel would make a name for themselves.
The origins of the group lay in the ancient but tough working class Paisley neighbourhood to the south-west of Glasgow. Rafferty was born there in April 1947 of a Scots mother and deaf Irish father, who was wont to sing rebel songs, Catholic hymns and traditional folk ditties, as well as popular 50s tunes. By the age of 17, singer/guitarist Gerry was playing in beat covers groups such as the Censors and the Mavericks. Then, he took to the folk club circuit and, in 1968, linked up with comedic singer Billy Connolly and guitarist Tam Harvey to form the hard-drinking Humblebums. They cut two successful albums (The New Humblebums and Open Up The Door) but, as Connolly‘s comedy took centre stage by 1971, Rafferty made for London and a solo career.
Having already demonstrated his ability to produce well~crafted lyrics and score memorable melodies, he put together a band of sessioneers including school pal and fellow Maverick Joe Egan (born in October 1949), esteemed Fife folk guitar soloist Rab Noakes, drummer Roger Brown and bassist Ian Campbell. In 1971, Rafferty‘s Can I Have My Money Back? (produced by Hugh Murphy) was issued by the Transatlantic label and its folk-pop and soft-rock charms won over critics and fans alike. However, after negotiations with A&M stalled during rehearsals for a new album, the players went their separate ways, leaving Rafferty and Egan to recruit a new set of musicians. They drafted in ex-Big Three guitarist Paul Pilnick, bassist Tony Williams and former Juicy Lucy drummer Rod Coombes, and by 1972, they‘d recorded their debut eponymous set, Stealer‘s Wheel.
The 10-song album (with a witty sleeve design depicting the band as animals, by renowned Paisley artist John ‚Patrick‘ Byrne) comprises mainly three-minute numbers produced by the legendary American mixing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, whose deft touch is evident throughout.
‚Late Again‘ lays out the Crosby, Stills & Nash-style template from the off, with Egan‘s plaintive vocal over a soft accordion, before acoustic strumming and Rafferty‘s smooth tones waft in (a la the Everlys), followed by a throaty sax that complements glam-edged harmonies.
The mid-period Beatles-esque ‚Stuck In The Middle‘ is next, with an enticing rhythm and rich slide guitar swagger that would become favoured by the likes of Sheryl Crow. After the dreamy ‚Another Meaning‘, the Egan-penned ‚I Get By‘ offers a fuzz-guitar rocker in the vein of James Gang or Black Oak Arkansas, while ‚Outside Looking In‘ is another song of personal and professional alienation. Rafferty‘s ‚Johnny‘s Song‘ – featuring piano, tambourine and fuzz guitar - is redolent of fellow Scot Frankie Miller, before ‚Next To Me‘ diversifies things with its psych-leaning vocals and keys. ‚José‘ is endearing, ‚Gets So Lonely‘ is winningly delicate, while CSN comparisons leap to the fore again on the final track ‚You Put Something‘, which boasts brass, strings and a John Walte-like vocal presaging the Babys.
The album was released in December 1972, a month after ‚Late Again‘ was issued as a 7“ and failed to make a dent on the charts. At this point, the band‘s management urged them to tour the US, but Rafferty refused and, when the management company collapsed, he left the band and returned to Scotland. Rafferty appeared to have made the right choice, as ‚You Put Something‘ flopped in February 1973, But while a shortlived replacement was found in Spooky Tooth‘s Luther Grosvenor (later Mott The Hoople‘s Ariel Bender), when ‚Stuck In The Middle‘ made US No. 6 and UK No. 8 in June ‚73, Rafferty was persuaded to return. The album made the US Top 50, and its catalyst single (which Paul Simon dubbed his favourite song ever) went on to sell over a million copies. By September 1973, Pilnick, Coombes and Williams had left en masse, but their legacy is a pop-rock gem that stands as a testament to the quintet and, not least, to one of the finest singer/songwriters ever to emerge from these shores.
Tim Jones
January 2004
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