A Spanner in the Works

 A Spanner in the Works  is a studio album released by Rod Stewart on 26 May 1995. It is Stewart's seventeenth studio album and ended a four-year gap since his previous studio album. At the time it was Stewart's longest break between albums. It was released on Warner Bros. Records (WEA 9362 45867-1/2) in The United States, The United Kingdom, and Japan. Five singles were released: "You're The Star", "Leave Virginia Alone", "This", "Lady Luck", and "Purple Heather".

Content
The album includes covers of Bob Dylan's "Sweetheart Like You" and The Blue Nile's "The Downtown Lights". The song "Muddy, Sam, And Otis", is his tribute to Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding. Track 12, later released as a single featuring the Scottish Euro '96 Football Squad, "Purple Heather" is a folk song that normally goes by the name "Wild Mountain Thyme". It is often credited as traditional, but was written by The McPeakes. "Leave Virginia Alone" was written by Tom Petty and recorded for his album Wildflowers, but was left off the finished album and given to Stewart instead.

Track listing

 * 1) "Windy Town" (Chris Rea) – 5:12
 * 2) "The Downtown Lights" (Paul Buchanan) – 6:33
 * 3) "Leave Virginia Alone" (Tom Petty) – 4:07
 * 4) "Sweetheart Like You" (Bob Dylan) – 4:54
 * 5) "This" (John Capek, Marc Jordan) – 5:19
 * 6) "Lady Luck" (Carmine Rojas, Jeff Golub, Kevin Savigar, Rod Stewart) – 4:25
 * 7) "You're The Star" (Billy Livsey, Frankie Miller, Graham Lyle) – 4:39
 * 8) "Muddy, Sam and Otis" (Stewart, Savigar) – 4:42
 * 9) "Hang on St. Christopher" (Tom Waits) – 4:04
 * 10) "Delicious" (Stewart, Andy Taylor, Robin LeMesurier) – 4:43
 * 11) "Soothe Me" (Sam Cooke) – 3:33
 * 12) "Purple Heather" (Traditional, arranged Stewart) – 4:58

Notes
 * Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 produced by Trevor Horn.
 * Tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 produced by Rod Stewart.
 * Tracks 7, 10, and 11 produced by Bernard Edwards.
 * Track 3 produced by James Newton-Howard, Michael Ostin, and Lenny Waronker.
 * Track 10 produced by Andy Taylor

Personnel

 * Rod Stewart – lead vocals, backing vocals (5), arrangements (12)
 * Jeff Golub – guitar (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12), electric guitar (9)
 * Robin LeMesurier – guitar (1, 6, 7, 10, 11), guitar solo (4)
 * Tim Pierce – guitar (1, 2, 5, 8)
 * David Lindley – bouzouki (1)
 * Don Teschner – mandolin (1, 6), American fiddle (6)
 * Davey Johnstone – guitar (3), mandolin (3)
 * Jim Cregan – guitar (5)
 * Dónal Lunny – bouzouki (6, 12)
 * Michael Landau – guitar (7)
 * Andy Taylor – guitar (7, 10, 11)
 * Lol Crème – electric guitar (9)
 * Kevin Savigar – keyboards (1-12), bass (5, 8), string arrangements and conductor (7, 11), squeezebox (12)
 * Eric Caudieux – programming (1)
 * Mike Higham – digital manipulation (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), ProTools programming (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), keyboards (2, 8), bass (8)
 * Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (2), percussion (9), piano solo (9)
 * James Newton-Howard – keyboards (3)
 * Martin O'Conner – accordion (6)
 * Billy Preston – organ (11)
 * Trevor Horn – bass (1), digital manipulation (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), ProTools programming (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9), backing vocals (1)
 * Stephen Lipson – bass (2, 4), guitar (4)
 * Leland Sklar – bass (3)
 * Carmine Rojas – bass (6, 12)
 * Bernard Edwards – bass (7, 10, 11)
 * Guy Pratt – bass (9), acoustic guitar (9)
 * David Palmer – drums (1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12)
 * Paul Robinson – drums (2, 5)
 * Kenny Aronoff – drums (3)
 * Frank Ricotti – "big" drum (5)
 * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion (1)
 * Máire Ní Chathasaigh – Irish fiddle (6)
 * John McSherry – bagpipes (6)
 * Leslie Butler – harmonica (9)
 * The Kick Horns – horns and horn arrangements (9)
 * Simon Clarke – saxophones
 * Roddy Lorimer – trumpet
 * Tim Sanders – saxophones
 * Neil Sidwell – trombone
 * Rick Braun – trumpet (11), horn arrangements (11)
 * Nick Lane – trombone (11), horn arrangements (11)
 * Lenny Pickett – saxophones (11), horn arrangements (11)
 * David Woodford – saxophones (11), horn arrangements (11)
 * Anne Dudley – string arrangements and conductor (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12), piano (8)
 * Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12)
 * Susie Katayama – orchestra leader (7, 11)
 * Aleisha Irving – backing vocals (2)
 * Joe Turano – backing vocals (3, 7)
 * Joey Diggs – backing vocals (7, 8)
 * Lamont Van Hook – backing vocals (7, 8)
 * Fred White – backing vocals (7, 8)
 * Luana Jackman – choir coordinator (7)
 * Bobby Page – choir coordinator (7)
 * Josef Powell – backing vocals (10, 11)
 * Oren Waters – backing vocals (10, 11)
 * Terry Young – backing vocals (10, 11)
 * Glasgow Gaelic Music Association – choir (12)
 * Kenneth Thompson – choir leader (12)

Production Credits

 * Executive Producers – Rob Dickins and Michael Ostin
 * Recording – Tim Weidner (Tracks 1, 2 & 5); Steve MacMillan (Track 3); Le Mobile (Tracks 4-12).
 * Engineer – Charlie Bouis (Tracks 6-12)
 * Assistant Recording – Mike Baumgartner (Tracks 1)
 * Assistant Engineer – Eric Johnston (Tracks 7-12)
 * Mixed by Steve MacMillan
 * Mix Assistants – Rich Rowe (Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 & 12); Pat 59 (Track 6); Rail Rogut (Tracks 7, 8, 10 & 11).
 * Mixed at Sarm Studios (London, England); Conway Studios (Hollywood, CA); A&M Studios and Ocean Way Recording.
 * Mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Precision Mastering (Hollywood, CA).
 * Design – Greg Ross
 * Photography – Herb Ritts
 * Management – Annie Challis, Randy Phillips and Arnold Stiefel at Stiefel Phillips Entertainment.

Charts
The album achieved a Gold certification in both the US and UK. In those countries it would peak at No. 35 and No. 4 respectively.