If drawing up a list of rock stars with whom I would like to have a drink with, one name would inevitably keep coming to the top.
In awe of Ray Davies, overawed by Pete Townshend, unlikely on the same wavelength as Dylan and with dear old Moonie long since supping at the great cocktail cabinet in the sky, the one I would most like to find on the next barstool is Rod Stewart.
Given his reputation for being tight I would happily buy the first round – and amidst great conviviality can imagine sharing some good football chat.
In truth I’d buy the second, third, fourth and fifth as well – a thank you for the five glorious solo albums he made between 1969 and 1974.
Very few artists have made a succession of records that are so compelling, humorous and downright enjoyable as the run Rod began with ‘An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down‘ (1969), advancing through ‘Gasoline Alley‘ (1970), ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘ (1971), ‘Never A Dull Moment‘ (1972) before ending with ‘Smiler‘ (1974) – with the monumental second side of ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘ (‘Maggie May‘ ‘Mandolin Wind‘ (I Know) ‘I’m Losing You‘ and ‘Reason To Believe‘) standing tall against any side of any album ever recorded.
On his debut album he established a pattern that would serve him well over each of the five releases; well-selected interpretative material, including definitive versions of ‘Handbags and Gladrags,’ ‘Reason To Believe,’ and ‘I’d Rather Go Blind,’ a lovingly performed Dylan cover (at which he became the Grand Master) and superbly written songs of his own – melodies usually provided by either Martin Quittenton or Ron Wood.
During this time, alongside Wood, Kenny Jones, Ian McLagan and for most of their career Ronnie Lane, Stewart was also a member of the Faces – a rowdy, ramshackle outfit who could be superb or shambolic depending on their state of inebriation. (It is worth noting their best record, the glorious ‘Dance Sing or Anything‘ is credited to Rod Stewart and the Faces).
It has always been a source of frustration to me, not to mention disbelief that Rod is never included in lists of great British songwriters. Quite simply he wrote wonderful lyrics – there is no other way to describe the lines in ‘Maggie May‘, ‘You Wear It Well‘, ‘Farewell‘, ‘Lady Day‘, ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘, ‘True Blue‘, ‘Lost Paraguayos‘, ‘Mandolin Wind‘ and ‘Gasoline Alley‘ to name the very finest examples.
Nothing twee or obscure, no fourth form mysticism, no bombast – just wit, poignancy, self-deprecating humour and when compared to most of his contemporaries its obvious; Rod writes rings around the lot of them.
Like all hopeless romantics the narrator in many of these songs inevitably makes a mess of things despite not having that intention, admitting as such with simple eloquence at the end of ‘You Wear It Well‘: ‘But I ain’t forgetting that you were once mine, but I blew it without even trying.’
Aside from their charm, each one of these albums has great warmth. The mainstays of Wood (guitar and bass), Pete Sears (piano), Micky Waller (drums), Quittenton (acoustic guitar) and Dick Powell (violin), cook up an intoxicating brew of folk, bonhomous boogie and rousing rock – with the astonishing ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘ title track encompassing all three.
Starting as a travelogue through Europe and then continuing into the Far East, young Stewart ends the journey having learned some harsh truths about life – indeed, as he leads his musical troupe toward the rip-roaring conclusion, Woody can be heard calling out to Rod as if imploring him to tell them the end of the story.
It is hard to think of another rock song so revelatory yet so deliciously funny (21st Century sensibilities notwithstanding) – oh those wonderful pre-synclavier days, when it was possible to imagine four or five people sitting in a room creating magic through what they played and sang.
Anyone unable to smile as Rod – after giving his life a searching but funny examination – revs up his Lamborghini and drives away at the end of ‘True Blue,’ needs to lighten up. Who on earth cannot laugh out loud at the line, ‘She was tall, thin and tarty and drove a Maserati‘ from ‘Italian Girls’?
Need uplifting? Listen for the mandolin ringing out in the middle of ‘Mandolin Wind‘ or at the end of ‘Farewell.’
Through the songwriting and singing, playing and production, it must have been hard work making everything sound so effortless – little wonder that in his later career Rod came to resemble a rock n’ roll Dean Martin, but by that point his stage clothes, love life and lifestyle were overshadowing albums providing little to write home about.
When Rod decamped to America in 1975, leaving the Faces and his solo album gang behind, he began recording with accomplished session players who gave his next couple of albums, ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ (1975) and ‘A Night On The Town‘ (1976) more polish, but what they gained in sheen was lost in spirit.
They are not bad records by any means, at the suggestion of current paramour Britt Ekland they were both divided into a ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ side with the ‘slow’ winning hands down on both occasions – only serving to prove nobody injected sparkle into his fast songs like Woody and Micky Waller.
From then on the letter writer who was so affectionate and affable in ‘You Wear It Well‘ and ‘Farewell‘ took to writing, save for the odd exception, the equivalent of dirty postcards – when he could be bothered to write at all. For those of us prepared to listen closely enough, there was still a worthwhile track or two through the largely lacklustre records of the 80s and 90s, but nothing resonated like the early material.
The ‘Great American Songbook‘ series was a timely reminder of what an outstanding vocalist he has always been, but it was not until ‘Time‘ (2013) and ‘Another Country‘ (2015) that Rod picked up his pen and began writing songs again. Some of them were pretty good as well – take the best from both, put them on one and you would create a damned fine CD.
But his true greatness as a recording artist lies with the first five albums – and nowhere will you find a more joyous listening experience.
All of which leaves only one thing to say – it’s your round Rod.
This article was first published on 18/6/2018.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller now available as an Amazon Kindle book.