See also: Transatlantic crossing.
| Atlantic Crossing | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Rod Stewart |
| Cover: | Rod Stewart-Atlantic Crossing (album cover).jpg |
| Recorded: | April–June 1975 |
| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Length: | 44:27 |
| Label: |
|
| Producer: | Tom Dowd |
| Prev Title: | Smiler |
| Prev Year: | 1974 |
| Next Title: | A Night on the Town |
| Next Year: | 1976 |
Atlantic Crossing is the sixth solo album by Rod Stewart. Released on 15 August 1975,[1] and recorded in five American studios including Muscle Shoals, Alabama, between April and June 1975, it was produced by Tom Dowd, and peaked at number one in the UK (his fourth solo album to do so), and number nine on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[2] [3] During 1975 Stewart moved to Los Angeles, switched record labels to Warner Brothers, and ended his association with Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan and the stable of musicians who had been his core collaborators on his albums for Mercury Records.
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. Stewart would repeat the format for his next two albums. The album contained two of Stewart's most popular songs, "Sailing" 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 in 1968, and his sixth solo.
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 (Alabama) between April and June 1975, and produced by Tom Dowd, who had been the engineer or producer for many of Stewart's heroes during Dowd's time at Atlantic Records.
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, fusing soul 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.
"Sailing" 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 series Sailor; both acoustic and electric guitars in the song were played by Pete Carr.[4] 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" (from the album A Night on the Town - 1976).
In 2009, Rhino Records released a two-disc version of the album with bonus tracks.
Fast Side (Side One)
Slow Side (Side Two)
Disc one
Track 1 – 10 features the original album.
Disc two
String arrangements by Arif Mardin and James Mitchell
Album design and art direction by John Kosh; illustration by Peter Lloyd[5]
| Chart (1975–76) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] | 1 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[7] | 87 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[8] | 18 |
| Chart (1975) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 11 | |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] | 15 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] | 2 | |
| UK Albums (OCC)[11] | 3 | |
| Chart (1976) | Position | |
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 17 | |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] | 39 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] | 12 | |
| UK Albums (OCC)[14] | 22 | |
| Chart (1977) | Position | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] | 6 | |
| Chart (1978) | Position | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] | 30 |