Stealers Wheel
Encyclopedia
Stealers Wheel are a Scottish folk rock
/rock
band formed in Paisley, Renfrewshire
in 1972 by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty
.
The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed without Egan and Rafferty in 2008.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. They were initially joined by Roger Brown, Rab Noakes and Ian Campbell in 1972. However, that line-up only lasted a few months and by the time the band were signed to A&M Records
later that same year, Brown, Noakes and Campbell had been replaced by Paul Pilnick, Tony Williams
and Rod Coombes
. This line-up recorded their self-titled debut album, Stealers Wheel
and was produced by the influential American songwriters and producers Leiber & Stoller. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching #50 in the US
Billboard 200
album chart
, with their million selling hit single "Stuck in the Middle with You
", coming from the album.
By the time the first album was released Rafferty had left the band to be replaced by Luther Grosvenor, who remained with the band for much of 1973 on tour. DeLisle Harper also replaced Tony Williams on tour. "Stuck in the Middle With You" reached #6 in the US Billboard Hot 100
and #8 in the UK Singles Chart
in 1973, and sold over one million copies worldwide, and with the album also selling well, Rafferty was persuaded to return. However, Grosvenor, Coombes and Pilnick all left the band. With so many changes in the band's line-up they officially became a duo, with backing musicians as needed on tour and in the studio. Later in 1973 the single "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" had modest chart success and, in 1974, the single "Star" reached the Top 30 of both the UK and US charts.
A second album Ferguslie Park was released in 1974, with the duo backed up by nine backing musicians. The album, named after an area of Paisley, just reached the US Billboard 200 and was a commercial failure. With increasing tension between Rafferty and Egan they could not agree on which studio musicians to use on the third album, and with Leiber & Stoller also having business problems, Stealers Wheel disappeared for eighteen months. By the time the album Right Or Wrong was released in 1975, Stealers Wheel had ceased to exist. The last album, because of disagreements and managerial problems, was produced by Mentor Williams
. All three albums had sleeve designs by artist John Byrne.
After 1975 the group was hardly known, and the two last single releases faded away in the charts. Both Rafferty and Egan recorded songs which included lyrics referring to the acrimonious history of Stealers Wheel and a Best of Stealers Wheel album was released in 1990. In 1992 director
Quentin Tarantino
used the track "Stuck in the Middle
" in the soundtrack
of his debut film Reservoir Dogs
, bringing new attention to the band. In September 2001 a dance version of "Stuck in the Middle" was a UK Top 10 hit for Louise
, with a music video that drew heavily on the original song's appearance in the soundtrack of Reservoir Dogs.
All three albums have been unavailable for a number of years, although in 2004 and 2005 the British independent record label
'Lemon Recordings', of Cherry Red
, re-released them with remastered sound and new liner-notes.
After being contacted by iTunes
and K-tel records
in California, Tony Williams re-formed Stealers Wheel in Blackpool
in 2008 with two other original band members, Rod Coombes
and Paul Pilnick, together with locally based musician and songwriter Tony Mitchell. On 10 November 2008 they started filming a music video for a re-release of "Stuck in the Middle" on the Fylde coast
. They also began writing songs for an album due to have been released in 2009, although they have no plans to go on tour. Luther Grosvenor has expressed his interest in joining the band should they tour.
Gerry Rafferty died on 4 January 2011 after suffering liver failure.
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
/rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band formed in Paisley, Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
in 1972 by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty
Gerry Rafferty
Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty was a Scottish singer songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", "Days Gone Down", "Night Owl", "Get It Right Next Time", and with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in...
.
The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed without Egan and Rafferty in 2008.
Biography
Rafferty and Egan first met when they were teenagers in Paisley and they became the core of Stealers Wheel. In the early 1970s, the band was considered to be the British version of American folk/rock supergroupSupergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. They were initially joined by Roger Brown, Rab Noakes and Ian Campbell in 1972. However, that line-up only lasted a few months and by the time the band were signed to A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
later that same year, Brown, Noakes and Campbell had been replaced by Paul Pilnick, Tony Williams
Tony Williams (English musician)
Anthony "Tony" Williams is an English musician who plays bass guitar in the folk rock/rock band Stealers Wheel and who also played with Jethro Tull.-Career:...
and Rod Coombes
Rod Coombes
Rod Coombes is an English singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:He has played professionally since he was 17, when he joined singer Lulu's backing band The Luvvers. He played with the Jeff Beck Group at the time of the release of the single "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and then joined soul band Trifle,...
. This line-up recorded their self-titled debut album, Stealers Wheel
Stealers Wheel (album)
Stealers Wheel is the debut 1972 album by the Scottish folk rock band Stealers Wheel.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Gerry Rafferty - guitar, lead vocals*Joe Egan - keyboards, lead vocals*Paul Pilnick - lead guitar*Tony Williams - bass...
and was produced by the influential American songwriters and producers Leiber & Stoller. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching #50 in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, with their million selling hit single "Stuck in the Middle with You
Stuck in the Middle With You
"Stuck in the Middle with You" is a song written by Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and originally performed by their band Stealers Wheel....
", coming from the album.
By the time the first album was released Rafferty had left the band to be replaced by Luther Grosvenor, who remained with the band for much of 1973 on tour. DeLisle Harper also replaced Tony Williams on tour. "Stuck in the Middle With You" reached #6 in the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and #8 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1973, and sold over one million copies worldwide, and with the album also selling well, Rafferty was persuaded to return. However, Grosvenor, Coombes and Pilnick all left the band. With so many changes in the band's line-up they officially became a duo, with backing musicians as needed on tour and in the studio. Later in 1973 the single "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" had modest chart success and, in 1974, the single "Star" reached the Top 30 of both the UK and US charts.
A second album Ferguslie Park was released in 1974, with the duo backed up by nine backing musicians. The album, named after an area of Paisley, just reached the US Billboard 200 and was a commercial failure. With increasing tension between Rafferty and Egan they could not agree on which studio musicians to use on the third album, and with Leiber & Stoller also having business problems, Stealers Wheel disappeared for eighteen months. By the time the album Right Or Wrong was released in 1975, Stealers Wheel had ceased to exist. The last album, because of disagreements and managerial problems, was produced by Mentor Williams
Mentor Williams
Mentor Williams is an American songwriter and producer. He is best known for writing "Drift Away", a middle-of-the-road playlist classic performed by Dobie Gray in 1973. He is the brother of famed songwriter Paul Williams.-Background:...
. All three albums had sleeve designs by artist John Byrne.
After 1975 the group was hardly known, and the two last single releases faded away in the charts. Both Rafferty and Egan recorded songs which included lyrics referring to the acrimonious history of Stealers Wheel and a Best of Stealers Wheel album was released in 1990. In 1992 director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
used the track "Stuck in the Middle
Stuck in the Middle
"Stuck in the Middle" can refer to one of four different songs:* "Stuck in the Middle with You" , a 1972 hit song by the folk rock band Stealers Wheel, later covered by others and used in the movie Reservoir Dogs* "Stuck in the Middle" , a 2004 song by girl band Clea* "Stuck in the...
" in the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of his debut film Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
, bringing new attention to the band. In September 2001 a dance version of "Stuck in the Middle" was a UK Top 10 hit for Louise
Louise Redknapp
Louise Elizabeth Redknapp is an English singer and media personality. She was a member of the girl group Eternal from 1992 to 1995, before becoming a solo singer . She has presented several television shows and served as a judge on the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance...
, with a music video that drew heavily on the original song's appearance in the soundtrack of Reservoir Dogs.
All three albums have been unavailable for a number of years, although in 2004 and 2005 the British independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
'Lemon Recordings', of Cherry Red
Cherry Red
Cherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978.-History:Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens...
, re-released them with remastered sound and new liner-notes.
After being contacted by iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and K-tel records
K-tel
K-tel International is an "As-Seen-On-TV" company, which is most noted for its compilation music albums, such as "The Super Hits" series, "The Dynamic Hits" series and "The Number One Hits" series...
in California, Tony Williams re-formed Stealers Wheel in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
in 2008 with two other original band members, Rod Coombes
Rod Coombes
Rod Coombes is an English singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:He has played professionally since he was 17, when he joined singer Lulu's backing band The Luvvers. He played with the Jeff Beck Group at the time of the release of the single "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and then joined soul band Trifle,...
and Paul Pilnick, together with locally based musician and songwriter Tony Mitchell. On 10 November 2008 they started filming a music video for a re-release of "Stuck in the Middle" on the Fylde coast
The Fylde
The Fylde ; Scandinavian: "field") is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east...
. They also began writing songs for an album due to have been released in 2009, although they have no plans to go on tour. Luther Grosvenor has expressed his interest in joining the band should they tour.
Gerry Rafferty died on 4 January 2011 after suffering liver failure.
Band members
Current members- Paul Pilnick: lead guitar (1972; 2008–present)
- Rod CoombesRod CoombesRod Coombes is an English singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:He has played professionally since he was 17, when he joined singer Lulu's backing band The Luvvers. He played with the Jeff Beck Group at the time of the release of the single "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and then joined soul band Trifle,...
: drums (1972; 2008–present) - Tony WilliamsTony Williams (English musician)Anthony "Tony" Williams is an English musician who plays bass guitar in the folk rock/rock band Stealers Wheel and who also played with Jethro Tull.-Career:...
: bass guitar (1972; 2008–present) - Tony Mitchell: guitar (2008–present)
Past members
- Gerry RaffertyGerry RaffertyGerald "Gerry" Rafferty was a Scottish singer songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", "Days Gone Down", "Night Owl", "Get It Right Next Time", and with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in...
: vocals, lead guitar (1972–1975) - Joe Egan: lead vocals, keyboard (1972–1975)
- Ian Campbell: bass guitar (1972)
- Roger Brown: vocals (1972)
- Rab NoakesRab NoakesRab Noakes is a Scottish singer-songwriter.-Biography:He has performed with Lindisfarne, who recorded his songs "Turn a Deaf Ear" on their first album, Nicely Out of Tune, and "Together Forever" on their second, Fog on the Tyne...
: guitar, vocals (1972) - Luther GrosvenorLuther GrosvenorLuther James Grosvenor is an English rock musician, who played guitar in Spooky Tooth, briefly in Stealers Wheel and, under the pseudonym "Ariel Bender", in Mott the Hoople and Widowmaker....
(Ariel Bender): vocals, guitar (1972-1973) - DeLisle Harper: bass guitar (1973)
- Andrew Steele: drums (1973–1975)
- Joe Jammer: guitar (1973–1975)
- Gerry Taylor: bass guitar (1973–1975)
- Bernie Holland: guitar (1975)
- Dave Wintour: bass guitar (1975)
Albums
- Stealers WheelStealers Wheel (album)Stealers Wheel is the debut 1972 album by the Scottish folk rock band Stealers Wheel.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Gerry Rafferty - guitar, lead vocals*Joe Egan - keyboards, lead vocals*Paul Pilnick - lead guitar*Tony Williams - bass...
(19721972 in music-Events:*January 17 – Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Boulevard"*January 20 – The début of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at The Dome, Brighton, is halted by technical difficulties,...
) - Ferguslie Park (19731973 in music-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
) - Right or Wrong (19751975 in music-January–April:*January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case....
) - The Best of Stealers Wheel (19901990 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
)
Charting Singles
| Year | Single | UK | US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "Stuck in the Middle With You Stuck in the Middle With You "Stuck in the Middle with You" is a song written by Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and originally performed by their band Stealers Wheel.... " |
#8 | #6 |
| 1973 | "Everything Will Turn Out Fine" | #33 | #49 |
| 1974 | "Star" | #25 | #29 |