''Atlantic Crossing'' is the sixth

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

. Released on 15 August 1975, and recorded in five American studios including Muscle Shoals,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, between April and June 1975, it was produced by

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

, and peaked at number one in the UK (his fourth solo album to do so), and number nine on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top Pop Albums chart. The album was divided into a fast side and a slow side, apparently at the suggestion of Stewart's then-girlfriend, Swedish actress

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in ''The Double Man (1967 film), The Double Man'' (1967), ''The Night They ...

. Stewart would repeat the format for his next two albums. The album contained two of Stewart's most popular songs, "

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

" and " I Don't Want to Talk About It”, and classic rock favourites "Three Time Loser" and "Stone Cold Sober". The album was the 14th of Stewart's career, starting with Jeff Beck's ''

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

'' in 1968, and his sixth solo.

Recording

The album was recorded in five different American studios: A&R (New York), Criteria (Miami), Wally Heider's Studio 3 ( Hollywood), Hi Recording Studio ( Memphis), and Muscle Shoals (

) between April and June 1975, and produced by

, who had been the engineer or producer for many of Stewart's heroes during Dowd's time at

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. With ''Atlantic Crossing'', Stewart ended his association with Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and the stable of musicians who had been his core collaborators on his classic run of albums for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, fusing

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and folk. Instead, he used a group of session musicians, including The Memphis Horns and Booker T. and the MG's. The only song performed from this album on The Faces' final US tour in autumn 1975 was "Three Time Loser", and the rest of the group heavily disliked Stewart's change in musical direction on this album. Following the success of the album, and his move to the U.S., Stewart announced his exit from the Faces by the end of the year.

Release

" was a number one hit in the UK in September 1975, and returned to the UK Top 3 a year later when it was used as the theme for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series ''

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

''; both acoustic and electric guitars in the song were played by Pete Carr.from Pete Carr's official site . In 1977, almost two years after the album was released, Stewart scored another UK number one from the album with the double A-side single " I Don't Want to Talk About It" and "

The First Cut Is the Deepest "The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold for her album The First Lady of Immediate, ''The First Lady of Immediate'' in April 1967. Stevens' own version ...

" (from the album A Night on the Town - 1976). In 2009, Rhino Records released a two-disc version of the album with bonus tracks.

Reception

Track listing

Fast Side (Side One) # "Three Time Loser" (Rod Stewart) – 4:03 # "Alright for an Hour" (Stewart, Jesse Ed Davis) – 4:17 # "All in the Name of Rock 'N' Roll" (Stewart) – 5:02 # " Drift Away" ( Mentor Williams) – 3:43 # "Stone Cold Sober" (Stewart,

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

) – 4:12 Slow Side (Side Two) # " I Don't Want to Talk About It" (

Danny Whitten Danny Ray Whitten (May 8, 1943 – November 18, 1972) was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse (band), Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want to Talk About It", a hit for Ro ...

) – 4:47 # "It's Not the Spotlight" ( Barry Goldberg, Gerry Goffin) – 4:21 # " This Old Heart of Mine" ( Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, Sylvia Moy) – 4:04 # "Still Love You" (Stewart) – 5:08 # "

" ( Gavin Sutherland) – 4:37

2009 two disc re-release

Disc one :Track 1 – 10 features the original album. #

"Skye Boat Song (The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band)" (Harold Boulton, Annie MacLeod) 4:13

Disc two #" To Love Somebody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 4:12 #" Holy Cow" ( Allen Toussaint) – 3:16 #" Return to Sender" ( Otis Blackwell, Scott Winfield) – 3:42 #"Three Time Loser" lternate Version(Stewart) – 4:40 #"Alright for an Hour" lternate Version(Stewart, Davis) – 4:36 #"All in the Name of Rock 'n' Roll" lternate Version(Stewart) – 5:00 #"Drift Away" lternate Version(Williams) – 3:58 #"Too Much Noise" arly Version of "Stone Cold Sober"(Stewart, Cropper) – 3:24 #"I Don't Want to Talk About It" lternate Version(Whitten) – 4:56 #"It's Not the Spotlight" lternate Version(Goldberg, Goffin) – 4:27 #"This Old Heart of Mine" lternate Version (Holland-Dozier-Holland, Moy) – 3:54 #"Still Love You" lternate Version(Stewart) 4:57 #"Sailing" lternate Version(Sutherland) 4:39 #"Skye Boat Song (The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band)" lternate Version(Boulton, MacLeod) 4:20

Personnel

* Rod Stewart – vocals * Pete Carr – acoustic guitar and electric guitar on

* Jesse Ed Davis,

, Fred Tackett, Jimmy Johnson – guitar * Barry Beckett, Albhy Galuten – keyboards * Booker T. Jones –

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

* Donald "Duck" Dunn,

Lee Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. He rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section (band), The Section, which supported ...

, Bob Glaub,

David Hood David Hood (born September 21, 1943) is an American musician, hailing from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, He is known for playing the bass guitar and trombone, and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Early life and education Hood was b ...

– bass guitar * David Lindley –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, violin * Al Jackson Jr., Roger Hawkins, Nigel Olsson, Willie Correa – drums, percussion * The Memphis Horns – trumpet, trombone, saxophone * Cindy & Bob Singers, The Pets & The Clappers – backing vocals String arrangements by Arif Mardin and James Mitchell Album design and art direction by John Kosh; illustration by Peter Lloyd

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums Riva Records albums Rod Stewart albums Albums produced by Tom Dowd Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Albums recorded at Wally Heider Studios