fbpx
Wikipedia

A Stranger in My Own Back Yard

March 28, 2023

A Stranger in My Own Back Yard is the fourth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, originally released in October 1974 by MAM Records. Peaking at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, it was O'Sullivan's fourth and, to date, final top ten album, although it received positive reviews from critics. After the funk-inflected I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter, A Stranger in My Own Back Yard marked a return to the style of O'Sullivan's first two albums. The album's only single, "A Woman's Place", was O'Sullivan's first since his breakthrough to miss the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Union Square Music reissued the album on the Salvo label in 2012 as part of the Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Singer & His Songs collection.

A Stranger in My Own Back Yard
Studio album by
Gilbert O'Sullivan
ReleasedOctober 1974
RecordedSunset Sound Factory, Los Angeles and A & R Recording, New York
GenrePop
Length41:49 (62:03 with bonus tracks)
LabelMAM
ProducerGordon Mills
Gilbert O'Sullivan chronology
I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter
(1973) 		A Stranger in My Own Back Yard
(1974) 		Southpaw
(1977)
Singles from A Stranger in My Own Back Yard
  1. "A Woman's Place"
    Released: August 1974

Background

Gilbert O'Sullivan spent much of the early 1970s as one of the world's most successful singer-songwriters. With a style often marked by his distinctive, percussive piano playing style[1] and observational lyrics using word play,[2] O'Sullivan scored a string of major international hits between 1970 and 1973 including "Alone Again (Naturally)", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six non-consecutive weeks in 1972 and UK chart-toppers "Clair" and "Get Down". He was awarded three Ivor Novello Awards in this period, including for "Songwriter of the Year" in 1973.[3]

1973 yielded O'Sullivan's final major US hit in "Ooh Baby". "Happiness Is Me and You", a non-album single released in February 1974, was a relative commercial flop compared to O'Sullivan's previous singles. It reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and failed to reach the US top 40.[4][5][6] Gilbert composed his next album, his fourth, in Portugal in early 1974.[7] He stayed in a small fishing village there for two months.[8]

Songs

As with Gilbert O'Sullivan's previous albums, A Stranger in My Own Back Yard was produced by Gordon Mills and arranged by Johnnie Spence. The album was O'Sullivan's first not to be recorded at London's Audio International Studios. Sessions instead took place in two American studios: New York's A & R Recording, where recordings were engineered by Phil Ramone, and at Los Angeles's Sunset Sound Factory, engineered by John Haeny.[9] O'Sullivan would not make another album produced by Gordon Mills. After the release of A Stranger in My Own Back Yard, O'Sullivan discovered his recording contract with MAM Records greatly favoured Mills, and a lawsuit followed.[10] Eventually, in May 1982, the court found in O'Sullivan's favour, describing him as a "patently honest and decent man", who had not received a just proportion of the vast income his songs had generated.[10] They awarded him £7 million in damages (£26,281,400 as of 2023).

The album begins with "Number Four", a short introductory piece that follows the mould of similar pieces on O'Sullivan's first two albums, Himself and Back to Front. This is followed by "A Woman's Place", an upbeat song which was released as a single in advance of the album on 10 August 1974.[11] Musically, the song was compared to O'Sullivan's number-one hit "Get Down",[11] but the lyric ("I believe / A woman's place is in the home") proved unpopular and was seen by some as sexist. The song received little airplay. O'Sullivan would comment, "I thought it was a nice sounding title, but it has rebounded on me something terrible. Even my mother, a stay-home housewife, with six children, objects to my ideas. Surely the idea of keeping a woman at home and cherishing her is a compliment to her!"[7] "A Woman's Place" was O'Sullivan's first single since his 1970 breakthrough to miss the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number 42 on 7 September.[6]

"No More" was included on a demo tape O'Sullivan recorded which circulated around the music industry prior to his signing to MAM Records. Singer and songwriter Tony Hazzard owned this recording on an acetate at one time, describing it as "great just with the piano in his shed. Clever songwriting".[12]

The tracks "My Father", "I Wonder Would You Mind" and "Always Somebody" are minimal productions. They feature just O'Sullivan accompanying himself on the piano, aside from a horn solo on "My Father". This reflected O'Sullivan's original desire for his 1971 debut album Himself, which had ultimately featured full instrumentation. O'Sullivan had commented, "Gordon says work up to it gradually so probably by the time of my third album it will be done like that."[13]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [14]

A Stranger in My Own Back Yard was released by MAM Records in October 1974. Printed advertisements for the album declared "A few albums stand out from the rest. This is one of them".[15] The album was packaged in a lavish custom gatefold, mimicking a hardbound book. This design was credited to David Larkham And Friends and Glenn Ross. Larkham had been art director for Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. The cover photograph, showing a chest-baring O'Sullivan, was taken by British photographer Terry O'Neill. American music photographer Ed Caraeff shot the in-studio photographs of O'Sullivan featured inside the gatefold.[9]

Spending eight weeks in the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart, A Stranger in My Own Back Yard peaked at number 9 on 2 November 1974, becoming O'Sullivan's first album to miss the top five. The album was swiftly followed by the release of the non-album single "Christmas Song" in November 1974, which reached a peak position of number 12 on the UK Singles Chart on 4 January 1975. A Stranger in My Own Back Yard was O'Sullivan's final top ten album, and he didn't chart with another studio album until 2018's Gilbert O'Sullivan charted at 20.[6]

Upon its release, Billboard called A Stranger in My Own Back Yard "another set of well done, catchy melodies and words by one of the more talented young singer/songwriters to surface in the last few years", and noted that the album features "some strong rockers" alongside O'Sullivan's trademark ballads.[16] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's J. Scott McClintock considered the album "the patchiest of O'Sullivan's early albums". McClintock found "A Woman's Place" to be "shockingly chauvinistic" and considered "The Thing Is" and "15 Times" to be "slap-dash efforts". However, McClintock praised "It's So Easy to Be Sad" and "My Father", comparing O'Sullivan's "witty and well-crafted" songs to those of Harry Nilsson.[14]

Track listing

All songs written by Gilbert O'Sullivan.

  1. "Number Four" - 1:25
  2. "A Woman's Place" - 3:17
  3. "No More" - 2:26
  4. "It's So Easy to Be Sad" - 4:42
  5. "My Father" - 2:43
  6. "The Marriage Machine" - 3:28
  7. "If You Ever" - 2:33
  8. "The Thing Is" - 4:01
  9. "Just Like Me" - 3:04
  10. "Victor E" - 2:46
  11. "I Wonder Would You Mind" - 2:19
  12. "15 Times" - 2:21
  13. "Nothing to Do About Much" - 3:27
  14. "Can't Get You to Love Me" - 2:25
  15. "Always Somebody" - 0:53

Bonus tracks on the 2012 remaster

  2. "Happiness Is Me and You" (single, February 1974) - 3:11
  3. "Breakfast Dinner and Tea" (B-side of "Happiness Is Me and You") - 2:07
  4. "Too Bad" (B-side of "A Woman's Place", August 1974) - 3:13
  5. "To Cut a Long Story Short" (B-side of "Christmas Song", November 1974) - 2:46
  6. "You Are You" (single, January 1975) - 3:20
  7. "Tell Me Why" (B-side of "You Are You") - 2:58
  8. "That's a Fact" (B-side of "I Don't Love You But I Think I Like You", May 1975) - 2:39

Personnel

  • Gilbert O'Sullivan - vocals, piano
Technical

References

  1. ^ "Episode 72 - Gilbert O'Sullivan". Sodajerker. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  2. ^ Hutchinson, Martin. "Interview: Gilbert O Sullivan". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Biography". Gilbert O'Sullivan. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. ^ Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards (albums)
  5. ^ . Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Friend of Mine. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Gilbert O'Sullivan". Official Charts. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b Judith, Simons (October 1974). . Daily Express. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Gilbert Snub to UK Fans?" (PDF). Record Mirror: 1. 17 August 1974. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Gilbert O'Sullivan – A Stranger In My Own Back Yard". Discogs. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  10. ^ a b Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 149. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  11. ^ a b "The new single from Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Woman's Place" (PDF). Record Mirror: 16. 10 August 1974. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  12. ^ Hazzard, Tony. "No More". Twitter. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  13. ^ Watts, Michael. "The Working Class Hero". Gilbert O'Sullivan. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  14. ^ a b McClintock, J. Scott. "A Stranger In My Own Back Yard". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  15. ^ "A Stranger In My Own Back Yard Trade Ad" (PDF). Record Mirror: 10. 10 December 1974. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Stranger In My Own Back Yard". Billboard. 26 December 1974. p. 44. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

External links

  • Official Gilbert O'Sullivan page
  • A Stranger in My Own Backyard at Chart Stats

March 28, 2023
stranger, back, yard, fourth, studio, album, irish, singer, songwriter, gilbert, sullivan, originally, released, october, 1974, records, peaking, number, albums, chart, sullivan, fourth, date, final, album, although, received, positive, reviews, from, critics,. A Stranger in My Own Back Yard is the fourth studio album by Irish singer songwriter Gilbert O Sullivan originally released in October 1974 by MAM Records Peaking at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart it was O Sullivan s fourth and to date final top ten album although it received positive reviews from critics After the funk inflected I m a Writer Not a Fighter A Stranger in My Own Back Yard marked a return to the style of O Sullivan s first two albums The album s only single A Woman s Place was O Sullivan s first since his breakthrough to miss the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart Union Square Music reissued the album on the Salvo label in 2012 as part of the Gilbert O Sullivan A Singer amp His Songs collection A Stranger in My Own Back YardStudio album by Gilbert O SullivanReleasedOctober 1974RecordedSunset Sound Factory Los Angeles and A amp R Recording New YorkGenrePopLength41 49 62 03 with bonus tracks LabelMAMProducerGordon MillsGilbert O Sullivan chronologyI m a Writer Not a Fighter 1973 A Stranger in My Own Back Yard 1974 Southpaw 1977 Singles from A Stranger in My Own Back Yard A Woman s Place Released August 1974 Contents 1 Background 2 Songs 3 Release and reception 4 Track listing 4 1 Bonus tracks on the 2012 remaster 5 Personnel 6 References 7 External linksBackground EditGilbert O Sullivan spent much of the early 1970s as one of the world s most successful singer songwriters With a style often marked by his distinctive percussive piano playing style 1 and observational lyrics using word play 2 O Sullivan scored a string of major international hits between 1970 and 1973 including Alone Again Naturally which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six non consecutive weeks in 1972 and UK chart toppers Clair and Get Down He was awarded three Ivor Novello Awards in this period including for Songwriter of the Year in 1973 3 1973 yielded O Sullivan s final major US hit in Ooh Baby Happiness Is Me and You a non album single released in February 1974 was a relative commercial flop compared to O Sullivan s previous singles It reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and failed to reach the US top 40 4 5 6 Gilbert composed his next album his fourth in Portugal in early 1974 7 He stayed in a small fishing village there for two months 8 Songs EditAs with Gilbert O Sullivan s previous albums A Stranger in My Own Back Yard was produced by Gordon Mills and arranged by Johnnie Spence The album was O Sullivan s first not to be recorded at London s Audio International Studios Sessions instead took place in two American studios New York s A amp R Recording where recordings were engineered by Phil Ramone and at Los Angeles s Sunset Sound Factory engineered by John Haeny 9 O Sullivan would not make another album produced by Gordon Mills After the release of A Stranger in My Own Back Yard O Sullivan discovered his recording contract with MAM Records greatly favoured Mills and a lawsuit followed 10 Eventually in May 1982 the court found in O Sullivan s favour describing him as a patently honest and decent man who had not received a just proportion of the vast income his songs had generated 10 They awarded him 7 million in damages 26 281 400 as of 2023 The album begins with Number Four a short introductory piece that follows the mould of similar pieces on O Sullivan s first two albums Himself and Back to Front This is followed by A Woman s Place an upbeat song which was released as a single in advance of the album on 10 August 1974 11 Musically the song was compared to O Sullivan s number one hit Get Down 11 but the lyric I believe A woman s place is in the home proved unpopular and was seen by some as sexist The song received little airplay O Sullivan would comment I thought it was a nice sounding title but it has rebounded on me something terrible Even my mother a stay home housewife with six children objects to my ideas Surely the idea of keeping a woman at home and cherishing her is a compliment to her 7 A Woman s Place was O Sullivan s first single since his 1970 breakthrough to miss the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart reaching a peak of number 42 on 7 September 6 No More was included on a demo tape O Sullivan recorded which circulated around the music industry prior to his signing to MAM Records Singer and songwriter Tony Hazzard owned this recording on an acetate at one time describing it as great just with the piano in his shed Clever songwriting 12 The tracks My Father I Wonder Would You Mind and Always Somebody are minimal productions They feature just O Sullivan accompanying himself on the piano aside from a horn solo on My Father This reflected O Sullivan s original desire for his 1971 debut album Himself which had ultimately featured full instrumentation O Sullivan had commented Gordon says work up to it gradually so probably by the time of my third album it will be done like that 13 Release and reception EditProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic 14 A Stranger in My Own Back Yard was released by MAM Records in October 1974 Printed advertisements for the album declared A few albums stand out from the rest This is one of them 15 The album was packaged in a lavish custom gatefold mimicking a hardbound book This design was credited to David Larkham And Friends and Glenn Ross Larkham had been art director for Elton John s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973 The cover photograph showing a chest baring O Sullivan was taken by British photographer Terry O Neill American music photographer Ed Caraeff shot the in studio photographs of O Sullivan featured inside the gatefold 9 Spending eight weeks in the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart A Stranger in My Own Back Yard peaked at number 9 on 2 November 1974 becoming O Sullivan s first album to miss the top five The album was swiftly followed by the release of the non album single Christmas Song in November 1974 which reached a peak position of number 12 on the UK Singles Chart on 4 January 1975 A Stranger in My Own Back Yard was O Sullivan s final top ten album and he didn t chart with another studio album until 2018 s Gilbert O Sullivan charted at 20 6 Upon its release Billboard called A Stranger in My Own Back Yard another set of well done catchy melodies and words by one of the more talented young singer songwriters to surface in the last few years and noted that the album features some strong rockers alongside O Sullivan s trademark ballads 16 In a retrospective review AllMusic s J Scott McClintock considered the album the patchiest of O Sullivan s early albums McClintock found A Woman s Place to be shockingly chauvinistic and considered The Thing Is and 15 Times to be slap dash efforts However McClintock praised It s So Easy to Be Sad and My Father comparing O Sullivan s witty and well crafted songs to those of Harry Nilsson 14 Track listing EditAll songs written by Gilbert O Sullivan Number Four 1 25 A Woman s Place 3 17 No More 2 26 It s So Easy to Be Sad 4 42 My Father 2 43 The Marriage Machine 3 28 If You Ever 2 33 The Thing Is 4 01 Just Like Me 3 04 Victor E 2 46 I Wonder Would You Mind 2 19 15 Times 2 21 Nothing to Do About Much 3 27 Can t Get You to Love Me 2 25 Always Somebody 0 53Bonus tracks on the 2012 remaster Edit Happiness Is Me and You single February 1974 3 11 Breakfast Dinner and Tea B side of Happiness Is Me and You 2 07 Too Bad B side of A Woman s Place August 1974 3 13 To Cut a Long Story Short B side of Christmas Song November 1974 2 46 You Are You single January 1975 3 20 Tell Me Why B side of You Are You 2 58 That s a Fact B side of I Don t Love You But I Think I Like You May 1975 2 39Personnel EditGilbert O Sullivan vocals pianoTechnicalGordon Mills producer Phil Ramone engineer John Haeny engineer Johnnie Spence arranger Terry O Neill photographyReferences Edit Episode 72 Gilbert O Sullivan Sodajerker Retrieved 27 August 2020 Hutchinson Martin Interview Gilbert O Sullivan Southern Daily Echo Retrieved 27 August 2020 Biography Gilbert O Sullivan Retrieved 3 April 2018 Allmusic com Charts amp Awards albums Biography Gilbert O Sullivan A Friend of Mine Archived from the original on 10 May 2016 Retrieved 7 June 2020 a b c Gilbert O Sullivan Official Charts Retrieved 29 March 2018 a b Judith Simons October 1974 No Love For Gilbert Daily Express Archived from the original on 14 April 2016 Retrieved 7 June 2020 Gilbert Snub to UK Fans PDF Record Mirror 1 17 August 1974 Retrieved 9 June 2020 a b Gilbert O Sullivan A Stranger In My Own Back Yard Discogs Retrieved 10 June 2020 a b Rice Jo 1982 The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits 1st ed Enfield Middlesex Guinness Superlatives Ltd p 149 ISBN 0 85112 250 7 a b The new single from Gilbert O Sullivan A Woman s Place PDF Record Mirror 16 10 August 1974 Retrieved 9 June 2020 Hazzard Tony No More Twitter Retrieved 12 July 2020 Watts Michael The Working Class Hero Gilbert O Sullivan Retrieved 23 April 2018 a b McClintock J Scott A Stranger In My Own Back Yard Allmusic Retrieved 6 June 2020 A Stranger In My Own Back Yard Trade Ad PDF Record Mirror 10 10 December 1974 Retrieved 9 June 2020 Gilbert O Sullivan A Stranger In My Own Back Yard Billboard 26 December 1974 p 44 Retrieved 6 June 2020 External links EditOfficial Gilbert O Sullivan page A Stranger in My Own Backyard at Chart Stats Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Stranger in My Own Back Yard amp oldid 1120425206, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.