Night Owl (album)

Night Owl
Studio album by Gerry Rafferty
Released	May 1979
Recorded	1978–1979
Studio	Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Lansdowne Recording Studios
Genre	Pop rock [1]
Length	51:58
Label	United Artists
Producer	Hugh Murphy, Gerry Rafferty
Gerry Rafferty chronology
City to City (1978) Night Owl (1979) Snakes and Ladders (1980)

Night Owl (1979) is the third studio album by Scottish musician Gerry Rafferty. ^[2] It was released a year after Rafferty's platinum-selling album City to City . While not quite performing as well as its predecessor, Night Owl still managed enough sales to achieve platinum status in Canada, gold in the United Kingdom, and gold status in the U.S. The title song reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The album made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart.

The album was recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Chipping Norton, England.

"Take the Money and Run" appears on the 1980 release Free Fall as "Take the Money."

Re-releases

On 30 January 2007 Collectables Records released City To City and Night Owl as a two-disc set.^{[ citation needed ]}

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[4]
Smash Hits	7/10 [5]

The Los Angeles Times called the songs "concise, wry tales of love and ambition, inventively arranged and sung in a dry whine that carries just the right amount of detachment." ^[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gerry Rafferty.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes)"	6:31
2.	"Night Owl"	6:11
3.	"The Way That You Do It"	5:08
4.	"Why Won't You Talk to Me?"	3:59
5.	"Get It Right Next Time"	4:42
6.	"Take the Money and Run"	5:49
7.	"Family Tree"	5:58
8.	"Already Gone"	4:54
9.	"The Tourist"	4:14
10.	"It's Gonna Be a Long Night"	4:22

Personnel

• Gerry Rafferty – vocals, acoustic piano (2, 9) Polymoog (2), acoustic guitar (3–8, 10), string arrangements
• Graham Preskett – acoustic piano (1, 4, 10), electric piano (2), string synthesizer (2), keyboards (6, 7), fiddles (6, 7), mandolin (10), string arrangements, string scoring and conductor
• Pete Wingfield – organ (1, 2, 3)
• Tommy Eyre – acoustic piano (3), electric piano (5), synthesizers (5)
• John Kirkpatrick – accordion (4, 6, 7)
• Richard Brunton – electric guitar (1, 3, 6, 7), lap steel guitar (1, 4, 10), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 7–10), guitar solo (7), guitars (10)
• Hugh Burns – electric guitar (1, 4), rhythm guitar (1, 9), guitar solo (1, 9), guitars (2, 5)
• Richard Thompson –mandolin (4), electric guitars (7, 8)
• Mo Foster – bass (1, 2, 4, 6–10)
• Gary Taylor – bass (3, 5)
• Liam Genockey – drums
• Frank Ricotti – percussion (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9)
• Raphael Ravenscroft – Lyricon (2), saxophone (5, 6, 9, 10)
• Richard Harvey – penny whistle (6), pipe organ (7), recorders (7), synthesizers (8, 9)
• Gavyn Wright – string leader
• Betsy Cook – backing vocals (1, 3)
• Barbara Dickson – backing vocals (1, 3, 7)
• Linda Thompson – backing vocals (1, 3)

Production

• Gerry Rafferty – producer
• Hugh Murphy – producer
• Barry Hammond – engineer (1, 2, 4, 6–10)
• Nick Patrick – engineer (3, 5)
• John Patrick Byrne – front cover painting
• Robert Ellis – photography

Charts

Album

Chart (1979)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [6]	18
Germany [7]	18
Netherlands [7]	8
United Kingdom [8]	9
US Billboard Pop Albums	29

Single

Year	Song	Chart	Position
1979	"Night Owl"	UK Top 40	5
1979	"Night Owl"	Ireland	5
1979	"Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes)"	U.S. Billboard Pop Singles	17
1979	"Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes)"	Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [9]	8
1979	"Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes)"	Canada RPM Top Singles [10]	19
1979	"Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes)"	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	17
1979	"Get It Right Next Time"	U.S. Billboard Pop Singles	21
1979	"Get It Right Next Time"	U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	15
1979	"Get It Right Next Time"	UK Top 40	30
1979	"Get It Right Next Time"	Ireland	2
1979	"Get It Right Next Time"	Canada RPM Top Singles [11]	52

Certifications

Certifications for Night Owl

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [12]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Pond, Steve (15 July 1979). "Wry Tales of Love". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 97.
2. "Gerry Rafferty Biography by Timothy Monger". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
3. "Night Owl Review by Mike DeGagne". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
4. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 643.
5. Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (28 June – 11 July 1979): 25.
6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 244. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
7. Hung, Steffen. "Gerry Rafferty - Night Owl". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
8. "GERRY RAFFERTY". Officialcharts.com. 18 February 1978. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
9. RPM Adult Contemporary, 11 August 1979
10. RPM Top Singles, 4 August 1979
11. RPM Top Singles, 17 November 1979
12. "British album certifications – Gerry Rafferty – Night Owl". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 25 July 2022.

External links

• Night Owl at Discogs (list of releases)