Gerry Rafferty - Snakes And Ladders (1980) LP - €10,00

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Snakes and Ladders is the fourth album by Gerry Rafferty. It was released in 1980, following the success of his previous two albums, City to City and Night Owl. 

Two years after the release of Night Owl, Gerry Rafferty presented his fans with Snakes & Ladders, and although some of his former album's charm and lyrical appeal manages to resurface, the whole of the album comes up short. 

The memorable melodies, moving allegories, or genuine lyrical warmth that was put into past efforts arise in a couple of tracks, like in the beauty of "Bring It All Home" or in the mystique of "Look at the Moon." 

It's not that Rafferty's writing is weaker or has been restrained, it's the fact that he fails to present enough passion from an instrumental standpoint throughout the entire album, and to a lesser extent a vocal one, to establish the same type of emotion or atmosphere as he did with City to City or Night Owl. 

"Royal Mile" was released as a single in the U.K., but only climbed as high as number 67 there and number 54 in the U.S. The album went to number 15 in Britain, but Rafferty showed signs of relinquishing his genuine style ever so slightly, and 1982's Sleepwalking disappointingly confirmed this. 

Even though his exterior talents had dwindled only slightly, the intangible qualities that made Rafferty such a compelling artist seemed to be left behind in the past decade.

The album charted at No. 15 in the UK but only reached No. 61 in the US, while singles achieved #54UK ("Bring It All Home"), and #67UK / #54US ("The Royal Mile")."

Some of the songs are available on compilation albums. Four of the songs, "The Garden of England", "I Was a Boy Scout", "Welcome to Hollywood" and "Bring It All Home" were recorded at Beatles producer George Martin's AIR studio in Montserrat. 

All the songs were original Rafferty compositions, though one – "Johnny's Song" – was a remake of a song which had been previously released by his former band Stealers Wheel, and another – "Didn't I" – was a remake of a song from Rafferty's 1971 album Can I Have My Money Back?. 

In fact, Garden Of England was guaranteed to become a number 1 record in Britain as they love mushy sentimental nationalistic types of songs like McCartney's Mull Of Kintire. And Rafferty's Garden Of England is much better than a song dedicated to Scottish Mullet hairdos.

Johnny's Song is a rocker and the next best song. It should have been the lead off single instead of the butt whistle song The Royal Mile.

Side A

A1.  The Royal Mile - 3:51  

A2.  I Was A Boy Scout - 4:13  

A3.  Welcome To Hollywood - 5:17  

A4.  Wastin’ Away - 3:36  

A5.  Look At The Moon - 2:20  

A6.  Bring It All Home - 4:39  

Side B

B1.  The Garden Of England - 4:07  

B2.  Johnny’s Song - 3:23  

B3.  Didn’t I - 4:13  

B4.  Syncopatin’ Sandy - 4:23  

B5.  Cafe Le Cabotin - 4:53  

B6.  Don’t Close The Door - 3:45 

All tracks composed by Gerry Rafferty

Personnel

• Gerry Rafferty – vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals 
• Ian Lynn – keyboards, synthesizers 
• Billy Livsey – acoustic piano, clavinet, mystery voice, Polymoog, keyboards, pianica 
• Pete Wingfield – organ, acoustic piano 
• Bryn Haworth – slide guitar 
• Jerry Donahue – lead guitar, guitar swells, other guitars
• Richard Brunton – guitars, electric guitars 
• Mo Foster – bass
• Pete Zorn – bass
• Liam Genockey – drums
• Frank Ricotti – percussion, congas, tambourine, woodblocks 
• Richard Harvey – penny whistle 
• Raphael Ravenscroft – saxophone 
• Chris Mercer – brass arrangements 
• Wil Malone – string arrangements, clarinet arrangements 
• Gavyn Wright – string leader 
• Betsy Cook – backing vocals
• The Baron de Bon Bon – intro 

Production

• Gerry Rafferty – producer
• Hugh Murphy – producer
• Barry Hammond – recording, overdubbing
• Stephen Lipson – recording 
• John Patrick Byrne – cover
• Michael Gray – inner sleeve photography, inner sleeve concept, management

Companies, etc.

• Recorded At – Chipping Norton Recording Studios
• Recorded At – AIR Studios, Montserrat
• Overdubbed At – Chipping Norton Recording Studios
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Liberty/United Records (UK) Ltd.
• Made By – Liberty/United Records (UK) Ltd.
• Marketed By – EMI
• Manufactured By – EMI
• Distributed By – EMI
• Lacquer Cut At – Bovema / EMI Studios – 43889
• Lacquer Cut At – Bovema / EMI Studios – 43890

Notes

Release: 1980

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Soft Rock

Label:  United Artists

Catalog#  1A 062-82883

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00