''Rainbow Rider'' is the third solo album by Mike Harrison, most notable as a principal lead singer for

Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth was a rock band originally formed in Carlisle, England, in 1967. The band was principally active between 1967 and 1974, and re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding ...

. It was released in 1975, on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

in North America, and Goodear Records in the United Kingdom. In addition to being part of Harrison's body of solo work, the album is notable as containing one of the earlier and comparatively rare recordings of the

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

song, " I'll Keep It With Mine", written in 1964 and recorded by

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

and

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

, among others. The album was recorded in Nashville, subsequent to Harrison's departure from Spooky Tooth, following the release of ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

'' (1973). The album features a number of Nashville's best known

session musicians A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

of that time, as well as

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

, then of Mott the Hoople, and Mick Jones, formerly of Spooky Tooth and later founder of Foreigner. The album was produced and engineered by Chris Kimsey, whose reputation as a recording engineer had developed when he was the engineer on the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' ''

Sticky Fingers ''Sticky Fingers'' is the ninth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released on 23 April 1971 on the Rolling Stones' new label, Rolling Stones Records. The Rolling Stones had been contracted by Decca Records an ...

'', released in 1971. ''Rainbow Rider'' was one of Kimsey's first engagements as a producer. Still at an early stage of his career, Kimsey had produced '' Monkey Grip'', the first

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

solo album, released in 1974, one year prior to ''Rainbow Rider''. "Maverick Woman Blues", with "You and Me" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, was released as a single. As with Harrison's other solo works from 1971 to 1975, this album has been re-released on

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

on Repertoire.

Track listing

#"Maverick Woman Blues" (

Don Nix William Donald Nix (September 27, 1941 – December 31, 2024) was an American musician, songwriter, and producer. Nix, who was best known for his song "Going Down," was described by AllMusic as "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul ...

) - 3:42 #"You and Me" (

Will Jennings Wilbur Herschel Jennings (June 27, 1944 – September 6, 2024) was an American lyricist. He was known for writing the songs " Up Where We Belong", " Higher Love", " Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He was inducted into the Songwriter ...

Troy Seals Troy Harold Seals (November 16, 1938 – March 6, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Life and career Seals was born on November 16, 1938. He was a member of the prominent Seals family of pop musicians that includes Jim Seal ...

) - 2:40Originally recorded by

Dobie Gray Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. Gray's music spanned multiple genres, including soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included " The 'In' Cro ...

and included on his 1973 album
Loving Arms
'. #" I'll Keep It With Mine" (

) - 4:19 #"Like a Road (Leading Home)" (Don Nix,

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including " The Dark End of the Street" and " Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" ...

) - 4:40 #"

We Can Work It Out "We Can Work It Out" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was first issued as a A-side and B-side#Double A-side, double A-side single with "Day Tripper" in December 1965. The song was rec ...

" ( John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 3:24 #"Okay Lay Lady Lay" ( Luther Grosvenor, Harrison) - 6:40 #"Easy" (Aitkin, Brown, Harrison) - 4:30 #" Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

, E.Y. Harburg) - 2:36 #"Friend" (Arthur Belcher, Harrison) - 4:40

Personnel

*Mike Harrison - vocals, harmonica * Mick Jones - guitar *Bob Cohen - guitar *Kirk Lorange - slide guitar *

Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam." '' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acc ...

- bass *

- keyboards, synthesizer *Arthur Belcher - saxophone *

The Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns was an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor saxophone. An "offshoot of the Mar-Keys", they continued to work to ...

- horns *Corona Stage School - choir *20th Century Singers - choir *

Del Newman Derrick Martin "Del" Newman (5 October 1930 – 10 August 2020) was a British conductor, orchestral arranger and music producer. His orchestral arrangements appeared on songs by many rock and pop artists from the 1960s to the 1990s, including Ca ...

- string arrangements * Kenneth Buttrey - drums, percussion

Other Credits

* Chris Kimsey - Producer

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums Island Records albums Mike Harrison (musician) albums Albums produced by Chris Kimsey