You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish is the seventh studio albumbyREO Speedwagon, released in 1978. It was their first album to be co-produced by lead singer Kevin Cronin and lead guitarist Gary Richrath. The album was REO's first to make the Top 40, peaking at No. 29.[6] The album sold over 2 million copies in the US, which led it to being certified 2× Platinum.
This is the first album to feature Bruce Hall on bass, replacing Gregg Philbin. In 2013, the album was released on CD by UK-based company Rock Candy Records, with expanded liner notes and photos.
The hits "Time for Me to Fly" and "Roll with the Changes" have since become two of the band's best-known songs. "Time for Me to Fly" was later covered in a bluegrass arrangement by Dolly Parton on her 1989 album White Limozeen. In 2005, the album cover was featured on Pitchfork's list of "The Worst Record Covers of All Time",[7] and in 2014 its title was featured in NME's list of "The 50 Worst Album Titles in History".[8] In 2020, Netflix's Ozark TV series third season episode, "Kevin Cronin Was Here" featured "Time for Me to Fly", which resulted in the song making the top 40 on the BillboardDigital Songs Chart.[9][10]
"Roll with the Changes" was featured in the 2011 movie The Cabin in the Woods. Cash Box said that it "opens with a flowing piano riff that quickly develops into a dynamic, well-structured tune propelled by electrifying guitar licks."[11] The song was also briefly featured in the 2013 movie Jobs.
The song "Time for Me to Fly" peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978; despite this relatively modest peak position, it has become one of the band's best-known songs, and has received airplay on FM radio over the years. According to singer Kevin Cronin, the song was inspired by his breakup with his high school girlfriend.[12] The song hit the top 40 in 2020 on Billboard'sDigital Songs Chart after it was featured on Netflix's Ozark third-season episode, "Kevin Cronin was Here."[9][10] It was also used in the films Vision Quest and Grown Ups.
^Trenz, Brandon (1998). "REO Speedwagon". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 935–936.
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