A Spanner in the Works

A Spanner in the Works
album by Rod Stewart
Released	May 26, 1995
Recorded	1995
Genre	Pop, Rock
Length	57:15
Label	Warner Bros. Records
Producer(s)	Rod Stewart Trevor Horn James Newton-Howard Michael Ostin Lenny Waronker Bernard Edwards Andy Taylor
reverse cover
Andy Taylor related

A Spanner in the Works is a studio album by Rod Stewart, co-written/co-produced by Andy Taylor and released by Warner Bros. Records on May 26, 1995.

About the album

This is Stewart's seventeenth studio album and features Andy Taylor (who had previously co-produced Stewart's Out of Order album) performing guitar on the track "Delicious", a song he co-produced with Bernard Edwards and co-wrote. Also included is a cover version of Bob Dylan’s "Sweetheart Like You". The song "Muddy, Sam, And Otis" is a tribute to Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding.

A Spanner in the Works produced five singles: "You’re The Star", "Leave Virginia Alone", "This", "Lady Luck", and "Purple Heather".

Track listing

1. "Windy Town" (Chris Rea) – 5:12
2. "The Downtown Lights" (Paul Buchanan) – 6:33
3. "Leave Virginia Alone" (Tom Petty) – 4:07
4. "Sweetheart Like You" (Bob Dylan) – 4:54
5. "This" (John Capek, Marc Jordan) – 5:19
6. "Lady Luck" (Carmine Rojas, Jeff Golub, Kevin Savigar, Rod Stewart) – 4:25
7. "You’re The Star" (Billy Livsey, Frankie Miller, Graham Lyle) – 4:39
8. "Muddy, Sam and Otis" (Stewart, Savigar) – 4:42
9. "Hang on St. Christopher" (Tom Waits) – 4:04
10. "Delicious" (Stewart, Andy Taylor, Robin LeMesurier) – 4:43
11. "Soothe Me" (Sam Cooke) – 3:33
12. "Purple Heather" (Traditional, arranged Stewart) – 4:58

Personnel

• Rod Stewart - Vocals
• Aleisha Irving - Vocals
• Guy Pratt - Acoustic guitar, bass
• Davey Johnstone - Guitar, mandolin
• Steve Lipson - Guitar, bass
• Robin LeMesurier - Guitar
• Michael Landau - Guitar
• Andy Taylor - Guitar
• Donal Lunny - Bouzouki
• Don Teschner - Fiddle, mandolin
• Ni Chathasaigh - Irish fiddle
• John McSherry - Bagpipes
• Leslie Butler - Harmonica
• Kevin Savigar - Accordion, keyboards, bass
• Martin O'Conner - Accordion
• The Kick Horns - Horns
• Jamie Muhoberac - Piano, keyboards, percussion
• Anne Dudley - Piano
• Mike Higham - Keyboards, bass, programming
• James Newton-Howard - Keyboards
• Leland Sklar - Bass
• Carmine Rojas - Bass
• Paul Robinson - Drums
• Kenny Aronoff - Drums
• David Palmer - Drums
• Paulinho de Costa - Percussion

Production:

• Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 produced by Trevor Horn
• Tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 produced by Rod Stewart
• Tracks 7, 10, and 11 produced by Bernard Edwards
• Track 3 produced by James Newton-Howard, Michael Ostin, and Lenny Waronker
• Track 10 produced by Andy Taylor
• Engineers: Tim Weidner, Steve MacMillan, Charlie Bouis.
• Recorded at Woodstock House, Co. Wicklow, Ireland; Herschel House, Hollywood, California; A&M Studios and Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, California.