"Gold" is a song written and recorded byJohn Stewart in 1979. It was the lead single and biggest hit among three Top 40 singles released from his LP,Bombs Away Dream Babies. The song was Stewart's first US Top 40 hit, as well as his first chart single in a decade (since "Armstrong" which peaked at #74 in 1969).Stevie Nicks is featured on backing vocals.[1][2]
"Gold" became a top-five hit in the United States, Canada and Australia.[3][4] It also charted in the UK and New Zealand although not as high.
Stewart wrote the song some time after he left the folk groupKingston Trio.[5] The song is from the albumBombs Away Dream Babies, to which Nicks andLindsey Buckingham contributed. (Although the guitar solo in "Gold" is similar in style to Buckingham's, it was actually played by Stewart.)[6] The song has a smooth funk/pop rhythm.[7]
The song takes a light-hearted but cynical view of the recording industry in Los Angeles; in time, Stewart would feel the same way about the song itself. He would eventually stop performing "Gold" in concert, calling it "vapid" and "empty" and meaning nothing to him, having done it for the money and to please his record company.[8][9]
