Snakes and Ladders (Gerry Rafferty album)

Snakes and Ladders is the fourth album by Gerry Rafferty. It was released in 1980, following the success of his previous two albums, City to City and Night Owl. The album charted at No. 15 in the UK but only reached No. 61 in the US. The album was released on CD in 1998 [EMI 7 46609-2] but deleted soon after that, and it got reissued on CD on August 2012 as a 2-CD set with "Sleepwalking." Some of the songs are available on compilation albums. Four of the songs, "The Garden of England", "I was a Boy Scout", "Welcome to Hollywood" and "Bring it all Home" were recorded at Beatles producer George Martin's AIR studio in Montserrat. All the songs were original Rafferty compositions, though one – "Johnny's Song" – was a remake of a song which had been previously released by his former band Stealers Wheel, and another – "Didn't I" – was a remake of a song from Rafferty's 1971 album Can I Have My Money Back?.

Snakes and Ladders
Studio album by
Gerry Rafferty
ReleasedApril 1980
StudioChipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxon., Air Studios, Montserrat
GenreRock
Length48:44
LabelUnited Artists
ProducerGerry Rafferty, Hugh Murphy
Gerry Rafferty chronology
Night Owl
(1979)		 Snakes and Ladders
(1980)		 Sleepwalking
(1982)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Smash Hits8½/10[1]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Gerry Rafferty

  1. "The Royal Mile" – 3:48
  2. "I Was a Boy Scout" – 4:15
  3. "Welcome to Hollywood" – 5:17
  4. "Wastin' Away" – 3:29
  5. "Look at the Moon" – 2:18
  6. "Bring It All Home" – 4:40
  7. "The Garden of England" – 4:08
  8. "Johnny's Song" – 3:25
  9. "Didn't I" – 4:14
  10. "Syncopatin Sandy" – 4:24
  11. "Cafe Le Cabotin" – 4:51
  12. "Don't Close the Door" – 3:45

Personnel

Adapted from Snakes and Ladders vinyl LP liner notes.

  • Gerry Rafferty – lead vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (track 9), acoustic guitar (tracks 1-3, 9, 11)
  • Mo Foster – bass guitar (tracks 1-3, 6, 7, 11, 12)
  • Pete Zorn – bass guitar (tracks 4, 8-10)
  • Ian Lynn – keyboards (tracks 1, 5, 8, 10, 11), synthesizers (tracks 3, 7)
  • Jerry Donahue – guitar (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11)
  • Richard Brunton – guitar (tracks 3, 6, 7, 11, 12)
  • Richard Harvey – penny whistle (track 1)
  • Bryn Haworth – slide guitar (tracks 2, 12)
  • Betsy Cook – backing vocals (track 9)
  • Liam Genockey – drums (tracks 1-4, 6-12)
  • Billy Livsey – piano (tracks 2, 3, 6, 11) , clavinet (track 3), mystery voice (track 3), polymoog (track 6), keyboards (track 7), pianica (track 11)
  • Wil Malone - string arrangement (tracks 5, 7, 10), clarinet arrangement (track 10)
  • Chris Mercer - brass arrangement (track 2)
  • Raphael Ravenscroft – saxophone (tracks 3, 6)
  • Frank Ricotti – percussion (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 11), congas (track 2), tambourine (track 9), woodblocks (track 10)
  • Pete Wingfield – organ (tracks 2, 6, 12), piano (track 12)
  • Gavyn Wright - string leader (tracks 5, 7, 10)
  • The Baron de Bon Bon - intro (track 11)
Technical
  • Barry Hammond, Stephen Lipson – engineer
  • John Patrick Byrne – cover
  • Michael Gray – photography, management
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References
  1. Starr, Ref. "Gerry Rafferty: Snakes and Ladders". Smash Hits (April 17–30 1980): 30.


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