I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter is the third studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, originally released by MAM Records in September 1973. After becoming one of the most successful performers worldwide in 1972, O'Sullivan pursued new directions with the album, taking influence from rock music and funk and incorporating an array of then-new electric keyboards, as well as emphasizing a new rhythmical focus. The album was recorded "on and off" with producer Gordon Mills at the latter's studio, and although several overdubs were recorded in the United States, O'Sullivan referred to the album as an ultimately "very ad hoc home-based" project.
Released months ahead of the album, "Get Down" was a number one single in the United Kingdom and also reached the top ten in the United States. In the ensuing months, O'Sullivan toured internationally for the first time. The release of the album in September coincided with a new rock-influenced image for the singer. The funk-influenced single "Ooh Baby" failed to make the UK top 10 and marked the start of the singer's decline in popularity, while the album itself reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, and although it spent 25 weeks on the chart, this was less than its predecessors. Critics are divided on the album's merits, but the response has been generally favourable over time. The Salvo record label released a remastered version of it in April 2012 as part of the Gilbert O'Sullivan – A Singer & His Songs collection.
Background and recording
Gilbert O'Sullivan became one of 1972's most successful musicians and, for a time, the biggest-selling British-based musician worldwide, owing to the success of his second album Back to Front and internationally successful singles such as "Alone Again (Naturally)" and "Clair". To support the album, O'Sullivan toured the United Kingdom for the first time, beginning in late 1972 and continuing into 1973. It was with these performances that he debuted his college-style sweaters with a "G" symbol. Critics applauded the shows, while female audiences turned O'Sullivan into a heartthrob, a position he felt uninterested in. Many of the songs on I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter were written by O'Sullivan in his Weybridge home. Between tours of the UK, O'Sullivan spent time in Spain, where he installed a piano and wrote further songs for the album. He had avoided touring worldwide until later that year because he felt the busy schedule would have made the album difficult to write, and the Britain-only touring ensured that the trip to Spain was possible.
The recording of I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter departed from O'Sullivan's previous two albums, as instead of recording within several three hour sessions in various studios, O'Sullivan and his manager and producer Gordon Mills recorded the album "on and off" in early 1973 at Mills' recently built studio located beside his home, spending a total of several days in the studio. Mills would play keyboards and add backing vocals to tracks, while a rhythm section was also in place and Johnnie Spence returned to provide string arrangements. Although several overdubs were recorded in the United States, O'Sullivan ultimately referred to the album as "a very ad hoc home-based project," which he felt gave the resulting album a "continuity running through it, unlike perhaps the previous two albums." In August 1973, around the time of the album's completion, O'Sullivan moved house as he felt "too vulnerable."
Composition
I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter was influenced by rock music, and updates O'Sullivan's sound by incorporating a selection of electronic keyboards played by himself and Mills, reflecting the emergence of such instruments at the time, although the album also features the singer's signature acoustic piano playing. O'Sullivan explained: "It was the early days of synths and clavinets, these instruments were emerging, much to any keyboard players' pleasure led in no small part by Stevie Wonder, so me and Gordon had some of these and just played around with them." Contemporary keyboard trends reflected on the album include the use of the electric piano and at one point a sound resembling a pipe organ. The album also features more ambitious rhythms, with an emphasis on percussion and incorporation of instruments like the bongoes, maracas and tambourine, while O'Sullivan's singing is more robust than on previous albums, the result of his voice improving over his live performances.