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, while singles achieved number 54 UK ("Bring It All Home"), and number 67UK / number 54 US ("The Royal Mile"). The album was released on CD in 1998 [EMI 7 46609-2] but deleted soon after that, and it got reissued on CD in August 2012 as a two-CD set with "Sleepwalking."
| Snakes and Ladders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 11 April 1980[1] | |||
| Studio | Chipping Norton Recording Studios (Oxon, England); AIR Studios (Montserrat). | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 48:44 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Producer | Gerry Rafferty, Hugh Murphy | |||
| Gerry Rafferty chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Smash Hits | 8ยฝ/10[3] |
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 โ "Johnny's Song" โ was a remake of a song which had been previously released by his former band Stealers Wheel, and another โ "Didn't I" โ was a remake of a song from Rafferty's 1971 album Can I Have My Money Back?.
"The Garden of England" ends with an extract from William Whitelaw's "short, sharp shock" speech that he delivered in 1979.[4]
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by Gerry Rafferty
- "The Royal Mile"ย โ 3:48
- "I Was a Boy Scout"ย โ 4:15
- "Welcome to Hollywood"ย โ 5:17
- "Wastin' Away"ย โ 3:29
- "Look at the Moon"ย โ 2:18
- "Bring It All Home"ย โ 4:40
- "The Garden of England"ย โ 4:08
- "Johnny's Song"ย โ 3:25
- "Didn't I"ย โ 4:14
- "Syncopatin Sandy"ย โ 4:24
- "Cafรฉ Le Cabotin"ย โ 4:51
- "Don't Close the Door"ย โ 3:45
Charts
editAlbum
| Chart (1980) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 31 |
| Germany[6] | 34 |
| Netherlands[6] | 17 |
| United Kingdom[7] | 15 |
| United States[8] | 61 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[9] | Silver | 60,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Personnel
edit- Gerry Rafferty โ vocals, acoustic guitar (1โ3, 9, 11), backing vocals (9)
- Ian Lynn โ keyboards (1, 5, 8, 10, 11), synthesizers (3, 7)
- Billy Livsey โ acoustic piano (2, 3, 6), clavinet (3), mystery voice (3), Polymoog (6), keyboards (7), pianica (11)
- Pete Wingfield โ organ (2, 6, 12), acoustic piano (12)
- Bryn Haworth โ slide guitar (2, 12)
- Jerry Donahue โ lead guitar (3), guitar swells (3), other guitars (4, 6, 8, 9, 11)
- Richard Brunton โ guitars (3, 6, 7, 11), electric guitars (12)
- Mo Foster โ bass (1โ3, 6, 7, 11, 12)
- Pete Zorn โ bass (4, 8, 9, 10)
- Liam Genockey โ drums (1โ4, 6โ12)
- Frank Ricotti โ percussion (1, 3, 4, 8, 11), congas (2), tambourine (9), woodblocks (10)
- Richard Harvey โ penny whistle (1)
- Raphael Ravenscroft โ saxophone (3, 6)
- Chris Mercer โ brass arrangements (2)
- Wil Malone โ string arrangements (5, 7, 10), clarinet arrangements (10)
- Gavyn Wright โ string leader (5, 7, 10)
- Betsy Cook โ backing vocals (9)
- The Baron de Bon Bon โ intro (11)
Production
edit- Gerry Rafferty โ producer
- Hugh Murphy โ producer
- Barry Hammond โ recording (1, 4, 5, 8โ12), overdubbing (2, 3, 6, 7)
- Stephen Lipson โ recording (2, 3, 6, 7)
- John Patrick Byrne โ cover
- Michael Gray โ inner sleeve photography, inner sleeve concept, management
References
edit- ^ "Tom Odell, Magnetised, Single - The BPI". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ "Snakes & Ladders Review by Mike DeGagne". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ Starr, Ref. "Gerry Rafferty: Snakes and Ladders". Smash Hits (17โ30 April 1980): 30.
- ^ Andrew M Brown (5 January 2011). "Gerry Rafferty's struggle with demons, and the Willie Whitelaw connection". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970โ1992 (illustratedย ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.ย 244. ISBNย 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ a b Hung, Steffen. "Gerry Rafferty - Snakes And Ladders". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ "GERRY RAFFERTY". Officialcharts.com. 18 February 1978. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ "Billboard Database". Elpee.jp. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ "British album certifications โ Gerry Rafferty โ Snakes and Ladders". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2022. Select albums in the Formats field.ย Type Snakes and Laddersย Gerry Rafferty in the "Search:" field.
External links
edit- Snakes and Ladders at Discogs (list of releases)
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