View source for The Gunman and Other Stories

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = The Gunman and Other Stories
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Prefab Sprout]]
| cover      =The Gunman and Other Stories.jpg|border=yes
| alt        =
| released   = {{Start date|df=y|2001|06|18}}
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Pop music|Pop]]
| length     =
| label      = [[EMI Records|EMI Liberty]]
| producer   = [[Tony Visconti]]
| prev_title = [[38 Carat Collection]]
| prev_year  = 1999
| next_title = [[I Trawl the Megahertz]]
| next_year  = 2003
| misc       = {{Singles
| name        = The Gunman and Other Stories
| type        = album
| single1     = Wild Card in the Pack
| single1date = October 2001
}}
}}
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r556953|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]</ref>
}}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot-->
'''''The Gunman and Other Stories''''' is the seventh studio album by the English [[pop music|pop]] band [[Prefab Sprout]]. Released in June 2001, the album was the band's only release for the [[EMI Records|EMI Liberty]] label.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |first= |last= |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r556953/review|pure_url=yes}} |title=Album review by Stewart Mason |publisher=AllMusic.com |accessdate=5 December 2008}}</ref>
==Album history==
Following 1997 album ''[[Andromeda Heights]]'' and 1999 compilation ''[[38 Carat Collection]]'', Prefab Sprout conducted their first tour of the [[United Kingdom|UK]] for 10 years.  The success of the tour led singer and frontman [[Paddy McAloon]] to consider recording material for a new album. Rather than opting for "new" material, McAloon chose to record material he had previously given to other artists as a "tidying up operation", before moving on to newer material.
Despite drummer [[Neil Conti]]'s involvement in the tour (having originally departed from the band in 1992), the studio band operated with McAloon and his brother Martin as sole members. Fellow singer [[Wendy Smith (singer)|Wendy Smith]] was absent due to having given birth the previous year,<ref name="AMG"/> and other work commitments with her  music therapy career.
The album was produced by [[Tony Visconti]], and made use of [[session musician]]s including [[Carlos Alomar]], [[Jeff Pevar]] and [[Jordan Rudess]].<ref name="AMG"/> [[Eric Weissberg]] of "[[Duelling Banjos]]" fame, played the banjo on "Cowboy Dreams". Mixes were approved via e-mail between Visconti in [[New York City|New York]] and the McAloon brothers' base in [[County Durham]].
The album included versions of five songs which Paddy McAloon originally wrote for other performers. "Cowboy Dreams", "I'm a Troubled Man", "Love Will Find Someone for You" and "Blue Roses" were originally recorded by [[Jimmy Nail]] in 1994 and 1996, respectively, while title track "The Gunman" was originally recorded by [[Cher]] on her 1995 album ''[[It's a Man's World (Cher album)|It's a Man's World]]''.<ref name="AMG"/>
The album was the least successful of the band's output, stalling at No. 60 in the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| page= 433
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5}}</ref>
One single was released from the album, "Wild Card in the Pack", in October 2001.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McIntosh |first1=Bedford |title=Prefab Sprout discography |url=http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout2.html |website=browningmcintosh.com |accessdate=13 February 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404002314/http://www.browningmcintosh.com/plocktonwest/sprout2.html |archivedate=4 April 2007 }}</ref>
==Track listing==
All songs written by [[Paddy McAloon]] unless noted otherwise:
# "Cowboy Dreams"
# "Wild Card in the Pack"
# "I'm a Troubled Man"
# "[[The Streets of Laredo]]" / "Not Long for This World" (traditional; arranged and adapted by Paddy McAloon/Paddy McAloon)
# "Love Will Find Someone for You"
# "Cornfield Ablaze"
# "When You Get to Know Me Better"
# "The Gunman"
# "Blue Roses"
# "Farmyard Cat"
The Japanese CD release also featured the "Cowboy Dreams" video as a CD extra as well as footage of the music video shoot and liner notes by Paddy McAloon.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Prefab Sprout}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunman and Other Stories, The}}
[[Category:Prefab Sprout albums]]
[[Category:2001 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Tony Visconti]]