Warner Bros. Reissues ATLANTIC CROSSING And A NIGHT ON THE TOWN As Limited-Edition Two-Disc Sets With Remastered Original Album, Plus Unreleased Versions Of Each Album Track and Outtakes
Released on June 30, Collector’s Editions Are Only Available This Summer
LOS ANGELES — For Rod Stewart, 1975 was a year of profound personal and professional change. Because of Britain’s high tax rate, he moved from London to Los Angeles, where he signed with Warner Bros. Records, and left his longtime mates in the Faces to finally commit himself as a solo artist. His first two “American” albums—ATLANTIC CROSSING and A NIGHT ON THE TOWN—went gold and double platinum respectively, charting with signature hits like “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” and “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright).”
For a limited time, Warner Bros. will reissue both albums as two-disc Collector’s Editions that contain the original album remastered with a bonus track and a second disc that contains unreleased takes of every album track, plus unreleased outtakes. ATLANTIC CROSSING and A NIGHT ON THE TOWN will be available June 30 at all retail outlets, including www.rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $24.98 (CD), and digitally for $13.99 (Atlantic Crossing) and $11.99 (A Night On The Town). The two-disc version is only available this summer and will be replaced by a single-disc collection with fewer bonus tracks.
Along with Stewart’s new home came a new producer, Tom Dowd, a man whose gifted ears led him to run sessions for some of Stewart’s soul idols, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles. It was Dowd’s idea to record Stewart with many of soul music’s legendary musicians: guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, and drummer Al Jackson Jr., known as the MGs (minus Booker T.); and the Swampers, the renowned studio band from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, who played on many of Aretha Franklin’s best. This fresh beginning marks the point where Stewart left behind his frequently rustic, folk-inflected sound and replaced it with the glossy stadium anthems that would become his new imprimatur.
Stewart’s sixth album, ATLANTIC CROSSING became a hit in Britian and the U.S., where it was certified gold. It contains two of Stewart’s signature hits: “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” and “Sailing.” The latter became a 1 hit in the U.K. and a popular soccer anthem, a gratifying twist for Stewart, a rabid fan of the sport. Along with an alternate version of the album, the bonus disc also contains an eclectic trio of outtakes: the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody,” Lee Dorsey’s “Holy Cow,” and Elvis Presley’s “Return To Sender.”
In 1976, Stewart returned with A NIGHT ON THE TOWN, a double-platinum success thanks to the 1 smash “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright),” the definitive cover of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” and “The Killing Of Georgie” (Part I and II), a heartfelt tribute to Stewart’s friend, who was mugged and killed in New York. Stewart cut the majority of A NIGHT ON THE TOWN in Los Angeles with musicians who are credited as “The Garage Band,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to the caliber of players assembled for the album: the MGs once again as well as guitarists Joe Walsh, Jesse Ed Davis, David Lindley, and Fred Tackett.
The second disc features a preliminary treatment of Lennon/McCartney’s “Get Back” for the film All This And World War II, and two outtakes written by Stewart. The first, “Rosie,” was used as the B-side of “Killing Of Georgie.” The second, “Share,” features a gorgeous, understated guitar arrangement from an unidentified source that sounds suspiciously like Cropper.
ATLANTIC CROSSING and A NIGHT ON THE TOWN are both so similar conceptually, structurally, and musically that they are virtually of a piece. Each is a mix of covers and originals, split between fast and slow sides, produced by Tom Dowd, and recorded in Muscle Shoals and Los Angeles. Together the music captures an important evolution in Stewart’s iconic career.
