Night Owl (album)

Night Owl is the third studio album by Scottish musician Gerry Rafferty. It was released a year after Rafferty's Platinum-selling album City to City. While not quite performing as well as its predecessor, Night Owl still managed enough sales to achieve platinum status in Canada, gold in the United Kingdom, and gold status in the U.S. The title song reached No. 5 on the UK charts. The album made the UK Top 10.

The album was recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Chipping Norton, England.

"Take the Money and Run" appears on the 1980 release Free Fall as "Take the Money."

Re-releases
On 30 January 2007 Collectables Records released City To City and Night Owl as a two-disc set.

Critical reception
The Los Angeles Times called the songs "concise, wry tales of love and ambition, inventively arranged and sung in a dry whine that carries just the right amount of detachment."

Personnel

 * Gerry Rafferty – vocals, acoustic piano (2, 9) Polymoog (2), acoustic guitar (3–8, 10), string arrangements
 * Graham Preskett – acoustic piano (1, 4, 10), electric piano (2), string synthesizer (2), keyboards (6, 7), fiddles (6, 7), mandolin (10), string arrangements, string scoring and conductor
 * Pete Wingfield – organ (1, 2, 3)
 * Tommy Eyre – acoustic piano (3), electric piano (5), synthesizers (5)
 * John Kirkpatrick – accordion (4, 6, 7)
 * Richard Brunton – electric guitar (1, 3, 6, 7), lap steel guitar (1, 4, 10), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 7–10), guitar solo (7), guitars (10)
 * Hugh Burns – electric guitar (1, 4), rhythm guitar (1, 9), guitar solo (1, 9), guitars (2, 5)
 * Richard Thompson –mandolin (4), electric guitars (7, 8)
 * Mo Foster – bass (1, 2, 4, 6–10)
 * Gary Taylor – bass (3, 5)
 * Liam Genockey – drums
 * Frank Ricotti – percussion (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9)
 * Raphael Ravenscroft – Lyricon (2), saxophone (5, 6, 9, 10)
 * Richard Harvey – penny whistle (6), pipe organ (7), recorders (7), synthesizers (8, 9)
 * Gavyn Wright – string leader
 * Betsy Cook – backing vocals (1, 3)
 * Barbara Dickson – backing vocals (1, 3, 7)
 * Linda Thompson – backing vocals (1, 3)

Production

 * Gerry Rafferty – producer
 * Hugh Murphy – producer
 * Barry Hammond – engineer (1, 2, 4, 6–10)
 * Nick Patrick – engineer (3, 5)
 * John Patrick Byrne – front cover painting
 * Robert Ellis – photography

Charts
Album Single