Two years into a fully-fledged solo career after leaving the Faces in 1975, on striking out by himself things could not have gone much better for Rod Stewart.
He had previously enjoyed enormous individual success while fronting the gloriously ramshackle rockers, Stewart having made six albums of his own through a six year Faces stint that began in 1969. Huge sales of his own records while their lead vocalist had catapulted him to superstardom, but the increasingly blurred line between Rod, one fifth of an uproarious ensemble and Stewart, global star, became a key factor in their eventual demise.
Through his first five albums, a largely superb set of recordings unmatched in their charm and beguiling bonhomie, fellow Faces can often be found, particularly guitarist Ronnie Wood with whom Stewart wrote material for the group and personal use.
But the path took a different turn in 1975 when Rod, now a U.K. tax exile due to colossal earnings generated by huge hits such as ‘Maggie May‘ and ‘You Wear It Well‘, recorded his sixth album ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ (August 1975) in the United States. Backed by top notch session players the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, at the same Stewart relinquished producer duties to renowned practitioner Tom Dowd.
While the album returned massive sales figures, it did not sit well in the Faces camp. The band, not having made an album of their own since ‘Ooh La La‘ in early 1973, went out on tour behind a record only Rod would benefit from – their end also hastened by Wood ‘guesting’ for the Rolling Stones in 1975, before his role became permanent.
Neither was there much critical approval to be found, yet high U.K. and U.S. chart placings were an end to justify the means. His next release ‘A Night on the Town‘ (June 1976) – the Faces by now six months behind him – was altogether superior and sold even more, the album like its predecessor divided, at the suggestion of his partner, actress Britt Ekland, into a ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ side.
For the second LP running it was the ‘slow’ side that carried the day. The sure touch of the sessioneers while deft on ballads did not rouse the rockers which again lacked the fire Rod had always been able to call upon when making up-tempo music in the company of Wood, Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan and powerhouse, old pal drummer Micky Waller.
Having assembled a touring band in performing sell-out concerts on both sides of the Atlantic to promote ‘A Night on the Town‘, Stewart retained the same group of players when time came to record his eighth album – FOOTLOOSE & FANCY FREE (November 1977), at once a more cohesive effort, although containing roughly the same quota of highlights and thin spots as the pair of albums that precede it.
In a year when artists such as Ian Dury, The Clash and Elvis Costello had come up with some of the most original rock lyrics heard for some time in releasing debut albums of great vitality, the latest Rod Stewart offering appeared against a landscape much changed since release of his previous album 17 months before.
The public outrage generated by an appearance on British television in December 1976 by punk rock band the Sex Pistols, (who to date had released one barely-noticed 45, the incendiary ‘Anarchy in the U.K‘), became a cultural tipping point of the decade. Their unorthodox clothing combined with an expletive-riven interview in the company of Bill Grundy, shocked most who saw it – but overnight galvanised every youth with rock star ambitions, to form a punk band.
Those who made it in the wake of Johnny Rotten and co (from whom they took inspiration), produced aggressive upbeat records that expressed teenage angst while railing against the ruling and rock star elite – Her Majesty, Queen and Rod Stewart all inducing forms of new wave nausea.
While Freddie Mercury and his fellow band members were disparaged by the brash upstarts, (Queen by no means alone in this respect, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Elton John all received punk-based brickbats for making self-indulgent music containing little of relevance to disaffected youngsters), during the 1977 summer of punk, there was no shortage of irony in the Sex Pistols being denied a U.K. number one with the confrontational ‘God Save the Queen‘ – this the Silver Jubilee Year of Elizabeth II – by a Rod Stewart single.
Ironic because according to the punks nobody was more out of touch with the mood of these strange times than 32 year-old North London-born Scotsman Stewart – who had decamped from Holloway to Hollywood with his Bond-girl lady friend in tow a couple of years before.
But drawing antipathy from this new breed of angry young man was not causing Rod any undue anxiety. True, at the time he experienced a sleepless night or two in breaking up with Britt (although judging by how the episode is recounted in his highly readable biography that had more to do with financial than emotional cost, ongoing female company fulsome in its availability).
The lavish lifestyle, tabloid-telling of his now permanent estrangement from Ekland and ensuing liaisons with a legion of Bel-Air beauties were all light years removed from the subject matter Costello and The Clash were focused on – but did inform Rod’s writing when it came to ‘Footloose & Fancy Free.‘
Stewart wrote or at least co-composed six songs for an album containing just eight, none of which clock in at less than four and a half minutes. His latest record incorporated one less song than ‘A Night on the Town‘ but contained over three minutes more music, a protracted rendition of The Supremes 1966 hit ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On‘, sequenced to open side two, the longest track ever to appear on a Rod Stewart LP.
At studios in Toronto but mainly Los Angeles Dowd was once again at the controls, but for the first time is tasked with capturing Stewart singing with a defined backing band rather than large squad of seasoned session hands. The veteran production master makes light of the task with a clear, pristine sound, Rod for his part delivering a suitably excellent set of vocal performances that serve to maintain long-held status of being the best singer in the business.
There are cameo appearances with well-known names such as Steve Cropper, Nicky Hopkins, Fred Tackett, Richard Greene, John Mayall and Phil Kenzie each making a contribution, but for the most part it is the work of Stewart’s six-strong troupe comprising of guitarists Jim Cregan, Gary Grainger and Billy Peek, drummer Carmine Appice, bassist Phil Chen, the line-up completed by John Jarvis (keyboards).
The band acquit themselves well through a mix of Rolling Stones-affected rock, acoustic guitar ballads along with Rod interpreting material that is Stax and Motown in origin, the latter fast becoming a staple of his albums in the way Dylan covers had once been.
Things make a boisterous start with the strident ‘Hot Legs‘. Framed by strident electric guitar work, the track written by Stewart/Grainger (the sharp-eyed not missing the British actor connotations of the composers), depicts the licentiousness of the circles Rod was now moving in – this basic updating of the 1971 Faces hit ‘Stay With Me‘ moving the debauchery from Tottenham to Tinsel Town:
‘Who’s that knocking on my door/It’s gotta be a quarter to four/Is it you again/Coming ’round for more?/Well you can love me tonight if you want/But in the morning make sure you’re gone/I’m talkin’ to you/Hot legs/Wearing me out.’
Lifted from the album to become a top five U.K. hit single, ‘Hot Legs‘ passes muster on the grounds of exuberance and some self-deprecating lines, the Stones, absent through 1977, not having cause to remind anyone of their existence when Rod was creating songs such as this to do it for them.
Written by Stewart and bassist Chen, ‘You’re Insane‘ contains detail even more lurid. The woman who focus falls upon is cast in unflattering light, her excesses unsparingly laid out against a forceful funk-rock arrangement:
‘You must be crazy or half insane/Look at your eyeballs, street cocaine/You drink that white rum, you hit the roof/What do you expect, one-five-one proof, yeah/You drive your Mustang down Sunset Strip/And in the back seat, a big black whip/Look at your lipstick, all ’round your face/Everything you do is in bad taste.’
Deserving credit for entering an area of musical presentation he had never previously entered, his band display their versatility in coming across as a souped-up version of Little Feat – the final line of the third verse presumably referencing something other (‘You like brown sugar/ I think it’s vile‘), than a Jagger-Richard composition of 1971.
Written entirely by Stewart, the instantly engaging ‘You’re in My Heart‘ (The Final Acclaim), can be heard as ‘You Wear it Well‘ part two. The prominent violin (Greene), decorative electric piano refrain (David Foster) and nimble acoustic guitar chords (Tackett), while played by different personnel than on his 1972 gem, add to the similarity, which is further extended by an equally eloquent lyric with catchy chorus.
Rod has since revealed the song while making certain references to Ekland (‘I took all those habits of yours/That in the beginning were hard to accept/Your fashion sense, Beardsly prints/I put down to experience’), is not entirely about her, more an amalgam of women he knew at the time. Whoever the inspiration, the song is nevertheless majestic, ongoing testament to his ability to write witty, but not sentimental lyrics, Stewart always ready to enjoy a smile at his own expense:
‘My love for you is immeasurable/My respect for you immense/You’re ageless, timeless, lace and fineness/You’re beauty and elegance/You’re a rhapsody, a comedy/You’re a symphony and a play/You’re every love song ever written/But, honey, what do you see in me?’
Five years on from the heartfelt poignancy that made ‘You Wear It Well‘ so resonant, there is little here to suggest Rod has lost connection with the guiding spirit that made his early albums so memorable. The production is more refined and some of the couplets may try a little too hard to please (‘You’re an essay in glamour/Please pardon the grammar/But you’re every schoolboy’s dream/You’re Celtic, united/ But, baby, I’ve decided/You’re the best team I’ve ever seen‘), yet even then it was hard not to smile when ‘You’re in My Heart‘ came on the radio – not something The Stranglers for example, with all their punk sincerity, would induce you to do.
Stewart had good reason to be smiling as the song became a top five hit in both the U.K. (3) and U.S. (4) – his generally delighted with himself demeanour flowing through fast-paced side one closer, ‘Born Loose.’
Beginning with propulsive drumming from Appice, the tough-rocking ambience is bolstered by punchy electric guitar work and pounding piano, Rod in no mood to compromise when it comes to either his rock and rolling or relationships:
‘Stand up, shut up, sit down, throw up/All I wanna do is sing/Responsibility and fidelity/Never meant a thing to me/I was born loose, running wild/Keep your hands off, child/You can’t change me now.‘
On a track (Cregan and Grainger joining Stewart in receiving a co-write credit) that veers dangerously close to over indulgence at just over six minutes, into the mix is thrown some earthy harmonica work from Mayall. Acclaimed as a founding father of the late-1950s British blues community, the scene had been key in the emergence of the Rolling Stones, who latterly, such as on their most recent studio release ‘Black and Blue‘ (1976) had populated albums with tracks of comparable bluster to ‘Born Loose‘ – although last time out Mick had struggled to come up with couplets so agreeable as:
‘Church bells ringin’, all the kids singin’/When we played the last date on the tour/Janis and Jimi, can’t you hear me/Knockin’ on Heaven’s door?’
While his most recent Motown interpretation (‘This Old Heart of Mine‘ on ‘Atlantic Crossing‘) was a slick, functional affair, back in 1971 on ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘, Stewart applied blues-rock treatment to The Temptations (I Know) ‘I’m Losing You‘ and in doing so created a marvel of the age.
It would, however, be something of a misnomer to say side two of ‘Footloose & Fancy Free‘ opens with him covering ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On‘ by The Supremes, when this version is more remake of the one cut in 1967 by U.S. psychedelic rock outfit Vanilla Fudge.
Similarities abound. The two readings are equal (7:26) in running time, drummer Appice plays on both, although there is no comparison in the vocal stakes as Stewart wins that contest by a mile. The track features prominent keyboard work, steely electric guitars and a sweeping string arrangement, the prog-rock infusions taking this somewhat grandiose piece much closer to Emerson, Lake & Palmer than Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Having first attempted the song during sessions for the Faces ‘Ooh La La‘ album, (If Lovin’ You Is Wrong) ‘I Don’t Want to Be Right‘ finally sees the light of day, Stewart producing an impressively impassioned vocal on his take of the 1972 Luther Ingram Philly-soul hit.
On the original Ingram, in the role of narrator, offers a silky, conflicted reading of a lyric which tells of a married man embroiled in an extra-marital affair (‘Am I wrong to fall/So deeply in love with you?/Knowing I got a wife and two little children/Depending on me too?’). For his part Rod sounds more defiant when it comes to phrasing the lyrics, Jarvis and session stalwart Cropper giving sterling support from their respective positions of piano and electric guitar.
Both of his most recent albums had contained end of relationship songs, ‘Still Love You‘ (‘Atlantic Crossing‘) and ‘Fool for You‘ (‘A Night on the Town‘), each filled with fond memories prior to the eventual parting, Rod conveying regret in bittersweet terms. But on ‘You Got a Nerve‘, written in conjunction with Grainger, he sounds nothing other than bitter in compiling the most acerbic lyric he would ever write.
Against a terse folk-based melody, which at times takes on a middle eastern vibe, Stewart articulates his vexation in vivid terms:
‘Here you stand with tears in your eyes/Crying into my arms/Pleading with me to take you back/Teasing me with your charms/But you got a nerve to come ’round here/After all you’ve said and done/I thought I had seen everything/Obviously I was wrong.’
The booklet listing musician credits for the songs that accompanies the original album, contains artwork on each page appertaining to the track in question. The freehand sketch for this piece makes clear allusion to who his barbs were intended – Rod resisting any temptation to only remember the good times in making sure his britt-terness hits home:
‘You were my life, you were my breath/You were every move I ever made/But recently my opinion’s changed/The joke’s on you I’m afraid/’Cause I have a woman so beautiful/For you I could no longer wait/Please go away you may spoil everything/Your love has turned up too late/Go away, go away/Please, please go away/I loved you once/I don’t love you now/Please, please go away.’
But after the most antagonistic words in his songwriter portfolio come many with the greatest resonance. Through the magnificent closing track, ‘I Was Only Joking‘ (another joint effort with Grainger), Stewart looks back with affection rather than anger at past times, going back much further than resentment arising from a recent relationship, finding genial innocence in days of yore – while at the same time rediscovering his sense of humour:
‘Ever since I was a kid in school/I messed around with all the rules/Apologized, then realized/I’m not different after all/Me and the boys thought we had it sussed/Valentinos all of us/ My dad said we looked ridiculous/But, boy, we broke some hearts/In and out of jobs, running free/Waging war with society/Dumb, blank faces stared back at me/But nothing ever changed.’
The striking acoustic guitar contribution of Cregan, later supplemented by a crisp electric guitar solo from Grainger, along with the rueful ruminations place the song in territory near to where Bob Seger had been with ‘Night Moves‘ the previous year. Of almost identical age, both men look back over their shoulders to reminisce about a time when life was less complicated, Rod offering his perspective with:
‘Never found a compromise/Collected lovers like butterflies/Illusions of that grand first prize/Are slowly wearin’ thin.’
After the guitarists have served him splendidly with their interlocking motifs, the lyric is reintroduced by Stewart singing ‘Now you ask me if I’m sincere/That’s the question that I always fear,’ over the guitar patterns of Cregan. Yet the wordplay of the closing lines is somewhat ambiguous, Rod apparently serving notice his hitherto footloose life, free of responsibility (ironically he would marry first wife Alana Hamilton within eighteen months of writing the song), is coming to an end:
‘Cause what I’m doing must be wrong/Pouring my heart out in a song/Owning up for prosperity/For the whole damn world to see/Quietly now while I turn a page/Act one is over without costume change/The principal would like to leave the stage/The crowd don’t understand.’
If taken literally ‘The principal would like to leave the stage‘ sounds a touch disingenuous. Few singers have bestowed a rock stage with the command of Rod Stewart and while he could no doubt afford to retire, there was never any likelihood of him leaving the music scene in 1977 no matter what the punks were advising him – and especially as an edited version of ‘I Was Only Joking‘ gave him another big hit single, the parent album reaching number two on the U.S. charts with a highest placing of three on U.K. listings.
The critics, however, were none to impressed. In England the New Musical Express, early converts to the punk cause, described ‘Footloose & Fancy Free‘ as ‘hard to care about with Elvis Costello and the Sex Pistols around,’ Rolling Stone, despite finding praise for ‘I Was Only Joking,’ dismissed it as ‘flat and uninspired‘ while Robert Christgau, who earlier in the decade had assigned A gradings to Stewart albums such as ‘Gasoline Alley‘ and ‘Every Picture Tells A Story,’ issued a cursory B- rating.
All in all it was quite a year. The punks had broken through but at the same time Rod had broken the bank so to speak in regard of earnings from album sales. ‘No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones‘ barked out Clash front man Joe Strummer in ‘1977‘, their dynamic diatribe of the rock establishment – The Beatles having long since split, the Stones seen more in courtrooms than concert halls due to a succession of legal issues, Elvis succumbing to a heart attack on 16 August.
In lambasting Stewart for turning from one of the boys, lad of the people rocker to a celebrity glamour puss more concerned with keeping A-list company than making A rated albums, Rod’s detractors perhaps had point. Indeed, in his autobiography, the ‘Footloose & Fancy Free‘ album, which is no masterpiece but not a misstep either, warrants just one line in the index – the same as The Clash.
Ms Ekland, however, is referenced 26 times………….
ROD STEWART – FOOTLOOSE & FANCY FREE (Released November 4 1977):
Hot Legs/You’re Insane/You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)/Born Loose/You Keep Me Hangin’ On/(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right/You’ve Got a Nerve/I Was Only Joking;
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