A Night on the Town (Rod Stewart album)

A Night on the Town
Studio album by Rod Stewart
Released	18 June 1976
Recorded	December 1975–April 1976
Studio	Cherokee, Los Angeles Muscle Shoals, Sheffield Criteria, Miami Caribou Ranch, Nederland
Genre	Rock
Length	41:19
Label	Riva, Warner Bros.
Producer	Tom Dowd
Rod Stewart chronology
Atlantic Crossing (1975) A Night on the Town (1976) Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977)
Singles from A Night on the Town
"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" Released: May 1976 (UK) "The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)" Released: August 1976 (UK) "The First Cut Is the Deepest / I Don't Want To Talk About It" Released: April 1977

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B [2]
Rolling Stone	(favourable) [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

A Night on the Town is Rod Stewart's seventh album, released in 1976. The cover art is based on Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Bal du moulin de la Galette , with Stewart inserted in the centre in period costume. On 30 June 2009, Rhino reissued the album as a two-disc CD with bonus tracks. A Night on the Town was Stewart's last UK number-one studio album until Time in 2013.

The album is regarded as one of Stewart's finest. "The Killing of Georgie" is one of Stewart's most hard-hitting sets of lyrics, a melancholic tale of a gay friend who is cast out by his family and becomes a sensation in the New York nightlife, only to be murdered by a New Jersey gang during an attempted robbery. Controversial "Tonight's the Night" was a No. 1 hit but was banned by some radio stations due to the very obvious lyrics about sex and loss of virginity. A cover of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is the Deepest" was also a success and has since become one of Stewart's signature songs.

Track listing

Original release

Side one – Slow Side

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"	Rod Stewart	3:54
2.	"The First Cut Is the Deepest"	Cat Stevens	4:31
3.	"Fool for You"	Stewart	3:49
4.	"The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)"	Stewart	6:28

Side two – Fast Side

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Balltrap"	Stewart	4:37
2.	"Pretty Flamingo"	Mark Barkan	3:27
3.	"Big Bayou"	Gib Guilbeau	3:54
4.	"The Wild Side of Life"	Arlie Carter, William Warren	5:09
5.	"Trade Winds"	Ralph MacDonald, William Salter	5:16

2009 re-release

Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"	3:56
2.	"The First Cut Is the Deepest"	4:28
3.	"Fool for You"	3:47
4.	"The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)"	6:22
5.	"The Balltrap"	4:41
6.	"Pretty Flamingo"	3:32
7.	"Big Bayou"	3:55
8.	"The Wild Side of Life"	5:10
9.	"Trade Winds"	5:28
10.	"Rosie"	3:50

Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Share" (Studio Outtake)	4:19
2.	"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" (Early version)	3:51
3.	"The First Cut Is the Deepest" (Early version)	3:48
4.	"Fool for You" (Early version)	3:40
5.	"The Killing of Georgie (Part I)" (Early version)	4:22
6.	"The Balltrap" (Early version)	4:40
7.	"Pretty Flamingo" (Early version)	3:26
8.	"Big Bayou" (Early version)	4:13
9.	"The Wild Side of Life" (Early version)	4:47
10.	"Trade Winds" (Early version)	4:44
11.	"Rosie" (Early version)	4:21
12.	"Get Back" (From the soundtrack All This and World War II)	4:05
13.	"The Killing Of Georgie [Part II]" (Alternate Vocals)	3:28
14.	"Tonight's The Night [Gonna Be Alright]" (Spoken Excerpt)	0:44

Personnel

• Rod Stewart – vocals
• Donald "Duck" Dunn, Bob Glaub, David Hood, Willie Weeks, Lee Sklar – bass guitar
• Steve Cropper, Billy Peek, Joe Walsh, Jesse Ed Davis, David Lindley, Fred Tackett, Pete Carr – guitar
• John Barlow Jarvis, David Foster, Barry Beckett, J. Smith – keyboards
• Roger Hawkins, Andy Newmark, Al Jackson Jr., Rick Shlosser – drums
• Tommy Vig, Joe Lala – percussion
• Jimmy Horowitz, Mel Lewis, Arif Mardin – string arrangements
• Tower of Power horn section – French horn
• Jerry Jumonville, Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1976-77) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [5] 1 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [6] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [7] 5 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [8] 29 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [9] 29 Japanese Albums (Oricon) [10] 23 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [11] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [12] 1 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [13] 1 UK Albums (OCC) [14] 1 US Billboard 200 [15] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1976) Peak position Australia Albums (Kent Music Report) [16] 2 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [17] 11 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [18] 46 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [19] 2 UK Albums (OCC) [20] 5 Chart (1977) Peak position Australia Albums (Kent Music Report) [21] 14 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [22] 3 US Billboard 200 [23] 31

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [24]	6× Platinum	420,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [25]	2× Platinum	200,000^
Sweden (GLF) [26]	Gold	50,000 [27]
United Kingdom (BPI) [28]	Platinum	1,000,000 [29]
United States (RIAA) [30]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "A Night on the Town – Rod Stewart". AllMusic . Retrieved 22 February 2016.
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved 13 March 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
3. Dave Marsh (26 August 1976). "Rod Stewart A Night on the Town Album Review". Rolling Stone.
4. "Rolling Stone Album Guide". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 295. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
6. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5136a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
7. "Dutchcharts.nl – Rod Stewart – A Night on the Town" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
8. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Rod Stewart – A Night on the Town" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
10. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
11. "Charts.nz – Rod Stewar – A Night on the Town". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
12. "Norwegiancharts.com – Rod Stewart – A Night on the Town". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
13. "Swedishcharts.com – Rod Stewart – A Night on the Town". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
14. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
15. "Rod Stewart Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
16. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 428. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
17. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5175". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
18. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1976". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
19. "Top Selling Albums of 1976 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand . Retrieved 8 November 2021.
20. "Top 50 Albums of 1976" (PDF). Music Week . 25 December 1976. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021– via worldradiohistory.com.
21. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 429. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
22. "Top Selling Albums of 1977 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand . Retrieved 8 November 2021.
23. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1977". Billboard. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
24. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved 16 April 2025.
25. "Canadian album certifications – Rod Stewart – A Night on the". Music Canada.
26. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.
27. "Night on the Town" (PDF). Cash Box. 18 December 1976. p. 47. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
28. "British album certifications – Rod Stewart – A Night on the Town". British Phonographic Industry.
29. "Rod Stewart - tomorrow the world?" (PDF). Music Week . 19 February 1977. p. 52. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
30. "American album certifications – Rod Stewart – A Night on the Town". Recording Industry Association of America.