A Stealers Wheel Mystery: "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" (Single Version)

I'm certainly not a Stealers Wheel expert, but I enjoy their three albums and have always loved the single version of the song entitled "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine". Not to be confused, of course, with the version of the song, entitled "Everything Will Turn Out Fine", as found on their second album "Ferguslie Park".

The single version is a different recording and has a different arrangement when compared with the album version.

I like them both, but much prefer the 'folk-rock' sound (and the great hand-claps!) of the single version over the album version.

In reading through various threads, I've seen the single version referenced many times with differing information regarding whether or not it is available digitally (either on CD or download). I've seen a few comments stating that the single version is available on the 1988 compilation on the ARCADE label entitled "Heroes of Popmusic". I tracked down this CD and can confirm that this disc features the album version -- NOT the single version.

In fact, I've purchased a number of compilations that feature this track and they all have the album version. I hope I can be proven incorrect, but I don't believe that the single version has been released in the digital realm.

So if you're trying to track down the single version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" you're stuck with vinyl!

And this is where it gets slightly interesting.

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In the US, it appears that there were two releases of the single. One with the catalog number of "1450" and another with the catalog number of "AM 1450". I'm not sure what the difference would be or why there would be two pressings of the same single with different catalog numbers. Perhaps someone can help to clarify the A&M numbering and why this variation even exists.

Both singles feature "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" in MONO.

Here's an image of the 1973 US release with the catalog number of "1450":



And here's an image of the 1973 US release with the catalog number of "AM 1450" - also in MONO:



About six months ago, I was looking to buy a cheap/clean copy of the single (not owning any version at that point) and went with a Canadian pressing from 1973 with the catalog number of "AM 1450". Here's an image of the label from that Canadian pressing:





So I had my clean copy of the single, and I loved it, and didn't think much of it until @Grant and I recently traded needledrops -- his was the US pressing (1450) and mine was the Canadian pressing (AM 1450). And WHAM! After a bit of confusion, we realized that while his US 1450 pressing was in nice sounding MONO, my Canadian pressing was in beautiful STEREO! What a find!

I did a bit more digging and found that a 1973 pressing of the single from Holland (Catalog = 12924 AT) also was the STEREO single version and, when compared to the Canadian pressing, included a slight guitar strum prior to the song fully kicking in -- which cannot be heard on the STEREO Canadian pressing.

Here's the label of the 12924 AT pressing from Holland/The Netherlands:



So if you're a fanatical Stealers Wheel fan, I'd definitely suggest tracking down a clean copy of the US pressing to get the single version in MONO and either the Canadian or Holland pressing to have it in STEREO. If anyone has any insight into whether the US MONO pressing is a dedicated mix or a fold please let me know. I'm not sure if A&M was even making dedicated mono mixes in 1973 for their singles.

<end of Part 1 since a single post will only support five images>

 

Part 2!

One final note in an effort to makes things even more confusing: 1978 also saw a single released for the album version of this song - with a copyright of 1973...which has the slight title change to "Everything Will Turn Out Fine". I have a stereo/mono promo copy of that single (see the labels below) and it's worth noting that this single is NOT attributed to Stealers Wheel, but instead to Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan. The label states that this is taken from the 1978 "The Best of Stealers Wheel" album -- which does have the two names on the cover -- but was there something contractually which led them to attribute the single to Gerry and Joe instead of Stealers Wheel? Afterall, it IS a Stealers Wheel song...





Here's the label for Ferguslie Park from 1973:



Side note: I much prefer the sound of the stereo promo single when compared to the album pressing. The Ferguslie Park master is pretty muddy...

So there you have it -- the great saga that is "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine".

If anyone has any other single version of "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" please post the country of origin, the catalog number, and if it's mono or stereo.

And if anyone can confirm a digital release of the single please share!

Thanks!

 

Great post! ...

I've always been bugged that the single version ain't on CD anywhere; days gone by, I preferred that version, with its Traffic-like "Aaahs" ... but listening to the album take now, I get why they cut a new arrangement -- a bit more streamlined, with a tight, driving rhythm section.

I may ask Shane Buettner if he'd consider putting the single on as a bonus track on the SACD of Ferguslie, presuming the cake hasn't already been baked (so to speak).

 

Shouldn't it be a no brainer that it's FINALLY released on a reissue of the Ferguslie album?

Long overdue.

I sometimes wonder if the people doing these reissues are even aware that the single version even exists...

 

If anyone is, Shane would be. He's an enthusiast. Even so, I messaged him!

 

Nice work, @mikeja75!

 

I think the differences between the U.S. 1450 and AM-1450 singles probably boil down to nothing more than they were pressed at different pressing plants. My guess, based on what I've read in other threads on this forum (most notably about Beatles 45s), is that the 1450 disc is a West Coast pressing, while the AM-1450 disc is an East Coast printing. Now I'm not 100 percent sure about that, in fact far from it. Does somebody know authoritatively where A&M singles were pressed, and how the labels differed between the different plants?

 

Found this stereo mix...finally...does this have the intro you were talking about in your first post..this is the first time I've heard the stereo mix of the 45.
I found a few pictures of the Holland 45 also....great post mikeja75!!!! Here's a link to the site I found the stereo mix...scroll down to the song title.....

Richard Pachter: Hits U Missed #2 – Stealer's Wheel "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine"

 

No -- it doesn't have the slight opening guitar part. It's not a significant missing piece by any means...just a slight remnant from the master that likely is not supposed to have been included on the tapes sent overseas.

 

Thanks mikeja75

 

Agreed.

Based on label images and commentary posted on 45cat, the one that says "AM-1450" was pressed at the Columbia/CBS plant in Terre Haute, IN, while the one that says just "1450" was pressed by Monarch Records, an independent pressing plant in Los Angeles that was used by numerous small-to-medium sized labels for their West Coast pressings.

The 1978 releases were presumably cash-ins intended to ride the coat tales of the solo success Rafferty was having with his City To City album. That likely explains why A&M wanted to use an artist credit with the phrase "Gerry Rafferty" in it. Why it was "Gerry Rafferty & Joe Egan", specifically, as opposed to, say, "Gerry Rafferty & Stealers Wheel", I couldn't tell you. I guess one could argue that Rafferty and Egan effectively were Stealers Wheel, but I think there were additional members at the time this was recorded, and the act wasn't officially a duo of Rafferty and Egan. Speculation: maybe Egan owned the rights to the name Stealers Wheel at this point, A&M needed Egan's permission to make any change to the credit that would feature Rafferty's name more prominently, and this was the end result?

 

Probably not, or it takes too much trouble ($$$) to track down the tape with the singles on them. Singles were treated with a lot of disrespect at this point, so a lot of them got lost in the shuffle.

I could be wrong, but I think a lot of A&M tapes got destroyed in the Universal warehouse fire. With Stealers Wheel, the tapes could be in the U.K.. Who knows? I have become aware that, even if a tape exists, there may be a legal reason it can't be used . This is true for a certain edit of Silver Convention's "Fly Robin, Fly". You can get the mechanical rights to the album version and one edit, but not the other edit. Strange!

 

Grant, did you move? I don't remember seeing Arizona before now.

I suspect that the master for that single is probably lost as nobody has issued it yet.

 

Been here just about all of my life.

Which one? Steelers Wheel? It's anyone's guess. Silver Convention? No one has the tape.

 

Well color me embarrassed for noticing sooner!

I doubt that the band has the original master but I'm sure that copies have to exist somewhere...

 

I came across some cd discs that have Demo and rare tracks on them as well as some live concert recordings from 1993.
The track
"Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" (Single Version)
is on the cd.It has the hand clapping at the start and is 3.09 long.

 

Would this be a bootleg compilation of some sort...if it's an official or promo disc can you share more specifics please?

 

The single version getting released was probably a mistake, I suspect A&M used the wrong tape and Rafferty/Egan may not have known until it was in the charts and they decided to just let it ride out its course.

 

I doubt it was a mistake. The single mix might have been done without Rafferty or Egan's input, but A&M knew exactly what they were doing. They might as well have titled it "Son of Stuck in the Middle With You."

 

tried to load a sample of the audio but can't figure it here
I also have The Royal Mile on this demo album and it is lyrically different to the one published on snakes and ladders

It's a Bootleg compilation, I have 8 discs ranging from the Live Glasgow Concert from 04 March 1993 to Interviews with Shadoe Steele WKRZ (2004) , Rough Mixes from "Another World" & Snakes & Ladders" albums, along with tracks I'd never heard before.

 

It also features a track called "Benjamin Day" which was recorded with Fifth Column in 1966.
"The Fifth Column, another local group who managed to release one single, the Rafferty composition "Benjamin Day", on Columbia in 1966."

 

I don't think the single version is a different mix, it sounds like an alternate take, and the parts that almost come to a pause sound like it's an early take that didn't have everything worked out yet.

 

Yep. This version was supposed to be released with the 2004 reissue of Ferguslie Park (and was promoted as such) but was not on the release when it came out. When I inquired about it with the record company, I was told that it was a licensing issue with A&M and in the end they couldn't include it.

One other thing was that "Over My Head" from the same album was originally a longer song on the original pressing but was replaced with a shorter version soon afterward and I don't recall to this day ever hearing the full version on any digital release. Just the edited version.

 

My theory is that it was a demo they did and they were uncertain about the final arrangement at that point. I do think tough that it was never intended for release (and neither was the longer take of "Over My Head" which, as DrAftershave pointed out, was replaced on later reissues--either that or that version was lost so they had to go with an alternate, shorter version).

If it is a licensing issue, you would think that, at this stage, someone at A&M would include it as the rarity aspect would make anything they put out sell to hardcore fans. I also think the reason we haven't seen it released is that they may even be unsure where the tapes are for it.

 

What is the name of the compilation? Thanks.