Stealers Wheel
| Stealers Wheel | |
|---|---|
 Stealers Wheel ( Gerry Rafferty left and Joe Egan right), 1973 |
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| General information | |
| origin | Paisley |
| Genre (s) | Folk , rock |
| founding | 1972 |
| resolution | 1975 |
| Founding members | |
| Gerry Rafferty | |
Vocals, keyboard , guitar |
Joe Egan |
| Paul Pilnick (1972) | |
| Tony Williams (1972) | |
| Rod Coombes (1972) | |
| Last occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Gerry Rafferty |
Vocals, keyboard, guitar |
Joe Egan |
guitar |
Joe Jammer (from 1973) |
Drums |
Andrew Steele (from 1973) |
bass |
Gerry Taylor (from 1973) |
guitar |
Benie Holland (1975) |
bass |
Dave Wintour (1975) |
| former members | |
Vocals, guitar |
Luther Grosvenor (1972–1973) |
Vocals, guitar |
Rab Noakes (1972) |
singing |
Roger Brown (1972) |
bass |
Ian Campell (1972) |
bass |
Delisle Harper (1973) |
Stealers Wheel was a British folk / rock band from the 1970s. The group was founded in 1972 by their two school friends Gerry Rafferty (previously with the Humblebums ) and Joe Egan (real name Seosamh MacAodhagain) in Paisley ( Scotland ).
Surname
The name "Stealers Wheel" literally means "stealing wheel" or "thief wheel" (plural) in this spelling. The possessive genitive "Stealer's Wheel" - "(des) Thief's Wheel" (singular) is homophonic and this is how the name is primarily understood by an English-speaking listener. One could also understand the “stealer” in connection with the “wheel” as “steeler”, an absolutely uncommon abbreviation for “steel worker”. A "steel wheel" is literally a "steel wheel", and the English word for "steel rim".
history
Stealers Wheel was considered the British version of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the early 1970s and became world famous after two unsuccessful singles with their hit Stuck in the Middle with You . The Bob Dylan and Beatles- style title hit the top ten singles charts in both the United States and Great Britain in 1973 and sold over a million copies worldwide. In the music video for Stuck in the Middle with You Joe Egan curiously mimicked their lips stop moving Raffertys song because it had already left the band because of failure of the first two singles and wanted to pursue a solo career. After the hit single he was persuaded a little later to return to Stealers Wheel.
The first two albums were produced by the well-known songwriter duo Leiber / Stoller , the last due to differences of opinion and problems in management by Mentor Williams . Although the band's debut album bearing the band's name sold well (number 50 in the US album charts) and was praised by the critics, Stealers Wheel was unable to repeat this success with subsequent releases. The two singles Everything'll Turn Out Fine (full title: Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine ) and Star could still reach the top 40 of the British charts in 1973/74. When recording Everything'll Turn Out Fine was as a replacement for Rafferty, who had left the band for some time, Luther Grosvenor , who was a member of the band Spooky Tooth and later also played with Mott the Hoople .
Because Rafferty and Egan couldn't agree on whether to continue as a full band or as a duo, and due to artistic differences, the release of the third and final album was delayed by over 18 months. After frequent changes of band members, Stealers Wheel broke up in 1975 and their last album Right or Wrong was released for promotion without a band . Almost two years after Ferguslie Park (1973), the group was barely known, and the last two single releases went unsuccessfully in the charts.
In 1992, the director Quentin Tarantino used the title Stuck in the Middle with You in the soundtrack of his debut work Reservoir Dogs - and helped the band to a revival . All three albums had been hard to find for years, but in 2004 and 2005 they were first digitally remastered on CD by the British music label Lemon Recordings .
Band members
- Gerry Rafferty: vocals , guitar (1972–1975)
- Joe Egan: vocals, keyboards , guitar (1972–1975)
- Paul Pilnick: lead guitar (1972)
- Tony Williams: Bass (1972)
- Rod Coombes: drums (1972)
- Joe Jammer: guitar (1973–1975)
- Andrew Steele: drums (1973–1975)
- Gerry Taylor: Bass (1973-1975)
- Benie Holland: guitar (1975)
- Dave Wintour: Bass (1975)
- Luther Grosvenor: vocals, guitar (November 1972 – July 1973)
Other members who were not involved in the recordings
- Rab Noakes: guitar, vocals (1972)
- Roger Brown: vocals (1972)
- Ian Campell: Bass (1972)
- Delisle Harper: Bass (1973)
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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LPs / CDs
- Stealers Wheel - A&M 1972
- Ferguslie Park - A&M 1974
- Right or Wrong - A&M 1975
- The Best of Stealers Wheel - Connoisseur Collection 1990
Compilations
- Late Again - Stealers Wheel - Universal Music 2001
Singles
- Late Again - A&M 1972
- Stuck in the Middle with You - A&M 1973
- Everything'll Turn Out Fine - A&M 1973
- Star - A&M 1973
- Found My Way to You - A&M 1975
swell
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ Chart source: DE-UK-US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
Web links
- Stealers Wheel at Allmusic (English)