Abandoned Luncheonette
Encyclopedia
Abandoned Luncheonette is the second album by the American
pop music
duo Hall & Oates
, released in 1973, which combines folk, Philly soul
, and acoustic soul.
The most well-known track from the album is "She's Gone
," one of the act's best-loved songs; Daryl Hall, according to some reports, has called it the best song he and John Oates wrote together. Both performers were undergoing romantic problems at the time the song was written; a 1985 article in Rolling Stone
said the song was about Hall's divorce from wife Bryna Lublin.
While "She's Gone" did not become a hit when first released as a single, the song gained momentum from two later covers, one by Lou Rawls
, and one by Tavares
. After the latter cover topped the Billboard R&B chart in 1974, the original was re-released and became a Top 10 pop hit in 1976, reaching #7, while the album reached #33. This song was included in Hall & Oates's 1983 greatest hits compilation, "Rock and Soul," as well as in numerous other compilations.
An odd promotional video for "She's Gone" was produced. This video opens with shots of the "abandoned luncheonette" (see note below about Album Cover), in which Hall & Oates sit in recliners, Hall wearing a robe and womens' platform sandals, Oates wearing a sleeveless tuxedo shirt and pants, and singing the song while a woman in a long dress and a man dressed in a shiny red devil's costume repeatedly walk past the pair. Towards the end of the video, Oates rises, dons a jacket with long cuffs, and proceeds to perform his guitar solo with his hands completely covered by the sleeves of his jacket, which makes it appear as if he has fish fins for hands.
Another song from the album, "Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)," draws its inspiration from Hall's then-girlfriend and future songwriting collaborator Sara Allen, much as the later "Sara Smile" would. Oddly, however, "Las Vegas Turnaround" is credited to Oates.
Abandoned Luncheonette is the most commercially successful of their first three albums of the Atlantic Records
period. 29 years after its release, the album was certified platinum (over one million copies sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America
. Critically acclaimed, Rolling Stone and Allmusic both gave it a 5/5.
. When the diner went out of business, its structure was dumped in a small wooded area located along Route 724
in Kenilworth, PA, at the entrance of Towpath Park in East Coventry Township, where the photo on the linked page was taken. Stripped by souvenir-hunters, the structure remained in place until about 1983, when Ridge Fire Company, along with the owner, burned what was left in order to clear the land.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
duo Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
, released in 1973, which combines folk, Philly soul
Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of...
, and acoustic soul.
The most well-known track from the album is "She's Gone
She's Gone (Hall & Oates song)
"She's Gone" is a song written and originally performed by pop music duo Daryl Hall and John Oates. It was released as a single in 1974 from their album, Abandoned Luncheonette , and was moderately successful, peaking at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.In 1974, the American R&B band Tavares...
," one of the act's best-loved songs; Daryl Hall, according to some reports, has called it the best song he and John Oates wrote together. Both performers were undergoing romantic problems at the time the song was written; a 1985 article in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said the song was about Hall's divorce from wife Bryna Lublin.
While "She's Gone" did not become a hit when first released as a single, the song gained momentum from two later covers, one by Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, and one by Tavares
Tavares (band)
Tavares are a successful American R&B, funk and soul music group, composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts.-Band members:...
. After the latter cover topped the Billboard R&B chart in 1974, the original was re-released and became a Top 10 pop hit in 1976, reaching #7, while the album reached #33. This song was included in Hall & Oates's 1983 greatest hits compilation, "Rock and Soul," as well as in numerous other compilations.
An odd promotional video for "She's Gone" was produced. This video opens with shots of the "abandoned luncheonette" (see note below about Album Cover), in which Hall & Oates sit in recliners, Hall wearing a robe and womens' platform sandals, Oates wearing a sleeveless tuxedo shirt and pants, and singing the song while a woman in a long dress and a man dressed in a shiny red devil's costume repeatedly walk past the pair. Towards the end of the video, Oates rises, dons a jacket with long cuffs, and proceeds to perform his guitar solo with his hands completely covered by the sleeves of his jacket, which makes it appear as if he has fish fins for hands.
Another song from the album, "Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)," draws its inspiration from Hall's then-girlfriend and future songwriting collaborator Sara Allen, much as the later "Sara Smile" would. Oddly, however, "Las Vegas Turnaround" is credited to Oates.
Abandoned Luncheonette is the most commercially successful of their first three albums of the Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
period. 29 years after its release, the album was certified platinum (over one million copies sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. Critically acclaimed, Rolling Stone and Allmusic both gave it a 5/5.
Album Cover
The diner on the cover of the Abandoned Luncheonette album was formerly the Rosedale Diner, located in Pottstown, PennsylvaniaPottstown, Pennsylvania
Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States northwest of Philadelphia and southeast of Reading, on the Schuylkill River. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the...
. When the diner went out of business, its structure was dumped in a small wooded area located along Route 724
Pennsylvania Route 724
Pennsylvania Route 724 is a road spanning from Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. 724 travels through the counties of Berks and Chester...
in Kenilworth, PA, at the entrance of Towpath Park in East Coventry Township, where the photo on the linked page was taken. Stripped by souvenir-hunters, the structure remained in place until about 1983, when Ridge Fire Company, along with the owner, burned what was left in order to clear the land.
Track listing
- "When The Morning Comes" (Daryl Hall) – 3:12
- "Had I Known You Better Then" (John Oates) – 3:22
- "Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)" (Oates) – 2:57
- "She's GoneShe's Gone (Hall & Oates song)"She's Gone" is a song written and originally performed by pop music duo Daryl Hall and John Oates. It was released as a single in 1974 from their album, Abandoned Luncheonette , and was moderately successful, peaking at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.In 1974, the American R&B band Tavares...
" (Hall, Oates) – 5:15 - "I'm Just A Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like A Man)" (Oates) – 3:20
- "Abandoned Luncheonette" (Hall) – 3:55
- "Lady Rain" (Hall, Oates) – 4:26
- "Laughing Boy" (Hall) – 3:20
- "Everytime I Look At You" (Hall) – 7:04
Personnel
- Daryl HallDaryl HallDaryl Hall is an American rock, R&B and soul singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of Hall & Oates . Hall scored several Billboard chart hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, and is regarded as one of the best blue eyed soul singers...
– Mandolin, piano, electric piano, keyboards, vocals - John OatesJohn OatesJohn William Oates is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo Hall & Oates ....
– Acoustic guitar, wah-wah guitar, electric guitar, vocals - Christopher Bond – Mellotron, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, Howling guitar
- Hugh McCrackenHugh McCrackenHugh McCracken is a rhythm guitar player and session musician, arranger and producer based in New York.Especially in demand in the 60s, 70s and 80s, he appears on many recordings by Steely Dan, as well as albums by Donald Fagen, Jimmy Rushing, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B...
– electric guitar - Steve "Fontz" Gelfand – Bass
- Bernard PurdieBernard PurdieBernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...
– Drums - Ralph MacDonaldRalph MacDonaldRalph MacDonald is an American percussionist and song-writer. He joined Harry Belafonte's band at age 17. He wrote the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song "Where is the Love" with songwriting partner William Salter. Probably his best-known composition is the Grover Washington, Jr...
– Percussion - Joe FarrellJoe FarrellJoseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
– Oboe, tenor saxophone - Jerry RicksJerry RicksJerry Ricks was an American blues guitarist.Ricks was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, playing trumpet as a child; he started playing guitar in local coffee shops in the late 1950s...
– Acoustic guitar - Rick MarottaRick MarottaRick Marotta is a US-based drummer and percussionist who appears on many recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Stevie Nicks, Wynonna, Roy Orbison, Todd Rundgren, Roberta Flack, Peter Frampton, Quincy...
– Drums, percussion - Steven "Sticks Douglas" Moore – Drums, percussion (Vocals)
- Gordon Edwards – Bass
- Pancho Morales – Conga
- Pat RebillotPat RebillotPat Rebillot, born April 21, 1935, is a US-based keyboard session and studio musician.He is associated with fellow session and studio musicians Hugh McCracken, Tony Levin, Steve Gadd, Ray Barretto and Ralph MacDonald....
– Organ - Richard TeeRichard TeeRichard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...
– Piano - Gloria Agostini – Harp
- John Blair – VitarVitar violinsThe Vi-tar was a musical instrument produced by the Exinde/Xinde Corporation in the early 1970s. Advertised as a cross between a violin and guitar, it was essentially a fiberglass bodied electric violin with some very advanced internal electronics for the time.-History:The Vi-Tar was designed and...
electric violin - Marvin StammMarvin StammMarvin Stamm is an American bebop trumpeter.Stamm began on trumpet at age 12. He first attended college at, then known as, Memphis State University and then attended college at North Texas State University where he was a member of the world renowned One O'Clock Lab Band...
- Flugelhorn - Larry Packer – Fiddle
- Marc Horowitz – Banjo
- Arif MardinArif MardinArif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
– Bass (Vocal), Horn & String Arrangements, - Daryl Hall, John Oates, Franklin Hohl, Kathy Mae Hohl, Ronald & Donald Wanner, Christian Bond, Sandy Allen, Greg Fulginiti, and Arif MardinArif MardinArif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
– Humanity Chorus on "Abandoned Luncheonette"
Production
- Produced By Arif Mardin; production assistant: Christopher Bond
- Recording & Engineering: Alan Ade, Jimmy Douglass, Lewis Hahn, Joel Kerr, Gene Paul
- Mixing: Christopher Bond, Jimmy Douglass
- Mastered By Stephen Innocenzi