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Biography
Lead too short|date=October 2010Refimprove|date=October 2010Infobox musical artist | name = Stealers Wheel| image = Stealers Wheel - TopPop 1973 9.png| caption = Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty in 1973| image_size = 220px| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Paisley , Renfrewshire , Scotland| genre = folk music|Folk , rock and roll|Rock | years_active = 1972–1975, 2008–present| label = A& M Records|A& M | associated_acts =| website =| current_members = Paul Pilnick Rod Coombes Tony Williams (English musician)|Tony Williams Tony Mitchell| past_members = Gerry Rafferty Joe Egan (singer)|Joe Egan Ian Campbell Roger Brown Rab Noakes Luther Grosvenor DeLisle Harper Andrew Steele Joe Jammer Gerry Taylor Bernie Holland Dave Wintour Stealers Wheel are a Scottish folk rock / rock and roll|rock band formed in Paisley (Scotland)|Paisley , Renfrewshire in 1972 by former school friends Joe Egan (singer)|Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty .cite news|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p20739|pure_url=yes|title=Stealers Wheel Biography|last=Eder|first=Bruce|publisher= allmusic |accessdate=2008-11-11
The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed without Egan and Rafferty in 2008.
Biography
Rafferty and Egan first met when they were teenagers in Paisley and they became the core of Stealers Wheel. In the early 1970s, the band was considered to be the British version of American folk/rock Supergroup (music)|supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young . They were initially joined by Roger Brown, Rab Noakes and Ian Campbell in 1972. However, that line-up only lasted a few months and by the time the band were signed to A& M Records later that same year, Brown, Noakes and Campbell had been replaced by Paul Pilnick, Tony Williams (English musician)|Tony Williams and Rod Coombes . This line-up recorded their self-titled debut album , Stealers Wheel (album)|Stealers Wheel and was produced by the influential American songwriters and producers Leiber & Stoller . The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching #50 in the United States|US Billboard 200 album record chart|chart , with their million selling hit single " Stuck in the Middle with You ", coming from the album.
By the time the first album was released Rafferty had left the band to be replaced by Luther Grosvenor, who remained with the band for much of 1973 on tour. DeLisle Harper also replaced Tony Williams on tour. "Stuck in the Middle With You" reached #6 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and #8 in the UK Singles Chart in 1973, and sold over one million copies worldwide, and with the album also selling well, Rafferty was persuaded to return. However, Grosvenor, Coombes and Pilnick all left the band. With so many changes in the band's line-up they officially became a duo, with backing musicians as needed on tour and in the studio. Later in 1973 the single "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" had modest chart success and, in 1974, the single "Star" reached the Top 30 of both the UK and US charts.
A second album Ferguslie Park was released in 1974, with the duo backed up by nine backing musicians.cite news|url=Allmusic|class=album|id=r50138|pure_url=yes|title= Ferguslie Park Stealers Wheel review|last=Eder|first=Bruce|publisher= allmusic |accessdate=2008-11-11 The album, named after an area of Paisley, just reached the US Billboard 200 and was a commercial failure. With increasing tension between Rafferty and Egan they could not agree on which studio musicians to use on the third album, and with Leiber & Stoller also having business problems, Stealers Wheel disappeared for eighteen months. By the time the album Right Or Wrong was released in 1975, Stealers Wheel had ceased to exist. The last album, because of disagreements and managerial problems, was produced by Mentor Williams . All three albums had sleeve designs by artist John Byrne (Scottish playwright)|John Byrne .
After 1975 the group was hardly known, and the two last single releases faded away in the charts. Both Rafferty and Egan recorded songs which included lyrics referring to the acrimonious history of Stealers Wheel and a Best of Stealers Wheel album was released in 1990. In 1992 Film director|director Quentin Tarantino used the track " Stuck in the Middle " in the soundtrack of his debut film Reservoir Dogs , bringing new attention to the band. In September 2001 a dance version of "Stuck in the Middle" was a UK Top 10 hit for Louise Redknapp|Louise , with a music video that drew heavily on the original song's appearance in the soundtrack of Reservoir Dogs .
All three albums have been unavailable for a number of years, although in 2004 and 2005 the British independent record label 'Lemon Recordings', of Cherry Red , re-released them with remastered sound and new liner-notes.
After being contacted by iTunes and K-tel|K-tel records in California, Tony Williams re-formed Stealers Wheel in Blackpool in 2008 with two other original band members, Rod Coombes and Paul Pilnick, together with locally based musician and songwriter Tony Mitchell. On 10 November 2008 they started filming a music video for a re-release of "Stuck in the Middle" on the The Fylde|Fylde coast . They also began writing songs for an album due to have been released in 2009, although they have no plans to go on tour.cite news|url= http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Blackpool-Councillor-follows-Take-That39s.4680558.jp|title=Blackpool Councillor follows Take That's lead|last=Parkinson|first=Shelagh|date=11 November 2008|publisher= Blackpool Gazette |accessdate=2008-11-11 Luther Grosvenor has expressed his interest in joining the band should they tour.
Gerry Rafferty died on 4 January 2011 after suffering liver failure.cite news|url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/04/gerry-rafferty-obituary? CMP=twt_gu|title=Gerry Rafferty obituary|last=Gray|first=Michael|date=4 January 2011|work=The Guardian|accessdate=4 January 2011
Band members
;Current members
Paul Pilnick: lead guitar (1972; 2008–present)
Rod Coombes : drums (1972; 2008–present)
Tony Williams (English musician)|Tony Williams : bass guitar (1972; 2008–present)
Tony Mitchell: guitar (2008–present)
Past members
Gerry Rafferty : vocals, lead guitar (1972–1975)
Joe Egan (musician)|Joe Egan : lead vocals, keyboard (1972–1975)
Stealers Wheel (album)|Stealers Wheel ( 1972 in music|1972 )
Ferguslie Park (Stealers Wheel album)|Ferguslie Park ( 1973 in music|1973 )
Right or Wrong (Stealers Wheel album)|Right or Wrong ( 1975 in music|1975 )
The Best of Stealers Wheel ( 1990 in music|1990 )
Charting Singles
UK cite book
1973
1973
1974
References
reflist
Further reading
cite book|last=Parales|first=Jon|coauthors=Patricia Romanowski, Holly George-Warren|title=The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll|publisher= Simon & Schuster|Simon & Schuster Ltd |date=3 December 2001|edition=3rd edition|isbn=0743201205
cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin|title=The Essential Rock Discography |publisher= Canongate Books |location= Edinburgh |date=4 October 2006|edition=1st edition|isbn=1841959855
External links
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p20739
discogs artist
imdb name|2275898|Stealers Wheel
Category:Scottish musical groups Category:British soft rock music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1972
