Customer Reviews

Best of

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was with great sadness that I discovered that my "Stuck in the Middle With You" LP couldn't be replaced on CD. Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty made a remarkable combination and I'm sorry that I discovered it long after the fact. If it wasn't for Reservoir Dogs, I guess they would have faded totally into oblivion. Thanks for small favors, I guess.

Okay...we'll do this in stages...did you like Stuck in the Middle with you? Did you like Gerry Rafferty's single Baker Street? Did you like the album it was on, City to City?

Okay, now lets work backwards...if you like City to City you'll LOVE Stealer's Wheel. If you like Baker Street, try the rest of the album, then this. If you think Stuck was done by Bob Dylan, then LEAVE NOW.

Stealers Wheel is unlike any other band. First of all, it was (obviously) only two guys. The vocal harmonies that they produced together are incredible. They sang around each other with the same grace as Simon and Garfunkel and Lennon and McCartney. They seemed to be uninterested in being a hit band and focused instead on songs that aim for the mind and the soul. There are no hearts on sleeves here, but the heartache is there, as is the joy. And yet, the hum factor is high...these are not depressed ruminations about mankind's doom and the futility of love. They are three minute pop songs that were, I guess, cursed with a lack of the goofiness that typically sells records.

The songs were written (most probably) on an acoustic guitar, but the arrangements of the songs are full and the ideas are completely realized. The arrangements are (how do you say this...)appropriate and never falter in getting across what the song says and what it doesn't. They never overdid it, yet nothing sounds sparse. The feel is almost Celtic in nature, full of sadness and hope and the light of the new day and the remorse of times past.

Stuck in the Middle is actually out of place on this album, and by the time you're done, it will be one of your least favorite SW songs. Based on the rest of the disc, you'll wonder why this great collaboration has been forgotten and you'll wish you could find more. Me too.

Gerry Rafferty went solo with the critically acclaimed "Can I Have My Money Back" album after he dissolved his partnership with Bill Connolly in the Humblebums. In 1972 Rafferty hooked up with another partner Joe Egan in Stealers Wheel.
Here, Rafferty hit his stride with a more worthwhile songwriting partner in Joe Egan. With 'Stuck In the Middle With You', it seemed like they were on to great fortune in releasing three solid albums in "Stealers Wheel", "Ferguslie Park" and "Right Or Wrong" with production from Lieber and Stoller ( of Coasters fame) on the first two albums and Mentor Williams (Dobie Gray's 'Drift Away') on the last. Unfortunately the hits dropped off dramatically after 'Stuck In the Middle' with their three album legacy tragically destilled (or hacked) down to this pleasing fourteen track compilation.
From the harmonium driven 'Late Again' to the haunting, surreal ballad 'Next To Me'(both from the "Stealer's Wheel" album 1972), from rockin' 'Wheelin'' and lively Brewer and Shipley styled hit 'Star' (both from "Fergulie Park" 1973) and from the power pop of 'Go As You Please' to the strange mix of Gregorian chant and Celtic waltz melody in 'Benediction'(both songs from "Right Or Wrong" 1975)you can't lose. Great folk CSN&Y harmonies abound sometimes set accessible pop melodies, or to haunting celtic arrangements and even some power pop sensibilities.
It is with a bit of trepidation that I am giving this compilation a five star. It is only by default because this seems to be the only release available by Stealer's Wheel and it is easy to have a good listening experience from a collection that came from already solid releases.
This Collection should be only a starting point. If you can find the original albums on CD then go for it (I was only able to obtain 'Ferguslie Park' on CD as a Japanese import about ten years ago) or otherwise seek out vinyl copies of "Stealers Wheel", "Ferguslie Park" and "Right Or Wrong". Or better yet, we all ought to petition the reissue labels to issue these original three on compact disc.
"Baker's Street" would actually be anti-climactic.

The 1970s British rock outfit Stealer's Wheel is remembered today, if at all, for their 1973 hit "Stuck in the Middle With You," which was so memorably used during the torture scene in Queton Tarrantino's movie "Reservoir Dogs." The band's lack of follow up hits eventually caused their demise. That's too bad, because leaders Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan were first rate songwriters. This anthology contains fourteen songs including "Stuck..." There is a strong consistency throughout, and a few of the other standouts include the ballad "Late Again," "Star," and "Wheelin'." The CD also has a full page of liner notes, a necessity for a band with an abscure history like this one.

Overall, a set worthwhile for more than just the one big single.

This "Best Of" is the NOT the definitive Stealers Wheel collection. You may want to steer yourself to "Stuck in the Middle with You," the 2000 Polygram International release that is the first to include "Stuck In The Middle With You," "Star" and "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine," Stealers Wheel's three charting American Singles. (Note that "Fine" is not on this particular set.)

Also worth noting, both the debut "Stealers Wheel" and "Ferguslie Park" are back in print, on CD for the first time.

This is the best (and only) Stealers Wheel collection available. It includes their only two top 40 hits, the top 5 classic Stuck In The Middle With You and Star. It also includes strong selections from their 3 albums. My only complaint is that it is missing the minor hit Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine, which just missed the top 40. Considering it was their 3rd biggest hit, there is really no excuse not to include it on any Stealers Wheel compilation.

I didn't give it 5 stars only because I tend to skip around the CD when in my car to get to songs I prefer (or skip back to them). I suppose we all have different tracks we like and a few that really make us feel inspired when we hear them. I bought this album for "Stuck in The Middle With You" but "Star" and "Steamboat Row" really work for me. Of course "Late Again", "Wheelin'", "Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind" are really good too. I do agree with another reviewer who said that "Stuck in The Middle" kind of moved to the rear. There are songs that are better than "Stuck" (hard to believe but true) on this disc. If you feel a little misty for the past this is an album you should have!

its great you can get this on cd ...but the tracks should be re-master so the sound could sound better...you can hear better sound off gerry raffertys 2006 cd call days gone down ''the best of'' its a import most of stealers wheel hits are there.