1975 Rod Stewart – Atlantic Crossing
Atlantic Crossing is Rod Stewart‘s sixth album, released in 1975. It peaked at number one in the UK (his fifth solo album to do so), and number nine on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.
The title indicated Stewart’s new commercial and artistic direction, referring to both his crossing over to Warner Brothers and on his departure to escape the 83 per cent top rate of income tax introduced by British Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson for the jet-set lifestyle in Los Angeles (where he had applied for American citizenship at this time). The album was divided into a slow side and a fast side, apparently at the suggestion of Stewart’s then-girlfriend, Swedish actress Britt Ekland. Stewart would repeat the format for his next two albums.
With Atlantic Crossing, Stewart ended his association with Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and the stable of musicians who had been his core collaborators on his classic run of albums for Mercury Records, fusing soul and folk. Instead, he used a group of session musicians, including The Memphis Horns and three-quarters of Booker T. and the MG’s. The album was produced by Tom Dowd, the famous engineer and producer on records by so many of Stewart’s heroes during Dowd’s time on staff at Atlantic Records. The only song performed from this album on The Faces’ final US tour in autumn 1975 was “Three Time Loser”, and the rest of the group heavily disliked Stewart’s change in musical direction on this album. Following the success of the album, and his move to the U.S., Stewart announced his exit from the Faces by the end of the year.
“Sailing” was a number one hit in the UK in September 1975, and returned to the UK Top 3 a year later when it was used as the theme for the BBC series Sailor; both acoustic and electric guitars in the song were played by Pete Carr. In 1977, almost two years after the album was released, Stewart scored another UK number one from the album with the double A-side single “I Don’t Want to Talk About It” and “The First Cut Is the Deepest”.
Tracks
1 Three Time Loser (Rod Stewart) 4:05
2 Alright For An Hour (Rod Stewart, Jesse Ed Davis) 4:18
3 All In The Name Of Rock n Roll (Rod Stewart) 5:01
4 Drift Away (Mentor Williams) 3:43
5 Stone Cold Sober (Rod Stewart, Steve Cropper) 4:12
6 I Don’t Want To Talk About It (Danny Whitten) 4:48
7 It’s Not The Spotlight (Barry Goldberg, Gerry Goffin) 4:22
8 This Old Heart Of Mine (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Sylvia Moy) 4:05
9 Still Love You (Rod Stewart) 5:11
10 Sailing (Gavin Sutherland) 4:37
Biography
Musicians
Bass | Leland Sklar |
Bass | Bob Glaub |
Bass | David Hood |
Bass | Donald Dunn |
Drums | Al Jackson Jr |
Drums | Nigel Olsson |
Drums | Roger Hawkins |
Drums | Willie Correa |
Guitar | Fred Tackett |
Guitar | Jesse Ed Davis |
Guitar | Jimmy Ray Johnson |
Guitar | Peter Carr |
Guitar | Steve Cropper |
Mandolin | David Lindley |
Keyboards | Albhy Galuten |
Keyboards | Barry Beckett |
Horns | The Memphis Horns |
Violin | David Lindley |
Background Vocals | Bob Singers |
Background Vocals | Cindy Singers |
Vocals | Rod Stewart |
Liner Notes
Producer – Tom Dowd
Arranged By (Strings) – Arif Mardin (Tracks 6, 10)
Arranged By (Strings) – James Mitchell (Track 8)
Engineer – Gabby Garcia, Jerry Masters, Rich Blakin, Steve Melton, Willie Mitchell
Engineer (Assistant) – Burt Szerlip, Dan Augustino, Steve Gursky
Mastered By – Melvyn Abrahams
Art Direction – John Kosh
Design – John Kosh
Illustrations – Peter Lloyd
Mastered At Atlantic Studios
Phonographic Copyright Warner Bros Records Inc
Copyright Warner Bros Records Inc