Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren

Not to be confused with Runt (album).
Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
Studio album by Todd Rundgren
Released June 24, 1971
Recorded Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY
Genre Pop rock, soft rock
Length 42:05
Label Ampex
Producer Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren chronology
Runt
(1970)		 Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
(1971)		 Something/Anything?
(1972)
Singles from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
  1. "Be Nice to Me"
    Released: March 1971
  2. "A Long Time, A Long Way to Go"
    Released: August 1971
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone(Not Rated)[2]
Robert Christgau(B)[3]

Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren is the second album by American singer-songwriter/musician Todd Rundgren, released in 1971. The album features mostly piano-led pop songs and ballads. As with his first album, this album was initially credited to "Runt". Rundgren himself wrote and produced every tune on The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, as well as handling all the guitars, keyboards, and vocals.

"I was pretty overbearing to deal with," Rundgren recalled in the liner notes to the 1999 CD release. "I was also becoming very particular about arrangements, so I took a crack at playing it all myself. But I still had some dependence on other musicians. I wasn't yet ready to play drums or to seriously address what bass playing should be like."[4]

Tony Sales, who played bass on Runt, the previous album, plays on the majority of tracks, but brother Hunt Sales, the drummer on the first album, plays drums only on one cut and conga on one.

Studio musicians Jerry Scheff and John Guerin provide the rhythm section on two tracks; Norman D. Smart, who later became a member of the Hello People and was Mountain's first drummer, plays on the remainder.

The album cover was designed by Milton Glaser.

In mid 1971, Bearsville was purchased by Warner Bros. and plans were made to re-release both Runt and Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren as a "twin pack" entitled Todd Rundgren's Rack Job (Catalog Number 2BV 2156) in 1973. The album got as far as test presses and album art, but was shelved as Rundgren preferred to release an album of new material.

Track listing

All songs written by Todd Rundgren.

Side one

  1. "Long Flowing Robe" – 3:30
  2. "The Ballad (Denny & Jean)" – 3:30
  3. "Bleeding" – 4:05
  4. "Wailing Wall" – 3:05
  5. "The Range War" – 2:38
  6. "Chain Letter" – 5:02

Side two

  1. "A Long Time, A Long Way to Go" – 2:12
  2. "Boat on the Charles" – 4:28
  3. "Be Nice to Me" – 3:27
  4. "Hope I'm Around" – 4:55
  5. "Parole" – 4:22
  6. "Remember Me" – 0:51

Personnel

(taken from inner gatefold of original 1971 vinyl)

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1971 Billboard Pop Albums 214

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1971 "Be Nice to Me" Canada RPM Singles Chart 92
1971 "Be Nice to Me" Billboard Pop Singles[5] 71
1971 "A Long Time, A Long Way to Go" Billboard Pop Singles[5] 92

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011). "Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren – Todd Rundgren | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  2. ↑ Smith, Patti (2011). "Todd Rundgren: Runt: The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: Artist 1593". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ Liner Notes from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (link offline)
  5. 1 2 "allmusic ((( Todd Rundgren > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
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