Let's Stick Together

Let’s Stick Together
Studio album by Bryan Ferry
Released	September 1976
Recorded	1973-76
Studio	AIR and Island Studios, London
Genre	R&B glam rock
Length	38:45
Label	E.G. Records
Producer	Chris Thomas Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry chronology
Another Time, Another Place (1974) Let’s Stick Together (1976) In Your Mind (1977)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	link
Robert Christgau	(B) link

Let's Stick Together is a 1976 album by Bryan Ferry. His third solo release, it was his first following the disbanding of Roxy Music earlier in the year. Unlike Ferry’s two previous solo recordings, Let’s Stick Together was not a dedicated album project, instead being made up of material released as singles, B-sides and an EP. It had a generally favourable critical reception, but only just made the UK Top 20.

Production

Five of the tracks on the album were remakes of Bryan Ferry songs previously recorded with Roxy Music. "Re-Make/Re-Model", "2HB", "Chance Meeting" and "Sea Breezes" were from the band's eponymously titled debut album (1972), while "Casanova" was taken from Country Life (1974). In most cases the re-recordings were smoother and more oriented to jazz and R&B than the original Roxy Music versions.

The other six tracks on the album were covers. The sax-driven "Let's Stick Together" was written and originally recorded by Wilbert Harrison. It was remixed in 1988 for the compilation The Ultimate Collection. Other up-tempo numbers were The Everly Brothers' "The Price of Love" and Jimmy Reed's "Shame, Shame, Shame" (which includes a counter-vocal by the backing singers which quotes Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get A Witness"). The remaining covers, which included The Beatles' "It's Only Love", were performed in a mellow cabaret style.

"2HB" (a tribute to Humphrey Bogart) had been released as the B-side of Ferry's single "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" in September 1973. "Chance Meeting" was the B-side of "The 'In' Crowd" in May 1974. "You Go to My Head" b/w "Re-Make/Re-Model" had been released as a single in June 1975, making #33 in the UK charts. "Let’s Stick Together" b/w "Sea Breezes" was released in June 1976, making #4. The Extended Play EP, featuring "The Price of Love" and "Shame, Shame, Shame" b/w "Heart on My Sleeve" and "It’s Only Love", was released in August 1976, making #7. "Casanova", the only recording that had not been released in some other form prior to the album, was eventually issued as the B-side of Ferry’s cover of Lou Reed’s "What Goes On" in May 1978. The song "Let's Stick Together" was re-released in 1988 as "Let's Stick Together '88", making #12.

Various Roxy Music members were involved in the recordings, including Paul Thompson on drums, Eddie Jobson on violin and synthesizer, John Gustafson and John Porter on bass, and Phil Manzanera and David O'List on guitar. Although Ferry’s fiancee Jerry Hall made an appearance in tiger skin costume, complete with tail, on the title track's video clip, the song's yelps were performed by an unnamed member of the backing chorus.

Critical reception

Reviewing for AllMusic, Ned Raggett wrote of the album: "As Roxy approached its mid- to late-'70s hibernation, Ferry came up with another fine solo album, though one of his most curious."^[1] According to Robert Christgau, "A lot of people are crazy about this record, but I find its bifurcation alienating." He added: "Although Ferry proves that he knows more about making records (and music) than he used to, the songs remain powerful, strange, and interesting—but not quite compelling. Add it all together and you get ... two separate parts."^[2]

Track listing

Chart positions

Personnel

• Bryan Ferry - vocals, keyboards, harmonica
• Chris Spedding - guitar
• Paul Thompson - drums
• John Wetton - bass
• Chris Mercer - tenor saxophone
• Mel Collins - soprano saxophone
• Martin Drover - trumpet
• Eddie Jobson - violin, synthesizer
• Morris Pert - percussion
• John Gustafson - bass on "Re-Make/Re-Model"
• Rick Wills - bass on "Sea Breezes"
• John Porter - bass on "2HB"
• Phil Manzanera - guitar on "Re-Make/Re-Model"
• David O'List - guitar on "Chance Meeting"
• Neil Hubbard - guitar on "Casanova"
• Ann O'Dell - string arrangement on "Shame, Shame, Shame"
• Jackie Sullivan, Helen Chappelle, Paddie McHugh, Doreen Chanter, Vicki Brown, Martha Walker - chorus

Technical

• John Punter, Steve Nye - engineers
• Jon Walls, Nigel Walker - assistant engineers
• Richard Wallis - photography

References

Sources

• David Buckley (2004). The Thrill of It All: The Story of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music

External links

• Roxyrama Chronology
• Viva Roxy Music