Abandoned Luncheonette
Studio album by Hall & Oates
Released	November 3, 1973
Recorded	1973
Genre	Soft rock, blue-eyed soul, folk rock
Length	36:42
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Arif Mardin
Hall & Oates chronology
Whole Oates (1972) Abandoned Luncheonette (1973) War Babies (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone

 

  "Abandoned Luncheonette" is the second studio album by the American pop music duo Hall & Oates, released in 1973, which combines folk, Philly soul, and acoustic soul. It is the most commercially successful of their first three albums of the duo's Atlantic Records period. Twenty-nine 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.

 

The most well-known track from the album is "She's Gone." 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. Another song from the album, "Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)," although written by Oates, draws its inspiration from Hall's then-girlfriend and future songwriting collaborator Sara Allen, much as the later "Sara Smile" would.

Album cover

The diner on the album cover was formerly the Rosedale Diner, located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. When it 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 to clear the land.

Track listing

Side One

Side Two

Personnel

• Daryl Hall – mandolin, acoustic piano, electric piano, keyboards, vocals
• John Oates – acoustic guitar, wah-wah guitar, electric guitar, vocals
• Christopher Bond – mellotron, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, howling guitar
• Hugh McCracken – electric guitar
• Steve "Fontz" Gelfand – bass
• Bernard Purdie – drums
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Joe Farrell – oboe, tenor saxophone
• Jerry Ricks – acoustic guitar
• Rick Marotta – drums, percussion
• Steven "Sticks Douglas" Moore – drums, percussion (vocals)
• Gordon Edwards – bass
• Pancho Morales – conga
• Pat Rebillot – organ
• Richard Tee – acoustic piano
• Gloria Agostini – harp
• John Blair – Vitar electric violin
• Marvin Stamm- flugelhorn
• Larry Packer – fiddle
• Marc Horowitz – banjo
• Arif Mardin – 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 Mardin – 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

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Abandoned Luncheonette

UK Atlantic K 40534 stereo (1974)

Album produced by Arif Mardin.

The vinyl record has remained in excellent condition.

Audio quality is very clear and strong throughout.

Both record centre labels are clean and unmarked.

The album cover is in excellent condition, displaying only minimal signs of wear.