'' A Spanner in the Works '' is the seventeenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

released by

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

on 29 May 1995. It ended a four-year gap since his previous studio album. At that time, it was Stewart's longest break between albums. It was released on Warner Bros. Records in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Five singles were released: "You're The Star", "

Leave Virginia Alone "Leave Virginia Alone" is a song written by American musician Tom Petty and performed by British rock and pop singer and songwriter Rod Stewart on Stewart's seventeenth album, ''A Spanner in the Works'' (1995). The song reached number one on the ...

", "This", "Lady Luck", and " Purple Heather".

Content

The album includes covers of Bob Dylan's "

Sweetheart Like You "Sweetheart Like You" is a song by Bob Dylan that appeared as the second track of his 1983 album ''Infidels''. The song was recorded on April 18, 1983 and released as a single in December 1983, with "Union Sundown" as its B-Side. "Sweetheart Like ...

" and

The Blue Nile The Blue Nile was a Scottish band which originated in Glasgow. The group's early music was built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured guitar more prominently. Following early champ ...

's " The Downtown Lights". The song "Muddy, Sam and Otis" is Stewart's tribute to Muddy Waters,

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

, and Otis Redding. Track 12, later released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

featuring the Scottish Euro '96 Football Squad, "Purple Heather" is a folk song that normally goes by the name " Wild Mountain Thyme". It is often credited as traditional, but was written by Francis McPeake. "Leave Virginia Alone" was written by Tom Petty and recorded for his album '' Wildflowers'', but was left off the finished album and given to Stewart instead.

Track listing

Personnel

* Rod Stewart – lead vocals, backing vocals (5), arrangements (12) * Kevin Savigar – keyboards (1-12), bass (5, 8), string arrangements and conductor (7, 11), squeezebox (12) * Eric Caudieux – programming (1) * Mike Higham – programming (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), digital manipulation (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), keyboards (2, 8), bass (8) * Trevor Horn – programming (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), digital manipulation (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), bass (1), backing vocals (1) * Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (2), acoustic piano solo (9), percussion (9) *

James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

– keyboards (3) * Martin O'Conner – accordion (6) *

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

(11) * Jeff Golub – guitar (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12), electric guitar (9) * Robin LeMesurier – guitar (1, 6, 7, 10, 11), guitar solo (4) * Tim Pierce – guitar (1, 2, 5, 8) * David Lindley – bouzouki (1) * Don Teschner –

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(1, 6),

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

(6) * Davey Johnstone – guitar (3), mandolin (3) * Jim Cregan – guitar (5) * Dónal Lunny – bouzouki (6, 12) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...

– guitar (7) * Andy Taylor – guitar (7, 10, 11) * Lol Creme – electric guitar (9) *

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...

– acoustic guitar (9), bass (9) * Stephen Lipson – bass (2, 4), guitar (4) * Leland Sklar – bass (3) * Carmine Rojas – bass (6, 12) *

Bernard Edwards Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bass player and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the ...

– bass (7, 10, 11) * David Palmer – drums (1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12) * Paul Robinson – drums (2, 5) * Kenny Aronoff – drums (3) * Frank Ricotti – drums (5) * Paulinho da Costa – percussion (1) *

Máire Ní Chathasaigh Máire Ní Chathasaigh (; born 1956) is an Irish harpist, composer and singer. Biography She was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, in a musical family. She learned to playthe harp when she was eleven. She created new harp ornamentation tec ...

– Irish fiddle (6) * John McSherry –

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

(6) * Leslie Butler –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

(9) *

The Kick Horns Kick Horns are a UK horn section based in London. They have worked prolifically as session musicians with a wide variety of performers, and have also recorded as an ensemble. The Kick Horns were established in the 1980s by Simon C. Clarke and Ti ...

– horns and horn arrangements (9): ** Simon Clarke – saxophone ** Tim Sanders – saxophone ** Neil Sidwell – trombone ** Roddy Lorimer – trumpet * Lenny Pickett – saxophone (11), horn arrangements (11) * David Woodford – saxophone (11), horn arrangements (11) * Nick Lane – trombone (11), horn arrangements (11) * Rick Braun – trumpet (11), horn arrangements (11) * Anne Dudley – string arrangements and conductor (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12), acoustic piano (8) *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis, ...

– orchestra leader (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12) * Susie Katayama – orchestra leader (7, 11) * Aleisha Irving – backing vocals (2) * Joe Turano – backing vocals (3, 7) * Joey Diggs – backing vocals (7, 8) * Lamont Van Hook – backing vocals (7, 8) * Fred White – backing vocals (7, 8) * Luana Jackman – choir coordinator (7) * Bobbi Page – choir coordinator (7) * Josef Powell – backing vocals (10, 11) * Oren Waters – backing vocals (10, 11) * Terry Young – backing vocals (10, 11) * Glasgow Gaelic Music Association – choir (12) * Kenneth Thompson – choir leader (12)

Production

* Executive Producers – Rob Dickins and Michael Ostin * Recording – Tim Weidner (Tracks 1, 2 & 5); Steve MacMillan (Track 3); Le Mobile (Tracks 4-12). * Engineer – Charlie Bouis (Tracks 6-12) * Assistant Recording – Mike Baumgartner (Tracks 1) * Assistant Engineer – Eric Johnston (Tracks 7-12) * Mixed by Steve MacMillan * Mix Assistants – Danny Alonso (Tracks 1 & 2); Rich Rowe (Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 12); Pat 59 (Track 6); Rail Rogut (Tracks 7, 8, 10 & 11). * Mixed at Sarm Studios (London);

Conway Studios Conway may refer to: Places United States * Conway, Arkansas * Conway County, Arkansas * Lake Conway, Arkansas * Conway, Florida * Conway, Iowa * Conway, Kansas * Conway, Louisiana * Conway, Massachusetts * Conway, Michigan * Conway T ...

(Hollywood); A&M Studios and Ocean Way Recording. * Mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Precision Mastering (Hollywood). * Design – Greg Ross * Photography – Herb Ritts * Management – Annie Challis, Randy Phillips and Arnold Stiefel at Stiefel Phillips Entertainment.

Certifications

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spanner in the Works, A Rod Stewart albums 1995 albums Albums produced by Trevor Horn Albums produced by Lenny Waronker Albums produced by Bernard Edwards Warner Records albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios