When We Were the New Boys
When We Were the New Boys is the eighteenth studio album by Rod Stewart, released on 25 May 1998. It was Stewart's last studio album to be released by Warner Bros. Records. It produced the singles "Ooh La La", "Rocks", and "When We Were the New Boys".
Background
When We Were the New Boys was the first album by Stewart to not be released on vinyl. The tracks are mostly covers, such as "Cigarettes & Alcohol" by Oasis, "Rocks" by Primal Scream, "Hotel Chambermaid" by Graham Parker, and "Superstar" by the band Superstar. Two ballads were included that were suggested by Elvis Costello: Ron Sexmith's "Secret Heart" and Nick Lowe's "Shelly My Love".The album also includes "Ooh La La", a song recorded by Stewart's previous band the Faces. The Faces' version of the song was originally sung by the band's guitarist Ronnie Wood; Stewart recorded the song for When We Were the New Boys as a tribute to the song's co-author, Faces bassist Ronnie Lane, who had died in 1997 a year before the album's release.
Track listing
- "Cigarettes and Alcohol" – 4:03
- "Ooh La La" – 4:15
- "Rocks" – 4:45
- "Superstar" – 4:21
- "Secret Heart" – 4:07
- "Hotel Chambermaid" – 3:49
- "Shelly My Love" – 3:38
- "When We Were the New Boys" – 4:39
- "Weak" – 4:38
- "What Do You Want Me to Do?" – 3:36
- "Careless With Our Love" – 4:28
Personnel
- Rod Stewart – lead vocals
- Kevin Savigar – horn arrangements, accordion, Hammond organ, keyboards, bass, drum programming
- Jeff Paris – acoustic piano, backing vocals
- Oliver Leiber – guitars, lead guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
- John Shanks – guitars, electric mandolin, horn arrangements, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals, harmonica
- Michael Landau – electric guitar
- Jeff Baxter – acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar, electric guitars
- Lance Morrison – bass
- David Palmer – drums
- Paulinho da Costa – maracas, percussion
- Caroline Corr – bodhrán
- Jimmy Roberts – tenor saxophone
- Nick Lane – trombone
- Rick Braun – trumpet
- Andrea Corr – penny whistle
- Eric Rigler – low whistle
- Sharon Corr – fiddle
- Richard Greene – fiddle
- Suzie Katayama – cello
- Steve Richards – cello
- Daniel Smith – cello
- Sue Ann Carwell – backing vocals, tambourine
- Jacki Simley – backing vocals
- Richard Page – backing vocals
- Will Wheaton – backing vocals
- Dee Harvey – backing vocals
- Lamont Van Hook – backing vocals
- Fred White – backing vocals
- Jeff Pescetto – backing vocals
Production
- Rob Dickins – executive producer, liner notes
- Rod Stewart – producer
- Kevin Savigar – co-producer
- Chris Lord-Alge – additional production, mixing at Image Recording Studios
- Barry Rudolph – engineer
- Steve Harrison – engineer
- Charlie Bouis – engineer
- Greg Collins – assistant engineer
- Jim Horetski – assistant engineer
- Allan Sanderson – assistant engineer
- Rafa Sardina – assistant engineer
- Jeff Thomas – assistant engineer
- Michael Dy – mix assistant
- Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab
- Ed Fotheringham – artwork
- Lawrence Azerrad – art direction, design
- Ken Sharp – photography
- Annie Challis and Arnold Stiefel at Stiefel Entertainment – management