''The Penthouse Tapes'' is the fifth studio album by
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (1949–2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, their ...
. Unlike previous releases comprising predominantly original compositions.''The Penthouse Tapes'' consists largely of covers, ranging from
The Osmonds
The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...
' "
Crazy Horses
"Crazy Horses" is a 1972 hit single by The Osmonds, the title track from the album of the same name. The song, the only hit record from the Osmonds to feature Jay Osmond as lead vocalist, reached number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and num ...
" and
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
's "
School's Out" to
Lead Belly
Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
's "
Goodnight Irene
"Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933. A version recorded by the Weavers was a #1 hit in 1950.
The ...
".
[ Of the three originals, "I Wanna Have You Back" (written by Harvey with Zal Cleminson) and "Jungle Jenny" (by the band with producer David Batchelor) open side one; a third, "Say You're Mine", was written by Alex Harvey and appears on side two. The album was released in 1976 on ]Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records is a record company with United Kingdom origins. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Uni ...
.
Track listing
#"I Wanna Have You Back" (Alex Harvey, Zal Cleminson) – 2:42
#"Jungle Jenny" (David Batchelor, SAHB) – 4:07
#" Runaway" (Del Shannon
Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one '' Billboard'' hit " Runaway". In 1999, he was ind ...
, ) – 2:46
#"Love Story" (Ian Anderson
Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...
) – 5:10
#" School's Out" (Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton
Glen Edward Buxton (November 10, 1947 – October 19, 1997) was an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him number 90 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guita ...
, Dennis Dunaway
Dennis Dunaway (born December 9, 1946, in Cottage Grove, Oregon) is an American musician, best known as the original bass guitarist for the rock band Alice Cooper (1962–1975, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).
He co-wrote some of the b ...
, Neal Smith) – 5:02
#"Goodnight Irene
"Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933. A version recorded by the Weavers was a #1 hit in 1950.
The ...
" (Lead Belly
Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
) – 4:30
#"Say You're Mine (Every Cowboy Song)" (Harvey) – 3:23
#"Gamblin' Bar Room Blues" (Jimmie Rodgers
James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...
, Shelly Lee Alley
Shelly Lee Alley (July 6, 1894 – June 1, 1964) was an American singer, musician, songwriter and western swing bandleader. As a songwriter, Alley wrote "Travelin' Blues" for Jimmie Rodgers, a song which has been recorded by over 20 artists, incl ...
) – 4:09
#"Crazy Horses
"Crazy Horses" is a 1972 hit single by The Osmonds, the title track from the album of the same name. The song, the only hit record from the Osmonds to feature Jay Osmond as lead vocalist, reached number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and num ...
" (Alan Osmond
Alan Ralph Osmond (born June 22, 1949) is an American former singer and musician. He is best known for being a member of the family musical group The Osmonds, who were discovered in 1961 by Jay Emerson Williams, Andy Williams's father, at a perf ...
, Wayne Osmond
Melvin Wayne Osmond (born August 28, 1951) is a retired American musician and singer. He is the second oldest of the original Osmond Brothers singers and the fourth oldest of the nine Osmond children.
Life and career
Osmond was born in Ogden, ...
, Merrill Osmond
Merrill Davis Osmond (born April 30, 1953) is an American musician, singer, and occasional actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and bassist of the family music group The Osmonds and The Osmond Brothers, as well as an occasional so ...
) – 2:54
#"Cheek To Cheek
"Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1934–35, specifically for the star of his new musical, Fred Astaire. The movie was ''Top Hat'', co-starring Ginger Rogers. " (Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russi ...
) – 3:52 (recorded live at the New Victoria Theatre
The New Victoria Theatre in Woking, England opened in June 1992. The main theatre seats approximately 1,300 people, making it one of the largest receiving house theatres outside London. In addition to the main theatre the complex also conta ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, Christmas 1975)
Side two of the original vinyl version begins with "Goodnight Irene".
Personnel
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
* Alex Harvey – lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
* Zal Cleminson
Alistair Macdonald "Zal" Cleminson (born 4 May 1949) is a Scottish guitarist, best known for his role in The Sensational Alex Harvey Band between 1972 and 1978. In 2017, he put together a new rock band - /sin'dogs/, which recorded and released ...
– guitars
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
* Chris Glen
Christopher John Glen (born 6 November 1950), known simply as Chris Glen, is a Scottish rock musician. He is best known for playing with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band from 1972 to 1978, and Michael Schenker Group from 1980 to 1984, 2008 to 2 ...
– bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
* Hugh McKenna – keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
, synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
* Ted McKenna
Edward McKenna (10 March 1950 – 19 January 2019) was a Scottish drummer who played with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Rory Gallagher, The Greg Lake Band, and The Michael Schenker Group. He also toured with Ian Gillan for a short period o ...
– drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
, percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
Additional musicians
* B.J. Cole
Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock t ...
– pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
on "Say You're Mine" and "Cheek To Cheek"
Technical
* David Batchelor – producer
* John Burns
John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...
, John Punter
John Punter (born 27 January 1949) is a former English record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with many bands and musicians, such as Japan, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Doctors of Madness, Sad Café and Slade. His career in music spann ...
, Douglas Hopkins, Denny Bridges – engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
* Alex Harvey – liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
Charts
Certifications
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penthouse Tapes, The
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band albums
1976 albums
Vertigo Records albums