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''Hobo with a Grin'' is a debut solo album by Steve Harley of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in July 1978. ==Background== Following the release of the 1977 live album ''Face to Face: A Live Recording'', Harley disbanded Cockney Rebel and spent the next 18 months piecing together his first solo venture. The UK music press announced Harley's decision to leave Britain and move to America. At the same it was reported that Harley was in the process of finishing an album in Los Angeles, under the title "Couples".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=We're_Off )〕 Using a range of session musicians and ex-Cockney Rebel members, the album was a mixture of old songs and a few others Harley wrote upon returning to England, simply as he was unable to write there.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Great Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel Story )〕 When ''Hobo with a Grin'' emerged, it was revealed the album took 18 months to make, cost £70,000 in total, and yet proved to be Harley's biggest flop. The album failed to make any chart appearance, and the two singles issued from it; "Roll the Dice" and "Someone's Coming" were both commercial failures too.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=A Rebel Returns )〕 The former was released one week before the album in the UK and New Zealand, while an American promo was issued featuring an edited version of the track. For the single release of "Someone's Coming", released in the UK only during November 1978, a remixed version of the song was used. Despite the album's commercial failure, making no chart appearances, in the Denver Post, writer G. Brown noted that Harley, during his time living in California, saw the album becoming his fastest seller yet in America. After being deemed too British-sounding during the years of Cockney Rebel, Harley became convinced the situation was changing upon release of his debut solo album, alongside his move to Los Angeles. However Harley, in the article, disdained the commercial potential of the lead single "Roll the Dice", saying ''"It's 'poppy,' with that Fleetwood Mac-ish shuffle. 'Catchy' is not a good thing in this country. The more AM radio I hear, the more convinced I am that the goal is to bore."'' "Amerika the Brave" was noted as receiving some disco play in the country.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Too British-sounding )〕 Although Harley produced the entire album himself, "Roll the Dice" was produced by Michael J. Jackson. Jackson acted as additional producer on the album. The album was recorded at Sunset Sound, Abbey Road Studios and the Record Plant at Los Angeles. It was mixed at Sunset Sound, and mastered at Capitol Mastering by Ken Perry.〔http://www.discogs.com/Steve-Harley-Hobo-With-A-Grin/release/4667156〕 In The Morning Call of 23 September 1978, an American daily newspaper for Allentown, Pennsylvania, an article on Harley written by Len Righi, revealed that the song "Someone's Coming" was originally written for Cockney Rebel, and was one of the oldest songs on the album. With the track "Amerika The Brave," Harley described the song as ''"my impression of the U.S... just telling what I see."'' The song featured Marc Bolan on guitar, in what became his final studio session. Harley stated ''"The last time Marc went in the studio was for "Amerika the Brave". He also can be heard singing background on "Someone's Coming," though he's not credited. Bolan was a close friend. I had known him for a couple of years. We were a lot different. He was much more of an extrovert than me, but we grew very close. They say opposites attract."''〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Allentown )〕 The song "I Wish It Would Rain" is a cover of the 1967 song originally recorded by the Temptations. Harley had received some criticism for his cover of George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun" when he was with Cockney Rebel. Despite this Harley defended his version in The Morning Call article; saying he had forsaken the song's R&B reading and substituted a harder, straightforward one. ''"I wanted to have a more rock and roll feel than The Temptations version. I defend it."'' The song "Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf)" was dedicated to the 20th century British writer. Harley admitted ''"I stole two or three lines from her book, "The Waves," for that song."''〔 Harley would later re-record the song as the closing track for his 1996 album ''Poetic Justice'', and it has remained a regular inclusion in Harley's live-set to date.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Official Steve Harley Website UK - Poetic Justice (1996) )〕 Not long after the album's release Harley began work on ''The Candidate'', his second solo album, released in early 1979. During Harley's period of living in America he admitted that he was never inspired to write one single song. When writing the material for ''The Candidate'' back in England, it took just three weeks. In an article with the Evening News on 5 October 1979, Harley spoke of his return from America. ''"I spent almost a full year out there and did nothing except sunbathe and head for some party or other at night. I had a rented house in Beverley Hills – it was costing me about £300 a week and all I did was lie by the pool and have friends to stay at the guest house. I then realised that I was getting nowhere fast and booked London's Abbey Road studios for two months. I called my old Cockney Rebel drummer Stuart Elliott and asked him put me a band together. I came back to London, and within about three weeks I had more than enough songs for an LP, I'm pleased with "The Candidate" – it's the best album I've done in ages."'' This related to the ''Hobo with a Grin'' album, which Harley dismissed by stating ''"I looked at that LP the other day – looking is enough. I can't bear to listen to it. It's the worst thing I've ever done. I just want to forget about it. Trash. In fact, I'm getting the old Cockney Rebel band together for a concert in London at the end of this month. And there won't be one song from the "Hobo with a Grin" LP in the set. But "The Candidate" is a different story altogether. After hours of deliberation, I've left out two songs from it and I hated doing that. There isn't a bad song on it."'' In a Superpop magazine article during 1978, Harley was again dismissive of the ''Hobo with a Grin'' album. He revealed ''"My latest album had no guts. I hated it. For the first time in my life I relinquished responsibility, listened to advice and acted on it, rather than do what I thought was right. Compared to that, this one is going to have much more Rock 'n' Roll. None of that laid back Calfornian stuff."''〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rebel Without The Claws )〕 In a November 1978 article by Daily Star Article, Harley commented that the album was ''"...an experience, but this time I'll do things very differently. I'll get the band together, then record the album in a fortnight - the way I always used to."''〔 In an interview with Maggi Russell for the UK music press in early 1979, Harley spoke about his feelings of the album; ''"Hobo was a difficult album, and hard to market. My new album leans back more to the early Cockney Rebel sound."''〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Return Of The Rebel )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hobo with a Grin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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