Stealers Wheel CD/SACD (Out of Print)

“K-Billy’s Super Sounds of the ’70s weekend just keeps on truckin’ …” The short but legendary recording career of Stealers Wheel is defined by the pinnacle reached with its first two albums. Listening to this extraordinary debut effort it’s easy to hear why many thought Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan’s Stealer’s Wheel would become the UK’s answer to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The duo’s distinctive style is in full evidence, marrying ultra-catchy hooks and melodies to thoughtful lyrics and gorgeous vocal harmonies.

As a band, Stealers Wheel was already disintegrating even as it was being formed. Players were being shifted in and out of the lineup right up to the recording sessions for this debut record, and leader Gerry Rafferty split from the band before the LP’s official release (see the vintage video for “Stuck in the Middle” below, with Egan miming the lead vocal in Rafferty’s absence!). However, as “Stuck in the Middle” streaked up the charts in the US and the UK, peaking at #6 in the US, Rafferty came back and the band eventually became Rafferty and Egan with backing players in the studio and on tour.

Songs from Stealers Wheel’s stellar first pair of LPs have gotten steady airplay since they were released, and of course Gerry Rafferty’s breakout success with his solo album City to City shined a bright light on his earlier efforts. Stealers Wheel became an indelible element of pop culture for new generations when maverick director Quentin Tarantino built a major set piece of his own debut Reservoir Dogs around the infectious hooks of “Stuck in the Middle.” The scene is as grisly as it is unforgettable and of course it’s set up brilliantly by Steven Wright’s voice as the world’s dryest DJ.

However, Stealers Wheel is much more than just its smash hit single. It’s an all-time great rock n’ roll record from start to finish, a great record to discover or (Re)Discover!