Spiral Staircase (Ralph McTell album)

Spiral Staircase is British folk musician Ralph McTell's second album.[1] Produced by Gus Dudgeon and released in the UK in 1969, its opening track, "Streets of London", has become McTell's signature tune. "Rizraklaru" is an anagram of "Rural Karzi". The sleeve design was by Peter Thaine, a friend of McTell from Croydon Art College.[2]

Spiral Staircase
Studio album by
Ralph McTell
Released26 May 1969
RecordedDecember 1968
StudioRegent Sound Studies, Tottenham Court Road, London
GenreFolk, folk rock, country blues
Length35:27
LabelTransatlantic
ProducerGus Dudgeon
Ralph McTell chronology
Eight Frames a Second
(1968)		 Spiral Staircase
(1969)		 My Side of Your Window
(1969)

Track listing

All titles by Ralph McTell except where stated.

Side One
  1. "Streets of London" - 4:06
  2. "Mrs Adlam's Angels" - 2:43
  3. "Wino and the Mouse" - 0:59
  4. "England 1914" - 3:04
  5. "Last Train and Ride" - 2:31
  6. "The Fairground" - 4:07
Side Two
  1. "Spiral Staircase" - 3:30
  2. "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" (Robert Johnson) - 2:43
  3. "Bright and Beautiful Things" - 1:53
  4. "Daddy's Here" - 4:22
  5. "Rizraklaru (Anag.)" - 1:44
  6. "(My) Baby Keeps Staying Out all Night Long" (Buddy Moss) - 1:52
  7. "Terminus" - 1:53

Personnel
  • Ralph McTell - guitar, vocals
Famous Jug Band

on "Last Train and Ride" and "Spiral Staircase"

  • Brian "Brock" Brocklehurst - double bass
  • Mick "Henry VIII" Bartlett - jug
  • "Whispering Mick" Bennett - washboard
  • Peter Berryman - second guitar
  • Mike Vickers - orchestral arrangements
  • Brian Gascoigne - musical direction

Production credits
  • Producer: Gus Dudgeon for Tuesday Productions
  • Engineer: Tom Allom at Regent Sound
  • Sleeve design: Peter Thaine
  • Liner notes: Ben Klein

Awards and accolades
  • McTell's song "Streets of London" won the Ivor Novello Award for songwriting in 1974.[3]
  • A re-recorded version of "Streets of London" became a world-wide hit single in 1975.
  • During his 60th birthday concert at the Royal Festival Hall in November, 2004, McTell was presented with a Gold Disc of Spiral Staircase.[4]

Release history
Country Date Label Format Catalogue Notes
United Kingdom 1969 Transatlantic LP TRA177
France 1978 Transatlantic LP TRA89554/5 Record 2 of 2-LP set. Record 1 is Eight Frames a Second
Australia 1980 Transatlantic/
7 Records		 LP MLF227
Japan 1980 Transatlantic LP YS-7057-LA
Israel Logo/Transatlantic LP TRA177
Germany 1988 Titan LP
CD		 577/3001-1
577/3001-2
United Kingdom 1990 Ariola Express CD 295945 Released as The Streets of London
United Kingdom 1996 Wooden Hill CD HILLCD5
United Kingdom 2007 Transatlantic CD TRRCD401 'Expanded Edition' with four bonus tracks taken from Revisited

Many of the tracks on this album also feature in the Spiral Staircase - Classic Songs compilation.

Track variations

The UK 2007 CD release includes four bonus tracks that were re-mixed or re-recorded in 1970 for "Revisited":[5]

14. "Spiral Staircase"
15. "Last Train and Ride"
16. "The Fairground"
17. "Terminus"

References
  1. "Spiral Staircase" LP sleeve, 1969.
  2. "Spiral Staircase". Ralph McTell. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  3. BBC. "Sold on Song: Streets of London". Accessed 9 May 2009.
  4. Leola Music Ltd. “The London Show”, TPGDVD25, 2005.
  5. "Spiral Staircase" CD inlay, 2007.
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