Along the Red Ledge

Last updated

Along the Red Ledge
Hall Oates ATRL.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 21, 1978
Recorded1978
Studio
Genre Pop, rock
Length36:49
Label RCA Victor
Producer David Foster
Hall & Oates chronology
Livetime
(1978)
Along the Red Ledge
(1978)
X-Static
(1979)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide B [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Along the Red Ledge is the seventh studio album by American pop music duo Hall & Oates. The album was released on August 21, 1978, by RCA Records. The biggest hit from the album was "It's a Laugh" (U.S. #20, Canada #23). The follow-up single was "I Don't Wanna Lose You" (U.S. #42).

Contents

The album foreshadowed what was to come in a few years for the duo, as they shed their previous producer Christopher Bond and went with a more polished sound with David Foster. Along the Red Ledge was the first studio album on which Hall & Oates used their road band (previously they had relied heavily on session musicians), a trend they would carry through their heyday of the early 1980s.

Former Beatle George Harrison played guitar on the track "The Last Time". Other contributors to the album include Rick Nielsen of the band Cheap Trick and rock musician Todd Rundgren. [4] Robert Fripp of King Crimson played on the track "Don't Blame It on Love".

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's a Laugh" Daryl Hall 3:50
2."Melody for a Memory" John Oates 4:54
3."The Last Time"Hall2:53
4."I Don't Wanna Lose You"Hall, Oates3:49
5."Have I Been Away Too Long"Hall4:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Alley Katz"Hall, Oates3:05
7."Don't Blame It on Love"Hall, Oates3:58
8."Serious Music"George Bitzer, Oates4:10
9."Pleasure Beach"Oates3:13
10."August Day" Sara Allen, Hall3:06

Personnel

The Band

Additional musicians

Production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall & Oates</span> American pop rock duo (1970–2024)

Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily played the electric guitar and provided backing vocals. The two wrote most of the songs they performed, either separately or in collaboration. They achieved their greatest fame from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s with a fusion of rock and roll, soul music, and rhythm and blues.

<i>Peter Gabriel</i> (1977 album) Debut solo album by Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter and producer Peter Gabriel, released on 25 February 1977 by Charisma Records. After his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis was made public in 1975, Gabriel took a break to concentrate on his family life. In 1976, he began writing material for a solo album and met producer Bob Ezrin, who agreed to produce it. Gabriel hired several additional musicians to play on the album, including guitarist Robert Fripp and bassist Tony Levin. The album was later known as Peter Gabriel I or Car, referring to the album's artwork produced by Hipgnosis. Some music streaming services, including Gabriel's own Bandcamp page, refer to it as Peter Gabriel 1: Car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utopia (band)</span> American rock band

Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.

<i>Songs for the New Depression</i> 1976 studio album by Bette Midler

Songs for the New Depression is the third studio album by the American singer Bette Midler, released in early 1976 on the Atlantic Records label. The album was released on CD for the first time in 1990. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1995. A limited edition remastered version of the album was released by Friday Music in 2014.

<i>Do It for Love</i> (Hall & Oates album) 2003 studio album by Hall & Oates

Do It for Love is the sixteenth studio album by pop music duo Hall & Oates, released on February 11, 2003 through U-Watch Records and Sanctuary Records. The title track peaked at No. 1 on Adult Contemporary charts making it the eighth No. 1 hit of their career, with "Forever For You", "Man on a Mission", and "Getaway Car" all charted as well. It was their first album of all-new material in six years and their last full album of original material.

<i>Abandoned Luncheonette</i> 1973 studio album by Hall & Oates

Abandoned Luncheonette is the second studio album by the American pop rock duo Daryl Hall & John Oates, released in November 1973 by Atlantic Records. It combines folk and acoustic rock. It is the most commercially successful of their Atlantic Records period; the album reached #33 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and featured one of their first major hits, "She's Gone", which found success after a 1976 reissue. Twenty-nine years after its release, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

<i>Private Eyes</i> (Hall & Oates album) 1981 studio album by Hall & Oates

Private Eyes is the tenth studio album by American pop rock duo Hall & Oates, released on September 1, 1981, by RCA Records. The album includes two number-one singles—the title track and "I Can't Go for That ", as well as the top-10 single "Did It in a Minute". "I Can't Go for That " also spent a week at the top of the R&B chart.

<i>Back to the Bars</i> 1978 live album by Todd Rundgren

Back to the Bars is a live album by rock musician Todd Rundgren, which was released as a double LP in 1978.

<i>Sacred Songs</i> 1980 studio album by Daryl Hall

Sacred Songs is the first solo album by American singer/songwriter Daryl Hall. It was produced by guitarist Robert Fripp, who also played on the album.

<i>Change of Season</i> 1990 studio album by Hall & Oates

Change of Season is the fourteenth studio album by American pop music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates. The album was released in October 1990, by Arista Records. The lead single "So Close" peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was their last Top 40 hit, while the second single "Don't Hold Back Your Love" just missed the Top 40 reaching #41. It was their second and final album for Arista.

<i>Ooh Yeah!</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Hall & Oates

Ooh Yeah! is the thirteenth studio album by American pop rock duo Daryl Hall & John Oates, released on April 28, 1988. It was their first studio release in four years and their first with Arista Records. Though the album went platinum in the United States and produced a No. 3 entry with the single "Everything Your Heart Desires", as well as the singles "Missed Opportunity" and "Downtown Life" reaching number 29 and 31 respectively, it charted lower, and sold fewer copies than the band's previous albums. Ooh Yeah! was the last Hall & Oates album to feature Janna Allen as a co-writer before her 1993 death from leukemia.

<i>Big Bam Boom</i> 1984 studio album by Hall & Oates

Big Bam Boom is the twelfth studio album by American duo Daryl Hall & John Oates, released by RCA Records on October 12, 1984. It marked the end of one of the most successful album runs by a duo of the 1980s. RCA issued a remastered version in July 2004 with four bonus tracks. The lead single "Out of Touch" was a #1 pop hit, and charted in several other areas. Another song, the Daryl Hall and Janna Allen-penned "Method of Modern Love", reached #5, and "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" reached #18.

<i>X-Static</i> 1979 studio album by Hall & Oates

X-Static is the eighth studio album by American pop music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates. The album was released in September 1979 by RCA Records. Buddah Records re-released the album with two bonus tracks in 2000.

<i>Bigger Than Both of Us</i> 1976 studio album by Daryl Hall & John Oates

Bigger Than Both of Us is the fifth studio album by American pop rock duo Daryl Hall and John Oates. The album was released in August 1976, by RCA Records and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The album included the first of their six #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "Rich Girl" as well as the singles "Back Together Again" and "Do What You Want, Be What You Are". Hall & Oates released a song titled "Bigger Than Both of Us" on their Beauty on a Back Street album one year later. "Do What You Want, Be What You Are" was covered by The Dramatics in 1979.

<i>Live at the Apollo</i> (Hall & Oates album) 1985 live album by Hall & Oates, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks

Live at the Apollo is an album by Daryl Hall & John Oates released in September 1985, recorded live at the Apollo Theater in New York. It is subtitled "With David Ruffin & Eddie Kendricks", of The Temptations-fame. The album is a mixture of their classics and some then-current songs by Hall & Oates. A VHS video of this concert with a different running order was released in 1987.

<i>Soul Alone</i> 1993 studio album by Daryl Hall

Soul Alone is the third studio album by American singer and musician Daryl Hall, released in 1993 on Epic Records. Distinct from the sound of his successful duo Hall & Oates, this album features a more soulful and jazzy feel, with production by Hall with Peter Lord Moreland and V. Jeffrey Smith from R&B group The Family Stand, and Michael Peden. Soul Alone features singer Mariah Carey, Alan Gorrie from the Average White Band, and producer/multi-instrumentalist Walter Afanasieff as composers. Four singles were released from the album: "I'm in a Philly Mood," "Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You," "Help Me Find a Way to Your Heart" and "Wildfire." The Japanese version of the album came with an extra 12th track, "I've Finally Seen the Light."

<i>War Babies</i> (Hall & Oates album) 1974 studio album by Daryl Hall & John Oates

War Babies is the third studio album by American pop music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates. The album was released in October 1974, by Atlantic Records. It was their last of three albums for Atlantic Records before moving to RCA Records. The album was produced by Todd Rundgren. Rundgren and other members of Utopia, his then-recently-formed prog-rock band, perform on the record.

<i>Livetime</i> 1978 live album by Hall & Oates

Livetime is a live album from 1978 by musical group Hall & Oates.

<i>Beauty on a Back Street</i> 1977 studio album by Hall & Oates

Beauty on a Back Street is the sixth studio album by American pop music duo Hall & Oates, released in 1977 by RCA Records.

<i>Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine</i> 1986 studio album by Daryl Hall

Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine is the second solo album by American singer-songwriter Daryl Hall, released in 1986. The album features his only top-ten solo single, "Dreamtime", which peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Foolish Pride", peaked at number 33.

References

  1. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Along the Red Ledge – Daryl Hall & John Oates". AllMusic . Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: H". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved February 24, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  3. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 302.
  4. Arganbright, Frank (September 17, 1978). "Listening on records". Journal & Courier. p. D3.