Customer Reviews

Stealers Wheel

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Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty combined their forces for Stealer's Wheel after Gerry's disappointment with the sales and reception from his first solo album (and playing in The Humblebums with comedian/musician Billy Connolly--Egan and Rafferty had played together and in the same circles before). Egan and Rafferty had noticed in the past that their voices melded well (they harmonized on Everly Brothers songs), enjoyed working on Rafferty's first solo album and decided to join forces again.

Stealer's Wheel became in the process a one-hit wonder to most folks for the song "Stuck in the Middle with You". "Star" (from their second album)of course charted as well actually charting higher than "Stuck in the Middle with You" which is tragic because there's so much more great music here and on the two subsequent albums Egan and Rafferty made.

The Cherry Red reissue of this album sounds pretty good with good dynamic range it sounds very good but not spectacular. That could be down to the recording studio. Rumor has it that this album was remastered from the tapes prepared for the vinyl version (I don't know that this is true but it's possible)as many of the songs here sound different than some of the Steeler's Wheel anthologies and the Gerry Rafferty three disc anthology released this year.

There aren't any bonus tracks (you know that there has to be outtakes/alternate takes, etc.). The liner notes are quite pretty good and rather presenting them as a booklet it's a fold out with the cover as a poster on the other side.

This is a terrific album (although their best work was to come)with good mastering. Fans will want this and it's worth picking up.

Recommended.

As usual Cherry

Here we finally see this album available again after so many years of neglect from the compact disc market! This Pop-Rock classic from 1973 is the first album from Stealers Wheel, of which the band would only release two more studio albums. Headed by Joe Egan (vocals, keyboards) and Gerry Rafferty (Vocals, guitar), this group had interesting ups and downs in its 3-year journey on the pop-charts.
Produced by the famous Leiber-Stoller, this album also featured Paul Pilnick (lead guitar), Tony Williams (bass), and Rod Coombes (drums). The standout hit on this album is the pop single-sensation hit "Stuck in the Middle with You," which was most noteably featured in Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." (Which is how I first heard the song!) All of the songs are penned by Egan and Rafferty, and reflect the sound of the Beatles at times, especially on "Another Meaning." Perhaps this is due to the fact that ex-Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick recorded this album... So, take the slightly rocky journey through Stealers Wheel debut album; with pop-folk-tinged melodies and good playing, this album still sounds good today!

What a superb, little-known "lost" classic album! If you enjoy Beatles music and wish there was more, look no further than this excellent, highly melodic masterpiece by Stealers Wheel. If all you know is "Stuck in the Middle With You", then you're in for a treat. Gerry Rafferty was at his peak as a songwriter at this time; most of his later stuff pales by comparison.

"Stuck in the Middle" is the show piece, however there are other gems on this album worth hearing. The musician's choose different rock stylings throughout to create a nice patchwork of songs. A great 70's album for sure.

This First Stealers Wheel release is Great, but then again there is no Such thing as a Weak Gerry Rafferty Album.If You like Gerry Rafferty or Joe Eagan then this as well as all of there material is a MUST.

I owned the album, when released, in the 1970's and have waited a long time to own it and the other Steeler's Wheel releases on CD. Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty are extremely good song writers and performers both together and individually. Owning their works, as Steeler's Wheel, is one of the high points in my music collection. This Album/CD was/is one of my personal favorites.

My favorite album from this band. Classic thoughtful 1970's rock... great instrumentation, catchy songwriting.

Fantastic group, fantastic albums- there was a whole lot more to them and many more great songs besides "Stuck in the Middle With You." It's great to find their work on CD, and a shame so few people know about this music.

What first turned me on to Stealers Wheel was when I first saw Resevoir Dogs a few years ago. Tarantino's use of the hit "Stuck In The Middle With You" I thought was great. I figured after listening to this album that they would come across as just a "One hit...", but I thought that the album wasn't half bad. The bassist comes through with some surprisingly good rifts here and there and, vocally, the album is pretty tight. So have a listen or just watch the infamous "ear scene" in Resevoir Dogs, it's great.